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R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, released without the 'R4' prefix in PAL territories, is a 1998 racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the fourth home title in the Ridge Racer series after Rage Racer (1996) and was initially released on December 3, 1998 in Japan, with global releases following in 1999.
Maintaining the arcade-style gameplay of its predecessors, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 introduces a new Grand Prix, named Real Racing Roots '99, consisting of four teams that the player may join, with associated sponsorships that can also be chosen, each offering different effects to the driving. Additionally, every team also has its own story mode, accompanied with a manager that interacts with the player during the season. The number of car models was expanded to include over 300 vehicles.
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 was positively received, with praise for its presentation, art, driving, and soundtrack, though some criticism was directed to its cars' overly light drifting compared to earlier titles in the series. Retrospective reviewers considered it as one of the greatest racing games ever made. The game was later re-released on the PlayStation Network service in 2011, on the PlayStation Classic console in 2018, and in 2023 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It was followed by Ridge Racer V in 2000, which moved the series on to next generation hardware.
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 is an arcade-style racing game with a strong emphasis on powersliding around corners. Vehicles use one of two styles of powersliding depending on the make of car they select: Drift and Grip. Drift cars require players to tap the brake once while turning to break into a smooth powerslide while Grip cars requires players to alternate between brakes and gas while turning to powerslide.
Vehicles are earned by playing through the game's Grand Prix mode. Players select one of four teams; R.C Micro Mouse Mappy (France), Pac Racing Club (Japan), Racing Team Solvalou (Italy), and Dig Racing Team (United States), who each have varying difficulties, and one of four manufacturers; Age Solo (France), Lizard (United States), Assoluto (Italy), and Terrazi (Japan), which determines the style of car and powerslide type the player will use. In each race, the player must attempt to reach a qualifying position, with later stages requiring players to place in higher positions to qualify. Depending on the qualifying position in each race, players will be awarded a new vehicle, or an upgrade to their current one, based on their team and manufacturer, with better cars earned for reaching consistently higher positions (i.e. the best cars are earned by placing 1st in each match while the least impressive cars are earned by just clearing the minimum qualifying positions). There are a total of 320 vehicles earned by racing with every combination of team, manufacturer and qualifying position. If the players unlock all 320 cars, they will unlock an additional one modelled after Pac-Man, for a total of 321 vehicles.
The game also features Time Attack mode, in which players can attempt to get the fastest time on each course, and VS. Battle, a split-screen mode for two players (the first to appear in the home console series) and an undocumented PlayStation Link Cable mode, allowing four players to play simultaneously. Players can also create their own car decors and participate in Extra Trials against powerful prototype cars. The game is also compatible with the PocketStation device in Japan, which allows players to trade cars with friends.
Development of R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 began in May 1997. All the 33 staff members had also worked previously on the original Ridge Racer (1993). The game was also the first Ridge Racer on the PlayStation to use Gouraud shading on polygons. Developmental staff members commented that much "waste" was removed in order to make Gouraud shading and high polygon counts possible. Similarly to the critically acclaimed Gran Turismo at the time, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 made use of SCE's Performance Analyser devkit. The team initially didn't expect to achieve all graphical advances but eventually succeeded in doing them, and even added additional features during development. Ace Combat 2 was used by the art director for inspiration regarding the sky effects in the game. The opening movie, featuring series mascot Reiko Nagase, took over six months to make including planning.
Hiroshi Okubo served as the sound director and lead composer of the game's soundtrack, with Kohta Takahashi and Asuka Sakai also contributing several tracks, and Tetsukazu Nakanishi and Koji Nakagawa contributing two tracks each. Whereas previous games had music inspired by rave and hardcore, R4 instead explores music styles encompassing funk, breakbeat, acid jazz, UK garage, progressive house, and neo soul. Okubo himself described R4's music as "more mature, more fashionable" compared to the past.
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R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 AI simulator
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R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, released without the 'R4' prefix in PAL territories, is a 1998 racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the fourth home title in the Ridge Racer series after Rage Racer (1996) and was initially released on December 3, 1998 in Japan, with global releases following in 1999.
Maintaining the arcade-style gameplay of its predecessors, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 introduces a new Grand Prix, named Real Racing Roots '99, consisting of four teams that the player may join, with associated sponsorships that can also be chosen, each offering different effects to the driving. Additionally, every team also has its own story mode, accompanied with a manager that interacts with the player during the season. The number of car models was expanded to include over 300 vehicles.
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 was positively received, with praise for its presentation, art, driving, and soundtrack, though some criticism was directed to its cars' overly light drifting compared to earlier titles in the series. Retrospective reviewers considered it as one of the greatest racing games ever made. The game was later re-released on the PlayStation Network service in 2011, on the PlayStation Classic console in 2018, and in 2023 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It was followed by Ridge Racer V in 2000, which moved the series on to next generation hardware.
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 is an arcade-style racing game with a strong emphasis on powersliding around corners. Vehicles use one of two styles of powersliding depending on the make of car they select: Drift and Grip. Drift cars require players to tap the brake once while turning to break into a smooth powerslide while Grip cars requires players to alternate between brakes and gas while turning to powerslide.
Vehicles are earned by playing through the game's Grand Prix mode. Players select one of four teams; R.C Micro Mouse Mappy (France), Pac Racing Club (Japan), Racing Team Solvalou (Italy), and Dig Racing Team (United States), who each have varying difficulties, and one of four manufacturers; Age Solo (France), Lizard (United States), Assoluto (Italy), and Terrazi (Japan), which determines the style of car and powerslide type the player will use. In each race, the player must attempt to reach a qualifying position, with later stages requiring players to place in higher positions to qualify. Depending on the qualifying position in each race, players will be awarded a new vehicle, or an upgrade to their current one, based on their team and manufacturer, with better cars earned for reaching consistently higher positions (i.e. the best cars are earned by placing 1st in each match while the least impressive cars are earned by just clearing the minimum qualifying positions). There are a total of 320 vehicles earned by racing with every combination of team, manufacturer and qualifying position. If the players unlock all 320 cars, they will unlock an additional one modelled after Pac-Man, for a total of 321 vehicles.
The game also features Time Attack mode, in which players can attempt to get the fastest time on each course, and VS. Battle, a split-screen mode for two players (the first to appear in the home console series) and an undocumented PlayStation Link Cable mode, allowing four players to play simultaneously. Players can also create their own car decors and participate in Extra Trials against powerful prototype cars. The game is also compatible with the PocketStation device in Japan, which allows players to trade cars with friends.
Development of R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 began in May 1997. All the 33 staff members had also worked previously on the original Ridge Racer (1993). The game was also the first Ridge Racer on the PlayStation to use Gouraud shading on polygons. Developmental staff members commented that much "waste" was removed in order to make Gouraud shading and high polygon counts possible. Similarly to the critically acclaimed Gran Turismo at the time, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 made use of SCE's Performance Analyser devkit. The team initially didn't expect to achieve all graphical advances but eventually succeeded in doing them, and even added additional features during development. Ace Combat 2 was used by the art director for inspiration regarding the sky effects in the game. The opening movie, featuring series mascot Reiko Nagase, took over six months to make including planning.
Hiroshi Okubo served as the sound director and lead composer of the game's soundtrack, with Kohta Takahashi and Asuka Sakai also contributing several tracks, and Tetsukazu Nakanishi and Koji Nakagawa contributing two tracks each. Whereas previous games had music inspired by rave and hardcore, R4 instead explores music styles encompassing funk, breakbeat, acid jazz, UK garage, progressive house, and neo soul. Okubo himself described R4's music as "more mature, more fashionable" compared to the past.