History VideoGame / RidgeRacer

* PreorderBonus: Pre-ordering Unbounded would give players a few cars from previous Ridge Racer games, including the Kamata [=RC410=] from 7, and the original incarnation of the Assoluto Bisonte from 64.

** ''Drift Spirits'' works differently in which you're preloaded with three nitro boosts per race, and each races use the nitrous inventory from the player's account.

* NitroBoost: Introduced in the PSP games, where you earn nitrous by drifting, and you can have up to 3 tanks at once. Starting from Ridge Racer 6 was the ability to use multiple tanks at once, to a maximum of 3. The more tanks you use, the longer and more powerful is the boost. Unbounded also has Nitrous, but in two forms, you only get one bar, and straight-on jumps now also charge them (in previous games, you had to be drifting just before the jump for charging to take place). The first is the plain old Boost bar, available in the Shindo Racing events. The second is the Power bar, which is seen in every other game mode, where it's used not only to boost speed, but to destroy parts of the environment or take down other vehicles.

* '''''Drift Spirits'' (2013)''', for iOS and Android devices. Like ''R: Racing'', it features real-life cars and primarily focused on drifting on touge and (later) highway streets.

** ''Drift Spirits'' in the mobile front: Unlike most ''Ridge Racer'' mobile titles, it focuses on drifting through touge streets, with real cars to boot; ''Ridge Racer'' cars were added during a 2016 crossover event.

* '''''VideoGame/PacManWorldRally'' (2006)''', for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows. A related MascotRacer with its own page.

* '''''Ridge Racer V: Arcade Battle'' (2001 - Japan)''' for arcades.

* ShoutOut: Everything [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] has ever done, period (except maybe ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''). VideoGame/PacMan is a racing team, VideoGame/DigDug makes car parts, ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' characters make wheel mods, [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} Phantomile]] is a track in ''Type 4'', Ridge State has a ''VideoGame/{{Xevious}}'' tournament, [[VideoGame/TalesOfEternia a Craymel-powered engine for the Kamata Angelus]]...

* '''''Ridge Racer'' (1994 - Japan, 1995 - USA/EU)''', for arcades and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation (Launch Title).
* '''''Ridge Racer 2'' (1994 - Worldwide)''' for arcades.
* '''''Ridge Racer Revolution'' (1995 - Japan, 1996 - USA/EU)''', for [=PlayStation=]. The console port of Ridge Racer 2.
* '''''Rave Racer'' (1995 - Worldwide)''' for arcades.
* '''''Rage Racer'' (1996 - Japan, 1997 - USA/EU)''', for [=PlayStation=], considered the third installment of the series and the first to be made solely for console.

* '''''Ridge Racer 64'' (2000)''', for Nintendo 64, features tracks from Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer 2 and its very own set of desert tracks exclusive to the N64. Unlike the other entries, it was developed by a Nintendo studio in America and never officially released in Japan.
* '''''Ridge Racer V'' (2000)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 (Launch Title).

* '''''Ridge Racer DS'' (2004 - USA, 2005 - EU)''', for Nintendo DS, a port of Ridge Racer 64.
* '''''Critical Velocity'' (2005 - Japan)''', for [=PlayStation=] 2, plot-based action-adventure, WideOpenSandbox driving game. First Japan-exclusive Ridge Racer game.
* '''''Ridge Racer[[MarketBasedTitle (s)]]'' (PSP) (2004 - Japan, 2005 - USA/EU)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable, mixed new vehicles with tracks from the previous games.
* '''''Ridge Racer 6'' (2005)''', for Xbox 360 (Launch Game).

* '''''Ridge Racer 7'' (2006)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 (Launch Game) - Allowed complete customization of vehicles from body kits to engine parts and paint jobs. One of the few [=PS3=] games to run at 1080p and 60 FPS[[note]]Even ''VideoGame/{{Wipeout}} HD'', which claims it can, cheats by adjusting the resolution when things get too hectic.[[/note]]

* '''''Ridge Racer Accelerated'' (2009)''', for iOS and Android devices, a reformulated port of ''Ridge Racers 2''.
* '''''Ridge Racer 3D'' (2011)''', for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS (Launch game).
* '''''Ridge Racer'' (2012)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita (Launch game).

* '''''Ridge Racer Driftopia'' (2013)''', a FreeToPlay game, based mostly on ''Unbounded'', developed by Bugbear for [=PlayStation 3=] and PC.
* '''''Drift Spirits'' (2013)''', for iOS and Android devices. Like 'R: Racing'', it features real-life cars and primarily focused on drifting on touge and (later) highway streets.
* '''''Ridge Racer Slipstream'' (2013)''', for iOS and Android devices, developed to celebrate the [=20th=] anniversary of the series.

* '''''Rage Racer'' (1996 - Japan, 1997 - USA/EU)''', for [=PlayStation=].

** ''R: Racing Evolution'' is a sim racer with none of the nonsense drifting of the main series and features licensed vehicles and real-world courses. It is still considered part of the ''Ridge Racer'' family, however.

* RecurringBoss: Soldat Crinale and Kamata Angelus throughout the series. You can also expect Reiko to show up at times in a Assoluto Fatalita (Dodge Viper {{Expy}}), Ford Mustang Boss, Nissan S2000 or Peugeot knock off.

-->-- Then-Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment president (now president and CEO of [[Creator/{{Sony}} its parent company]]) '''Kaz Hirai''' at [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3]] 2006

* ShoutOut: Everything [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] has ever done, period (except maybe ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''). VideoGame/DigDug makes car parts, ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' characters make wheel mods, [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} Phantomile]] is a track in ''Type 4'', Ridge State has a ''VideoGame/{{Xevious}}'' tournament, [[VideoGame/TalesOfEternia a Craymel-powered engine for the Kamata Angelus]]...

* SequelDifficultyDrop: Throughout the lifetime of the series, the drift mechanic and the collision physics have become more and more forgiving. In the mid-90's games, colliding with anything will cause your car to bounce off with a sharp loss in speed, often bumping into other cars or walls if there isn't enough space, and drifting often slows you to a crawl afterwards. Later games make it trivial to drift with only a negligible loss in speed, and are far more forgiving on smacking into objects, although continuous wall-smashing is still very punishing. This is especially evident in ''[=3D=]''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Rage Racer'', ''Critical Velocity'' and ''Unbounded'' are this compared to the other games in the franchise.

* InsistentTerminology: Some entries in the series refuses to call cars "cars", using "machines" instead, as some of the unlockable vehicles aren't actually cars.

** ''Drift Spirits''' Ridge Racer event adds some iconic machines from the previous games to the roster which, prior to this, were filled with licensed cars and tuned cars from ''Manga/InitialD'' and ''Manga/WanganMidnight'' among others.

** ''Drift Spirits''' Ridge Racer event adds some iconic machines to the roster which, prior to this, were filled with licensed cars and tuned cars from ''Manga/InitialD'' and ''Manga/WanganMidnight'' amonng others.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: In the early arcade-style games, the CPU racers are more "suggestions" in the game's design than they are fair competitors. They will always speed ahead of you at the start to the point that the pair at the head of the pack are almost invariably a mile ahead of everyone else, and then the racing is more down to perfecting your play like a time attack and overtaking them as a result rather than focusing strictly on the racing aspect. This is especially prevalent in defeating boss cars, who will consistently beat your starting vehicles in a straightaway and have obscene acceleration, but once you unlock them the stats often don't line up with that performance whatsoever.

* NintendoHard: Winning races in this series requires tightly drifting your corners, avoiding those walls and car collisions, and making sure your speed never takes a harsh drop. With the arcade mentality of the classic titles, this means you have to race almost perfectly past Novice difficulty or you'll never hit first. Once the games became more racing-oriented, you can bet the AI inevitably ramp up to [[RubberbandAI rubberbanding]]. And the boss cars? They will go so fast and [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard cheat so hard]] that they easily surpass anything you could hope to accomplish, serving as ultimate challenges of your track and vehicle mastery so far.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: In the early arcade-style games, the CPU racers are more "suggestions" in the game's design than they are fair competitors. They will always speed ahead of you at the start to the point that the pair at the head of the pack are almost invariably a mile ahead of everyone else, and then the racing is more down to perfecting your play like a time attack and overtaking them as a result rather than focusing strictly on the racing aspect. This is especially prevalent in defeating boss cars, who will consistently beat your starting vehicles in a straightaway and have obscene acceleration, but once you unlock them the stats often don't line up with that performance whatsoever. Thankfully they ''don't'' suffer RubberbandAI due to this.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: In the early arcade-style games, the CPU racers are more "suggestions" in the game's design than they are fair competitors. They will always speed ahead of you at the start to the point that the pair at the head of the pack are almost invariably a mile ahead of everyone else, and then the racing is more down to perfecting your play like a time attack and overtaking them as a result rather than focusing strictly on the racing aspect. This is especially prevalent in defeating boss cars, who will consistently beat your starting vehicles in a straightaway and have obscene acceleration, but once you unlock them the stats often don't line up with that performance whatsoever.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: In the early arcade-style games, the CPU racers are more "suggestions" in the game's design than they are fair competitors. They will always speed ahead of you to the point that the pair at the head of the pack are almost invariably a mile ahead of everyone else, and then the racing is more down to perfecting your play like a time attack and overtaking them as a result rather than focusing strictly on the racing aspect. This is especially prevalent in defeating boss cars, who will consistently beat your starting vehicles in a straightaway and have obscene acceleration, but once you unlock them the stats often don't line up with that performance whatsoever.

* InNameOnly: ''[[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-04-ridge-racer-unbounded-announced Ridge Racer Unbounded]]'', from the ''VideoGame/{{FlatOut}}'' creators at Bugbear Entertainment, with a major emphasis on destruction and a ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUnderground''-ish vibe. Fans couldn't cry "Ruined!" fast enough.