Ridge Racer 6 is pure, simple, and smooth racing goodness.
I have a quality standard TV (no HD) and the visuals are very sharp. It lacks some of the detail of maybe PGR, but it still looks excellent. Most importantly, the frame rate stays right at 60 FPS. I can appreciate Namco leaving off a few graphical details here and there to keep the frame rate smooth. After building experience playing RR on the PSP, the first cars in RR6 are a little slow and the first set of tracks a bit easy (except for #7!!) but the difficulty and speed progress nicely throughout the game. In the World Xplorer mode, you can basically plot your own path through the races, making it less linear than it's PSP cousin.
The sound effects and music are great. The techno really suits the game play and it's a nice change from mostly rock music in other racers. I really don't like the announcer in RR6, but fortunately you can mute him or you can unlock additional announcers in the Xplorer mode.
I hosted an online game last night for about an hour with up to 8 players, and the gameplay was silky smooth. The framerate never dropped and there was no lag to speak of. Very impressive!
Overall, Ridge Racer 6 is a great, smooth running arcade racer for those who love them!
I'm a huge Burnout fan so I look forward to its release on the 360, and Full Auto as well, but I appreciate RR6 as a great alternative when I feel like pure, simple racing.