Another Ridge Racer? Yawn.....
Well, the presentation is definetely slick. And yes, there's the classic Namco babe with the boyish haircut. And lo and behold, no liscenses, so all the cars are slight modifications of actual models. Sometimes.
And that's where the game starts to come apart. I mean, after 5 installments of the same game, you would think Namco would spring a few bucks and get some real lisences. I mean, it's innovative that the creators take time to create new designs, but I feel that this hurts the game. Real cars means real accomplishment. I think back on the day that I FINALLY got an Enzo Ferrari in Forza Motorsports with total joy. Since this was a "real" car in the "real" world, I felt that I had earned it by putting in my time. When you get a new car in RR 6, it just feels like you did a nice trick and was rewarded with a cookie. Good dog, have a biscuit. Not to say that the cars aren't neat, because they are. They are extremely well-modeled and detailed. They are shiny and glossy, and generally attractive.
My next issue is the style of racing. This is a drift-racing only game. Previous versions at least had a choice of grip versus drift style racing. Personally, I am a grip-style driver (see above reference to Enzo), so I felt a little slighted that I wasn't even offered this style. Now, the drifiting is very well done, if unrealistic, and it only took a few turns to get it locked in.
Graphically and playability is pretty well represented. You really shouldn't expect any less from Namco, old hands at racing programming. I also appreciated the flexibility of the racing setup, where you can race a single track, or set up your own series at any length you desire. The menu system is a little cumbersome, making you start over at the end of every series, but this is minor.
But then comes the sound. One word comes to mind: Terrible! The music is simply not up to par from the previous versions, and the announcer....ugh. This guy is easily the most annoying person since Coolboarders 3 (YAGI!). Every other word is nitrous. Every other word! Have we just discovered this word? It wouldn't be so annoying if the announcer didn't go nuts every time someone used it. For example, when a opposing racer comes up behind, the announcer will ALWAYS say, "watch out, someone's using nitrous!". Thanks! I totally couldn't tell from the guy blazing past me that NOS was in effect. It only took about 2 races for me to finally turn the guy off. The other sounds are also equally uninspired. The squeal of tires sounds totally canned, like applause in sitcoms. Almost as if they had forgotten to put that sound in, and found the most generic sound file that they could put in. Shame on you, Namco!
So, if you are into driving, I might recommend against this game. It would make a great rental, but it's not something that I would personally keep around for long.