Ridge Racer DS

Listen up, speed demons! This holiday season, Namco is brining the speed-driven, arcade-style racing game, Ridge Racer, to the Nintendo DS. However, this is not a standard racing game. Namco is teaming up with Nintendo’s NST studio (the team behind Ridge Racer 64, Wave Race: Blue Storm and 1080 Avalanche) to make sure that the DS is used to its fullest potential.

One of the most unique things about Ridge Racer DS is the control set-up. Instead of using the Control Pad, cars are controlled with the touch screen. The bottom screen has a giant wheel on it and players can move it with their thumbs or a stylus. The touch screen’s steering wheel is basically the same as analog control. However, various game sites are reporting that at this stage, the touch screen controls are a little buggy. Hopefully, NST will fix this before Ridge Racer DS is shipped to stores.

In addition to the touch screen steering wheel, players will have the option to use the Control Pad to control their car. This will probably be the easier control scheme, but it is interesting to see that NST is willing to try a new, innovative, control set-up with the touch screen.

Ridge Racer is famous for having arcade-style gameplay on a variety of cool courses. Ridge Racer DS is no different. There will be twenty tracks in three different locations, including the classic cityscape, a desert and a course from the recently released, R: Racing Evolution.

Of course, what would a game be without gameplay? Well, not much… Luckily, Ridge Racer DS will deliver with a standard single player mode. But, the game will really shine in the multiplayer mode, which allows for up to six players to race wirelessly. Not only that, but the multiplayer mode only needs one Ridge Racer DS Game Card for some of its features. Six people; one Game Card… It doesn’t get much better than that!

One nifty, and somewhat minor, feature is that two of the cars in Ridge Racer DS are video game themed. It’s possible to unlock a Pac-Man car and a Mario car. While it won’t make a big difference in the long run, it’s a nice little bonus for hardcore gamers.

Overall, Ridge Racer DS seems like it’s shaping up to be a solid racer for the DS. However, it has some tough competition: Ubisoft and Gameloft’s Asphalt Urban GT. With slightly better graphics, Asphalt Urban seems pretty good. But, Ridge Racer DS has a slight upper hand with its unique control scheme and the Ridge Racer name. The battle of the DS racing games will begin this holiday season. Buckle up… It’ll be a wild ride!
i dont know what this is?