The mysterious new PSX racing game from Namco is now officially know as 
"Rage Racer". I got it on Sunday but had to wait til today (Dec 3) to play 
because I lent my PSX to a friend. Anyway here are my first impressions after
playing for an hour or so:

Namco's newest racer is a marvelous piece of work! This is what Ridge
Racer Revolution should have been - the "revolution". The overall 
presentation of Rage Racer is radically different from the RR series.
The game exudes class and finesse, from the title logo to the fonts and
color schemes of the hi-res(!) selection screens. 

Like Tekken 2, there is no loading game. The intro is of the same high
standard that we are used to expect from Namco, a cool mix of rendered
footage, text, flashy logos, great music with a sexy female voice of
you race companion "Reiko Nagase" (very well rendered, great facial expressions)

In terms of gameplay, don't think this is another Ridge Racer. There has been
some radical changes and numerous great additions to this racing game genre.
First off, you get only one car at the start, with even performance all-round.
The immediate cool feature you'll notice in the car selection screen are the
options "Customize", "Car shop", and "Engineer shop".

"Customize" allows you to choose tire grip/drift levels, auto/manual 
transmission, design/paint your own logo(!), and paint your car to a color of
your liking :)

"Car shops" is where you go to buy new cars. Yes, there is money involved in 
this racing game! There is a large variety of car types (unlike RR and RRR)-
from minis to pickups to lamborghinis. You earn your cash by making into the
top three position in races.

"Engineer shop" allows you to tune-up your car for increasingly exorbitant
fees. This is sometimes vital as you'll never catch up with the faster cars
no matter how well you drive in the later levels, without either getting 
yourself a better car or going for a tune-up.

And the courses? I believe there are 4 courses (listed in the manual), and
probably the chance to play reverse courses after you beat the game. There
are 6 racing classes, with two trophy records for the first 5, so in effect
there are 11 different classes. Each class has significantly tougher opponents.
The first class should be a breeze for seasoned Ridge Racers, but class 2
onwards requires some good fund-gathering and car tuning in addition to great
driving skills. The top opponents are really tough so you get a great race
experience of overtaking, only to be overtaken again...etc.

The driving experience is also quite different from previous Ridge Racers.
There are lots of slopes and hills in the courses, and you can no longer 
zip through them on the same gear. Good gear-shifting is require to beat the
slopes; you car (and opponents) slow down realistically with going up.
And boy are the some of the slopes steep! Any more and this could have been 
Wipeout :)

Graphically, this is the best from Namco yet. The courses are more realistic
looking, with an European feel to the locale and some spectacular scenery
(check out that waterfall!) There is no noticeable pop-up and the drawing
distance has been pushed back. There is an overpass in the second course
and you can see almost the whole construct as you are approaching from high 
ground. In another part there is a bridge which you can see from afar as
you approach along the riverbank perpendicular to the bridge. I'm astounded
by what Namco has done.

Sound-wise, the music is just as great as the other RRs. The male annoucer has
been replaced by a female one (thankfully not high-pitched and slightly
annoying like in Rave Racer the arcade, but rather sensuous). The girl holding
the sign is now a certain "Reiko Nagase", a very well rendered short-haired
Japanese girl (born Feb 14, 1975 in Tokyo, 165cm, 48kg, 85/58/86, shoe size
23cm, blood type A, swims and plays guitar, likes driving, marine sports
and spray jobs, favourite foods- minestrone, pear, potato chips, faourite
games- Pac Man, Smash Court, ambition is to be a space pilot! She does
spray jobs, shopping, and walks her dog on holidays.) She looks great in the
rendered intro!  

There is also a short rendered intro after winning a class. So far I've only
cleared class one (3 courses). Class 2 has 4 courses, and the second course
has proven beyond my reach so far :(  BTW, you only get 3 chances to win top
3 in each course. Blow it and you'll have to forfeit whatever victories you
have achieved for that class and start again.

Anyway, I'm very impressed with this game and I'd recommend it to all racing
fans. 

cheers,
-tomwoof