Okay, after waiting a week for the iffin' USPS to get the job done, I
finally got RageRacer.  Just my luck it's the worst part of finals and I'm
so bugged-out I barely have time to play it, and when I do I can't really
enjoy it because I've got projects breathing down the back of my neck...  
But enough about my life.     =^%    <-- angst?

This was written with what I call the 'hardcore' driving game fanatics in
mind - you know, those who loved the manual 6-speed (w/clutch!!!) in the
original RidgeRacer, you who swear by NeGCon and wouldn't be caught dead
using AT (lest your racer friends find out and ridicule you!), those who
can tell me the difference off the top of their head between the Yellow
and Red Solvalou cars...

Notice: this is only about after 2 hours of playing - no, I don't have all
the cars, etc. so this is in a sense incomplete.  Humor me - I'm sure
there's SOMEONE waiting out there who wants to hear this stuff... :)

Here's some of the details I was waiting for in RgR, especially regarding
cars and driving technique:

* FMV stuffs
The intro has some pretty cool FMV - I was surprised by how 'american' it
looked.  I guess I was expecting Tokyo at night but I was instead met with
lots of genX-y graphics (lots of obliterated type and filtered video and
english rap/talk voiceover)  over pretty realistically modeled CG.  It was
kind of a shock at first, but now I like it - especially after playing the
game; I want to watch that guy drifting that hairpin in the FMV - I need
to study their technique!  An original video that makes me realize that
the whole 'Tokyo at night' scenario _is_ getting to be a cliche. Other FMV
big pluses include the RgR girl (more later :) and a great 1st person
drifting cut that feels like the real thing - every time I watch it, I
leeeeeeean into the slide involuntarily.  Whee!

* CD format / Music 
Thankfully, Namco has gone with redbook CD-audio for RgR (I was afraid
they might pull a Tekken2) so we can all make tapes and listen in our cars
or whatnot... Unfortunate for disc swappers, but that's not my concern. 
disc contains 16 audio tracks, all music, including an intro with
voiceover, ending theme, etc.
Some people hate Namco's driving music.  I have no idea who they are, but
I'm sure they exist somewhere!  I really liked the music for RR, etc. and
the music for RgR follows in a similar vein, with a few changes (my
favorite is still RaveRacer though).  We're still talking Japanese racecar
techno city (whoo!)....  For those of you with a system hooked up, check
out the title track- it hits _hard_ with some nice subs over drums with
sampled guitar.  The other tracks are hard techno stuff, no Rotterdam
Nation this time.  Some have some sampled crunchy Pantera-style riffs in
there.  Nice jungle vibe on 'Lightning Luge' and a slower jungle track
'Silver Stream' is a nice change of pace - chill....
You'll probably recognize quotes/remixes of classic RR tracks in the
replay/hiscore music - I think I heard 'Speedster' and 'Ridge Racer' so
far...

* Sound
You know that real _ugly_ sound that real fast cars make?  No more RR
vacuum cleaners here - that tortured howl and lumpy uneven idle feel is
all in there...  Even better when you wind it up through a tunnel .   However when you are at redline you do get a little of the
'vacuum cleaner' effect.  But those upshifts in tunnels are sooo nice. 
Tire noise: you can hear your tires approaching the limit in a hard corner
and back off a bit.  If you scrub a shift or mis-shift you can also hear
the engine bogging.  The car just sounds UGLY and LOUD.  Hee hee! 
Different cars have differing exhaust sounds too.  Another nice effect is
when you are driving at the very edge of the road you can hear buildings
and walls whooshing by - a great way to aid positioning on fast turns... 
Sucks: other cars don't make noise.
The voiceover: no more 'Mr. Ridge Racer'.  I miss him - "Heyyyyyy - you're
trying for goal by going the wrong way around!  Youuuuuuuuu're cra-azy!" 
Or, "You've got to teach meeeee!"  Now we have US female voiceover with
lots of at-ti-tude, and don't you forget it, buddy.  Half the time it's a
little cheesy and you feel like she's hitting on you.  Don't _even_ get me
started on the GP opening monologue.  And remember, "Ha ha! You're too
slow!" from RRR?  Well, this is worse - when you miss a pass or even are
lagging on a TT leg she starts up on you... man...  It's just as bad as
having a girlfriend* rag on your driving.
BTW, her voice sounds _really_ familiar - can anyone place it or attach a
name to this voice?  Maybe when I finish it she'll be in the credits...
* Yes, this review is male-centric.  Please excuse and feel free to
substitute my own gender stereotypes and biases with your own gender
stereotypes and biases.

* Interface/structure
Like many Namco games, this title inexplicably has almost zero loading
time.  Why can't other developers do this?  There is a 'now loading'
screen, but it's barely long enough for you to read the blinking words
'now loading'.  Nice menus in this one - very busy, but they carry over
the visual theme - lots of type, animated graphs and such.  Hi res.  You
have the option of customizing your car by choosing AT/MT or selecting a
range of tire grip vs. drift.  Very nice.
Supercool detail I've been waiting for ever since Choro-Q is the paint
shop.  You can choose a name for your team which shows up as a headline on
the windshield as well as a savegame title.  You can also create a team
logo/graphic that is t-mapped on your cars.  There is a rudimentary paint
program to edit/create these graphics - I think you have 16 preset colors
to paint with plus transparency on/off.   You may also choose the colors
for the paint and stripes/graphics.  However, I have noticed that
differing color palettes are accessible through some of the preset
textures, so all hope is not lost.  There are alsso preset logos and
graphics to choose from, surprisingly one featuring the ADVAN logo.  Looks
like they got some real sponsors, as I have seen billboards for
Yokohama/Advan as well as GAB.  The cool part about the Advan logo is that
with some slight modifications it becomes easy to have cars looking just
like the Team Advan touring cars or Le Mans cars!  Woo hoo!
The game has a TT and GP mode.  In GP mode you earn points/$ for placing
1st/2nd/3rd, and can spend points on...

* The Cars
Well, they don't have real cars by NAME, but it's pretty obvious that some
of the vehicles correspond to real life racers.  There are at least 4
manufacturers to choose from: Germany's GNADE, LIZARD (US), âge (France),
and Italy's Assoluto Motors Corporation.  Car references I have spotted so
far (I've only seen like 5 of the cars in the game, so there's bound to be
more) include:  the Gnade Esperanza is obviously a Nissan Silvia-type, the
âge Alouette and Abeille are a Mini Cooper and a Renault 5GT Turbo, the
Lizard cars are an 80's Trans-Am in Nascar guise and a 2nd Gen Corvette,
and the Assoluto Fatalita looks just like on of those badass Porsche 911
GT cars...  Serious stuff.  And get this: you can pay to have your car
tuned.  I upgraded my Team Advan/Namco Silvia, and I got a new front
spoiler, scary intercooler, and rear wing along with my improved
performance.  You get the idea (what a loser I am)...
And when you start to tune your car, you can really feel the difference. 
Also: peak power and torque at RPM are provided for each car as well as
the standard RR performance graphs.  And it actually seems to _matter_!!! 
The American cars are butch with lots of torque, while the smaller cars go
for high revs...

* The Tracks
We all know the standard RR complaint about x versions of ONE track. 
Well, from what I've seen in RgR I would have to describe it like this:
okay, there's one COUNTRY with 4+ tracks in it.  That is, while the tracks
share the same start/finish points (so far - there may be many more I
haven't seen yet) they cover vastly different terrain.  One takes you
along the Greek coast among the ruins, another puts you in a lush German
forest, another gives you a Riviera feel.  The tracks are also long as
hell compared to RR.  Running standard 3lap races in intro cars, ETs run
up past SIX minutes, with laps like 1:45 depending on the course.  The
scenery is nice, but to be honest I haven't spent a lot of time gawking -
too busy focusing!
I have noticed  a reflective roadside mountain lake, a forest, overpasses
(that you actually go both ways over/under), a port, etc. etc. etc.  The
sun does go down and it all looks way different at night.

* DRIVING!
Woo hoo!  Once again we start in 12th place.  Nice tachometer - see it
burble at idle.  The instrumentation varies with each car, and it
illuminates at night! (!)  No boost gauge though - looks like we'll have
to wait for RevLimit for that...  Take notes of torque curve and aim for
perfect launch.
Accelleration is not quite so breakneck as RR - more, uh... realistic. 
Shift points seem to make a difference.  You can run it really high and
then pop chirps up through third and fourth for fun.  Okay, remember that
RR sliiiiiiide?  In RgR if you get sideways by accident, you're probably
going to miff it unless you're some kind of great driver. Heh heh - isn't
that how it should be?  Either way you will scrub lots of speed.  A
successful drift in RgR needs to be planned and well executed, and is
_not_ built into the car as it was in RR. =^)  You can also execute gas
and brake drifts with differing results.  Countersteering has become an
art if you don't want to lose speed.  And yes, you can downshift with
appropriate results!
Other cool stuff = uphill and downhill require you to shift if you want to
stay alive.  Overtaking is way better implemented - you can't always just
fly by, so you often have to sit and plan it.  Inside line.  On the turn,
drop back inside, upshift for the hill and overtake on the outside - soooo
rewarding.  Fun to get out a 'slower' car and take on the old tracks so as
to have some real competition and traffic action...
Torque steer and under/oversteer with throttle control are great - however
watch the gas unless you want to end up sideways. :)
NOTE: if this is making RgR sound like the greatest technical driving sim
EVER, please be advised - the above comments are all in comparison to RR,
perhaps the most plastic, fake, unrealistic (and fun - wheee!) game ever
made.  So while RgR is not a 'sim', it's a lot more technical than RR -
that's the gist of it...

* Etc.
Haven't finished much yet, so no word on finale.  Although I did get a
short FMV on winning the first GP (placing 1st in each round of the 3 race
series).  Trophy room.  Music Player.  Adjust Screen Position.  Savegames
with Names (each takes 1 slot on card).  TT rankings for lap and ET.

That's all for now.  My life: school.  Making a RgR page after finals,
hopefully with a timetable and team graphics pages....

Oh... yeah.  about the Rage Racer girl... heh heh... I was just seeing if
any of you were paying attention...  Remember the realtime 3d girl from
Rave Racer?  YES, the one with the leather shorts (man, some people!) 
Okay, image her but in super high res prerendered FMV, looking very 90's
and cute... nicely done short hair and can be seen for instants in the
intro - sitting on the hood of (her) garaged Assoluto Fatalita in a
serious yellow and black Nomex suit.  She also winks and smiles.  I don't
know if she talks yet.  Must win more races....

no! study!
-- 



_____________________________________________________________________

      uh... maybe I should make a .sig someday...
      But we're all slowly dying anyway, so what's the point?
____________________________________________________bcolwell@best.com