The best launch titles ever: Ridge Racer on PlayStation Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The best launch titles ever: Ridge Racer on PlayStation Paradigm gear shift. Feature by Martin Robinson Editor-in-chief Published on 27 Nov 2020 113 comments There are some games whose first encounters with you'll always remember. For me - and I'm sure for many others - it's Ridge Racer. First contact was made the summer of 1994 in a Hastings arcade, a whole week spent pushing 20p pieces into a machine that felt like it had been transported from some shiny new future (later that same week I'd get laughed out of a seafront dance record shop when I asked if they had any copies of Shinji Hosoe's incredible soundtrack). And then, six months later, there was the future shock of seeing this phenomenal thing running in a friend's living room on a Sony PlayStation that had been imported from Japan at great expense. The arcade had properly made it home, and it started a tradition of PlayStation hardware being christened with a sterling new racer from Namco - Ridge Racer V! Ridge Racers! Er, Ridge Racer 7 maybe? - that was sadly broken by the launch PlayStation 4, and we've been waiting for a proper new entry ever since. Oh how I miss those razor-sharp slides, those fictional sports cars that teetered on the edge of sci-fi with their outrageous designs, those thumping beats and dizzying synth lines of its turbocharged techno. Watch on YouTube Arcade racers haven't gone anywhere - indeed, we've had something of a resurgence recently - but games as stylish and slick as Ridge Racer? That's something that's sorely missed. So too is the future shock that Ridge Racer provided at the dawn of the PlayStation generation, and for all the pizazz of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, it's something that's missing a little from both launch line-ups. And that's what made Ridge Racer so special. It wasn't just a great launch title - it felt like an entire paradigm shift. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 11 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 59 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 3 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store