The Immaculate Vibes of Ridge Racer 4 

Type 4 really feels like Namco wanting a piece of that Gran Turismo success. There's been no other games in the series quite like before or since.

I've been playing R4 a ton this week. So much class.

Wait until you find out that some of the soundtrack used soundfont/midi music!

before the game launched, that intro video would air on TV , mainly VIVA TV and we would sit all day long on the tv, on the channel, just waiting to see the intro of it, we did the same with FF8 also btw, another stellar intro at the time. then my cousin who had a ps1 got the game and we had such a good time playing it. i was a fan since RAVE RACER : PROJECT RIDGE RACER 2 in the arcades and still am.... sad how the series just died. was glad to know a game called XENON RACERS kept up the spirit of RIDGE RACER and it is almost an homage to it, in case anyone wants to try a recent RIDGE RACER inspired game.

Ridge Racer is a cool game for cool guys like me

The PS had so many games with striking menus. Tekken 3, Wipeout 2097, Wipeout 3, MGS, RRT4... We literally don't make menus like that anymore. And those games in particular had impeccable vibes. You should check out the first Ridge Racer too, you can really see how they perfected their craft between those two.

Awesome video! Everything about R4 is inmaculate... the intro, the UI, the soundtrack! Last year I randomly stumbled upon a second hand copy of it and bought it inmediately

Interesting timing of RU-vid recommending me this video! I just got into R4 and been vibin' with it this week. Gotta say, nice video, you really put into a nutshell how this game feels!

presentation and music in this game are bar none

I watched that intro about 10,000 times when the game came out and would force everyone that would come into my store to sit through it. Absolutely brilliant intro to a game and excellent video from your channel. Ya gots yo'self a new sub, son!

You mentioned being captured by the style of the game and a game for me that felt like this, in hindsight especially, was Need for Speed: Porsche aka NFS5 aka Porsche Unleashed whatever and even still it has more then just it's charm that carries that game and why it's basically the only Porsche focused racing game that also helps in a historical sense plus very warm and "convincing" (dunno how to describe it rn) colours and tone where tracks had a "real" feeling to it and apparently it's the only NFS title with a finetuning sorta realistic approach to car hydraulic and it's damage model for the time was also quite neat where driving as damageless as possible helped one the most in it's two career modes. (EDIT: I noticed that Ridge Racer Type 4 has a similiar colouring technique and visual scheme going on where the light illuminates in a special way that makes you open yopur mouth for a few seconds in awe!) Sadly, the PC version is a bit tricky to set up and the PS1 version is nearly completly different and inferior in style where I think only the music is shared with each other and maybe some but not all of the cars. And if you wanna check NFS Porsche out, do try the PC version and maybe the music might also be pleasuring your ears, although like trance isn't a natural ear catcher I'd say in compare.

RRT4 is my all time favorite racing game. My one problem is that there was never a Dreamcast port (although I understand there was an exclusivity deal with Sony back then). Imagining this game with Dreamcast-level visuals and outputting in progressive scan...

You might dig the vibes of Kinetica on PS2. The ost does a similar job pairing soft and elegant instrumentation with rapid beats in some really unexpected ways, like the track Open Hand. Mars Looks Like A Honey Ball is another favorite. The racers are all wearing like, Iron Man suits with motorcycle wheels attached, so it’s got a fascinating, character-specific dance/trick system to generate boost. The designs are…hilariously skimpy lmfao but if you can get past that, it’s a chill time. And apparently it was Sony Santa Monica Studio’s first game, just before God of War. They even used the same proprietary engine??? Santa Monica Studio brought some fascinating ideas to the racing genre, considering they’d never made such a game before.

This game is so much fun!

The bassline do be slappin tho

Great video. Riiiiiidge racer!!!!

I watch camobot for the vibes

Great video about a great game

Ridge racer? I remember that one.

What I've always liked about Ridge Racer is that it embraces its arcade roots, and it uses the lack of licensed brands to build its own world. This is a world where Mr. Assoluto took the place of Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini, where Toyota and Honda are instead Kamata, and where Soldat replaces Bugatti - and they all have specific quirks unique to them, such as Assoluto's development of several boxer engines. More than anything, however, Ridge Racer Type 4 is about being at a turning point: MMM is under the new management of Sophie Chevalier, filling in the shoes of her ill grandfather and proving that she's got the skills to be there; Solvalou's owner Enki Gilbert is growing disillusioned with the world of racing due to the death of his son Giuliano, for which the owner of Pac Racing and former Solvalou driver, Shinji, feels responsible; Dig Racing Team has a glorious past but they're now seen as has-beens about to collapse under the lack of funding. It's also a turning point for Namco - the last Ridge Racer on the PlayStation, and thus a farewell to the 1990s. Another aspect that reflects this "end of the millennium" vibe is the music - cool, soothing, intriguing, and experimental. Acid jazz, neo-soul, funk, jungle. It's no mistake that the last race of the Real Racing Roots '99 is held on December 31st 1999, with your car crossing the line as you enter the new millunnium.

Holy CRAP the music is SO GOOD (⁠゜⁠o⁠゜⁠; I had never heard of this game, but damn if I'm not about to bop along to the soundtrack!

Games I've played purely because of the vibes: Okami Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 A Short Hike

I have the speciel controller made for it! It worked Really well! :D

You gotta try playing on the NeGcon Controller if you can get ahold of one!

I prefer analog stick but I used to beat the whole game 1st place with d-pad lol