R4 still has to this day probably my favorite theme, ui, or aura if you will. Those menu screens along with the excellent OST make the game have a fun feel to it, before you even hit the road. Once on the road, the graphics, announcer, and OST are the best on the PS in my opinion. R4 running on an emulator is something that must be experienced too. This game looks amazing when turned up to 2x or 4x resolution. Everything about this game holds up so well. great video.
Does the emulator retain the texture warping that, to me, is the trademark of the classic PS1 look? Many emulators make PS1 games look good and silky smooth at 60-120fps. But fixing the texture warping somehow diminishes the nostalgia a little bit for me. Of course, I'm probably in the minority that likes the warping lol.
I really don't know if someday one game will come close to that... aura, maybe some game will try to do something close, maybe a new ridge racer (closer to the original series) could try, but I don't know if they could succeed
PREACH IT. Here we are, some 25 years later, and it's still my favourite racing game and god I wish Namco would do a modern remaster. And coming from a Sega nut in my youth, it pains me to admit it but Type 4 really just is *that* good, an absolute masterpiece that oozes style, and one that would get the Racing/Driving spot on my Desert Island collection.
Without knowing how the car upgrade system worked, starting with the hardest difficulty was super immersive. Team leader kept apologizing they didn't have money to buy better stuff when I barely qualified races.
One of my all time favorites ever. I was 6 (Year 2000) and my cousin gave me RR4 as a present. I used to only play NFS HP2 and could not handle the handling. I was devastated but my dad, the first and only time ever gaming, sat down with me and started playing. He smashed it and I watched him going through the whole campaign cheering with him every win he got. After that I figured out how to drive in RR4 and still play the game once every now and then. My RR4 CD is my car as I still adore the soundtrack and jam to it while driving around IRL. Such a masterpiece with the best memories. P.S: Big love to my dad!
The vibe this game has is unrivaled to this day. No other racing game comes close to scratching the same itch for me, maybe Ridge Racer V, and even then, it's still not the same thing. My god, how I wish Namco would give another go at this style.
Man I tore through this game , listened to its OST thousands of times, finished it inside and out... I'm overall a Daytona USA guy, but this game killed and murdered it. It was the first game I used manual transmission on a console. Because manual felt like the only way to control the supercars.
The original Ridge Racer was the first game I owned for the PS1, and I followed the series through RR Revolution and then Rage Racer, playing them constantly. When R4 launched, it was obvious from the beginning that it was a cut above everything else out at the time. That's saying a lot, because the PS1 was still in its glory days. It seemed as though each sequel or continuation of an existing franchise was better than the last, with the developers constantly pushing beyond the envelope of what was thought possible just a year earlier. R4, at the time, felt light years ahead. Beyond the improvement in the graphics and handling, Namco dropped the player into what felt like a fully-realized world, with a culture whose identity was built around the race. Often as I flew through the scenery, I found myself wanting to explore the buildings of the cities and the rolling hills and valleys of the sun kissed countryside. As mentioned in the video, the music is some of the best in the series and so far beyond anything else found in other racing games that it certainly deserved the limited OST release it was given overseas. Although I still have a PS2 and my original copy, these days I play the game via emulater with graphics upscaled to 4K widescreen, simulated Surround Sound and with throttle and brakes remapped to the triggers. It's as fun now as it was then, and the upscaled resolution allows me to finally see the fine details and touches the artists includedas an obvious labor of love. Of the subsequent games in the series, only Ridge Racer 7 on the PS3 has left me with the same feeling of awe and immersion, some 8 years after the release of 4. That's a testimonial to the greatness of this game.
One of my all time favourite games - the soul reason I originally downloaded Retroarch Absolutely adore R4.. the nostalgia is *real* Games that deserve a remaster/remake:
I can feel the nostalgia in your video and how much you loved playing it. I feel like that too. I replayed RRT4 many many times and still nowadays I listen to the OST. Never gets old. Video games nowadays cannot make you feel like this anymore. Thank you for making this vid.
Having played R4 back in the day and replaying it now, I'm impressed with how well this game holds up. I had no idea there were so many cars available - and I played it multiple times with each racing team... It reminds me of another PS1 racing game - Motorhead. While not nearly as polished as R4, Motorhead was silky smooth and responsive (in the 2-rivals, 60fps mode) and had that same "it just feels right" gameplay I associate with R4. Great video, thank you!
It needs a remaster. They could even do an arranged mode with it being 30 years later. Full damage car parts upgrades etc. They haven't done a ridge racer in AGES.
Agreed on soundtrack. One of the reasons every fan of period specific video games should own this one. Gran turismo music is often regarded. This soundtrack is underrated.
Ridge Racer type 4 is the goat. Been a huge fan of this series since the first game on PS1 and the fourth is just perfection. I preordered the special edition back then, the one that came with the legendary Jogcon controller. I will say it's a shame the series went downhill when it moved to PS2 and even more so on PS3, although the PSP ridge racer is really good. Still I've been a bit sad that this game series died off, I always wished it would come back and use the formula they used for R4.
I remember re-buying this game like 12 years ago. It remained in my mind from its original release owning it being an instant classic. Loved the graphics, music, story and over all charm. Just need to finally get a neg con for it.
Ah yes... R4, a game that has supreme design philosophy that's never been surpassed. It's sad tthe franchise itself is fading away, but at least we can still appreciate this masterpiece via emulator!
I always wish this game had some unlockable tracks in it along with an extra Grand Prix mode that you'd get after completing it with all the teams. Feels like you get a lot of really cool stuff in this game that just gets relegated to time and extra trials and while those are fun I always wanted more from this game as it's practically one of my favorite racing games of all time.
It's one of my most favourite racing games on the PS1. The announcer is hilarious when he makes his comments during each lap or section time: "Okay, two laps to go.." "My grandma drives faster than that! Get with the program!” "Show em Ed's ball tear!” Some of it really wasn't appropriate for kids and weirdly, explicitly obscure given it's a racing game.
Very nice video! I discovered this game fairly recently and decided to give it a shot because the story aspect of the game intrigued me between races. Normally I don't think people care for that sort of thing in their racing games, but I really liked how it gave you motivation to get those top ranking places so you could see the progression of your relationship with the managers. This video deserves more views though! It's very well done!
Thank you very much! The views this has gotten so far have already been way more than I was expecting, and while I'd obviously like more, I'm just grateful that people chose to watch it in the first place.
Very cool video, the first time I stumbled upon this game was when I was playing ridge racer on the psp and it had prizes which were demos/openings of their past games and concept arts, also it had a E3 teaser for RR6. RR4 was always a mystery to me because I didn't have the internet back then and I loved rewatching the opening over and over again because of how good it was but when I finally found it and played it on my phone my mind was blown away, that game felt and played as good as the opening, love it.
I watched that intro video *every time* I booted the game - at the time, it was one of the most stunningly realistic ingame videos I'd ever seen, with the vehicle and track (as far as I was concerned) surpassing even what Hollywood could achieve at the time
wish this game is remastered for modern consoles and PC since Sony is also releasing PS games made for PC port nowadays.. that would be awesome to relieve the good ol days..
You forgot about the hidden Link Cable race on Ridge Racer Type 4. The option only appears when there's a link cable plugged in and currently hooked up to 2 active Playstation consoles.
I've had a physical copy since I was a kid, but I remember barely ever playing it being busy with stuff like Yugioh forbidden memories and burnout. But after watching this video I want to play my copy and maybe talk about it eventually. Great video! As someone as well still working on editing skills and remembering to use certain things, I will take a couple things here into consideration.
Wow, that means a lot if one of my videos motivates someone to play a game for themselves, glad you liked it and thanks for the kind words! Hope you enjoy playing Ridge Racer Type 4 when you get the chance!
@Mach5Mike honestly I think rally sport challenge 2 the series xbox focused on before forza heavily would be a great video to do. It's one of my personal favorites and I see it as like a successor to the sega rally games. I just wish there was more then 2 on the original Xbox
you have to play this with the Jogcon. Its a trip! This is still bar none my top racing game. Nothing still has top this for me. 4 teams, 4 story lines , and tons of replay value. I love it how getting a new car will be dependent on your performance in the current block. if you race perfect, you get the best. but if you hit too many corners, you may get a slower car. If you fail to place and have to continue, then you get downgraded again. The controls, the tracks, and holy the sound track. Its still the best sound track in a racing game i ever heard. I still pop this sound track in rotation. side note. The teams are named after Namco classic arcade games or characters. Like Solvalou is from Xevious and DRT is DIG DUG. Just useless trivia to add. Great Review! Subbed!
this is the channrl i was looking for gosh dang it took forever. Needed someone who just focused on arcade racing and not one of the 3 AAA open-world racing games/simulation games.
Recently rebought the game but in Japanese. Gave up on it earlier as I didn't understand the driving mechanics at the time. Now that I played RR1, RR Revolution and RR7 I gave this game another chance after experiencing the mechanics from different games. I will say after a first play through and getting a game over, the experience was frustrating (due to lack of knowledge of track layout) but exhilarating by the time the credits rolled. I learned from the challenge of RR7 that the track is more of your enemy than the AI opponents and this is cranked to 11 with the heavy bass of the music and technical design of the tracks as well. With a bit more practice I will soon master it like the other games and hopefully feel less frustrated and and enjoy the drifting experience.
If not for that pesky Gran Turismo series, R4 might stand as the greatest PS1 racing game. And the vibe and aesthetic cool of this game was always undenieable.
It IS! The greatets PS1 racing game... Gran turismo became huge in PS2, not that wasnt good on the first one, but still lacked some things or two and had a fierce competition in the forms of Type 4 and Need for speed: High stakes. Top three to me is Type 4-GT2-HIgh stakes.
I hope Namco made a Ridge Racer Type 4 Remake, 7 Remastered or New Ridge Racer. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Ridge Racer. If did Klonoa, Pac-Man, Baten Kaitos, Why not Ridge Racer? It's a pity that only Cruis'n survived. Daytona USA is on the brink of death due to SEGA exiting the arcade business.
Sega is still very much in the arcade business. They operate some of the most popular rhythm games in Japan Chunithm and maimai. Initial D arcade is also still quite popular too in Round 1 arcades in the US. Sega’s coin op games are mainly marketed for Japan only but fans have made mock servers for these games to run outside Sega’s boundaries.
I was frustrated that this game was treated like an arcade with limited tries for a championship before a game over (this is on a home console for crying out loud). After one game over I put my head down and concentrated on the track layout over the AI opponents and succeeded. Game gives zero excuse for a close 2nd or 3rd place finish. You must win first at all cost. Focus on improving your laps with the track and avoid contact with AI opponets and walls.
I searched for some images and you’re right, the nose and headlight designs are nearly identical, it’s like a mashup of Corvettes old and new, which makes the Lizard Officer an even cooler car for me as a Corvette fan!
ridge racer was the perfect equilibre between race simulations and futurist gravity non-sense. at least, you have the 4 wheels touching the ground while evoluating into this sci-fi universe.
It's a fun game though I get a little frustrated with bumping into the AI cause they block me. Nonetheless I like the cars and general feel of the game
Honestly, as great as this game was for its time, I'd argue that the handling in the old PS1 Ridge Racer games aged a little rough for me. I always thought Ridge Racer V took the handling of R4 and made it a lot better to control while still having that heaviness to the cars. I get that the later games didn't have the same kind of style R4 had and I still really like R4, but I couldn't help but place the later games over it. I always have this feeling that R4 was mostly praised for its style, music, and story more than the actual gameplay.
Might be because it was the first one I played but out of all of them, I think I only really like 5's drifting more or equal. I also just really like how the drifting functions in this game since where you start the drift and where your at before a corner feel like they matter more. That said, it is a pretty barebones game when you break it down and your probably right that a lot of the love comes from things besides the gameplay itself.
I really struggle to get a handle on the handling of these cars. It seems to be more an input thing... The steering seeming to be slow and then suddenly snapping if you hold the steering input a fraction too long.
God I wish namco would remaster this game. I would be satisfied with even using an old engine like the ridge racer 6 engine or the ridge racer 7 engine and just remaster it using that... I'm sure there's a whole advanced shader engine you can apply on top of it so the graphics have a modern look and feel but just give me something namco! It's borderline criminal to have an arcade racer this complete to not have a modern remake... You got the OST which is pretty universally loved by the mainstream. You've got a story that actually is worth reading with genuine emotional storytelling and you have a great environmental foundation to build on... Maybe add a Malibu race track and maybe a tropical Floridian race track just as a contrast to the urban environment and I think a lot of people would enjoy it myself included...
i loved r4 for how good it was, and hated it for being so easy. like, get first place quickly then bored to death. Only the time trials against the special cars were somewhat challenging. And coming in second or third on purpose to unlock the 320 cars was really annoying
Will you be Willing to do Games From the *"Wipeout"* Series Like for Example *"Wipeout 64"* For the "Nintendo 64" The Original *"Wipeout"* Trilogy(That of Course being the Original *"Wipeout"* it's sequel *"Wipeout 2097"* & the 3rd game on the PS1, *"Wipeout 3"* (Preferably the Special Edition of the Game Released in Europe) As Well as the PS2 & PSP Era Games In That Regard(Of Course I am Referring to *"Wipeout Fusion"* (For the PS2) and the 2 PSP Follow Ups(That Being *"Wipeout Pure"* & *"Wipeout Pulse"* With *"Wipeout Pulse"* Getting Ported to the PS2)) In The Future?????
It's going to be later down the pipeline, but one of my video ideas for this year is actually Wipeout HD on the PS3, so I hope you'll check it out when I eventually get to it!
How though? I've never been able to do a single drift in this game, only a multiple-corner wobble to and fro like the car is spinning about its centre on a scalextric track.
I brought up how I drift at 1:45, let off the gas and tap the brake while turning, and the car should start sliding. Then you hit the gas again and countersteer when needed. Not all of the cars can drift though, I briefly cover that at 3:50.
World Driver Championship on N64 was better IMO. I could never get on with the handling in RR. WDC has a great variety of tracks and a similar career mode with team managers.
I play this game on ps mini and it lags. My flatscreen added to it before I found the game mode setting. But it still has big control delay of 15ms. Is this just my version, on the mini? Other games don’t have input lag...
@@C.I... I though so. Because every other game apart from Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo have no lag. SPF2T is _almost_ game breaking. It’s actually kind of shocking, in that case. I can really only just play it. You have to time everything to be 15ms before you want it to occur. Nobody has _ever_ mentioned the input lag. If it didn’t have lag, the game is a 10/10. But given the lag, really it’s a 6.5. The SNES is a huge offender in this regard. So many snes games have input lag. I’m not talking about slowdown. I’m talking about input lag/controller delay.
Perhaps it's because I've almost exclusively played PS1 games on my PS3, so any input lag has always been there and I just got used to it over the years, but I believe the game is very much playable going the PS3 route, with how fast this game can get I feel like I would notice if my inputs weren't registering fast enough, and would have brought such a thing up (or not bothered to cover the game at all). Just my limited experience though.
@@iwanttocomplain And I agree with that, I was saying from my experience, I didn't think that was the case playing this game, or other PS1 racing games via PS3 like Crash Team Racing and Wipeout. But again that's only my personal perspective, I can't claim I'm an expert on a matter like this.
It's appalling how I read left and right on how "great" this series is. Except... Every time I try to drift in this series, I end up in the wall. Every other arcade racing game: fine. RR: Wall And this from the first outing on PS1 up to the RR7 on PS3. If I drive grip, I'm fast. If I drive drift, wall.
Against other games with drift mechanics NAMCO seems to have their rendition of "drift mechanics" that you have to get used to. Took me several games and now I have to get used to the feeling on RR4. It is very different from RR7 and RR1 to say the least.
I have major gripes with this game. As good as the praise gets the career mode is boring and repetitive. You race the same order of courses over and over it sucks. You will never race class 2 or 1 cars on Helter Skelter or Wonderhill. Namco really botched the modes with this game it seems all they were going for is graphics and presentation. If they worked on the modes a bit more this would have been the best racing game on the PS1. Also asking you to get 3rd place on the opening races goes everything against what a racing game should be. For a full completion run to get the Pac-Man car and the secret song this is mandatory and it’s painful.
