R4 Ridge Racer Type 4
Reviewed by Greatest One
R4 had a tough competitor in Gran Turismo, when it came to
driving games. GT may be the overall better game, but R4 is
the best when it comes to graphics. Driving is one genre
where graphics are important, because racing around a track
can't be made more innovative. R4 capitalizes on this and
delivers a breathtaking looking racer that looks better than
any racer available on any system.
There are a lot of different cars in the game, all of which
look beautiful. None of the cars are real, and that enabled
the game developers to be creative. Their are eight
different tracks in different locations, and each location
looks gorgeous. The mountain levels are the best as they are
very well detailed.
Unfortunately, graphics aren't the only thing in a driving
game and this is where R4 loses out to Gran Turismo. There
are a total of more than 300 cars to unlock in this game,
but the way to do them is very boring and frustruating.
Unlike Gran Turismo, where the career mode was very
interesting, R4's career mode is a drag. You have to pick
one of 4 teams to race for and one of 4 companies whose cars
you will use. You then race on eight different tracks,
trying to finish at the spot required until you win the
championship. Doing this unlocks the cars in the game. But,
unlocking all the cars is very boring. The way it works is
each company has 20 cars and there are 4 teams. each team
adds a differnt paint job to the car, thus each company ends
up with 80 cars (20*4=80). Since there are 4 companies, the
number of cars go up to 320 (80*4=320). You are able to
unlock only 1 or 2 cars, and sometimes 3 when you finish one
grand prix. Thus, to unlock al the cars, you would have to
complete more than 150 grand prixs which is not possible. No
one has that much patience. besides there are really only
about 50 differnt cars with the others just having different
top speeds. If you manage to unlock all the cars, you are
rewarded with a bonus Pac car which looks like pac man. It
isn't worth it.
Overall, the career mode brings down what could have been
the ultimate racing game.
Graphics: 10.
This is what makes the game. On the basis of graphics alone,
this game becomes one of the best racing games available.
Sound: 8.
Not as good as Gran Turismo, but still all right. The
different background music are cool.
Gameplay: 8.
Not as hard as GT which is a good thing. Some races in the
Grand prix do require skill, though.
Replay Value: Multiplayer is excellent, but the career mode
is boring.
Overall: 8 out of 10
Not as good as GT, but still worth buying.
