PS1 Game Review: Ridge Racer

 Ridge Racer is one of the launch titles for PS1.  It is a game that has an arcade style feel and it came out with a successor after a solid first game.  This started a bit of a cult type feel to this game.  It is a game that centers around Racing around a seemingly expansive street course and a few difficulties.  Here are the positives and negatives of Ridge Racer.

Positives:

1. Arcade type style and it is actually quite good.  You don't feel like a Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing where you don't have control.  Here you have the control of the car and you do well with this or you don't.  Simple really as that

2. As you go higher in difficulty, it gets tougher.  I think that is pretty much as simple as that.

3. However, as you go higher, you are also rewarded with better cars.  I think it is pretty much also sums that up.

4. Graphics for the opening start to PS' career and this game are quite good.  This game has done well and honestly holds up fairly well over the years.

Negatives:

1. I feel their idea of doing a 'back to front' story is kinda off.  They make it hard on you to start but the idea is for you to drive to the front in a few laps, which is a bit unrealistic at times.

2. If you brake you slide all over which I am not sure why that is as well. That part is completely unrealistic and honestly the weirdest part of the game.

Even with the negatives, this game is pretty good overall.  Ridge Racer is an arcade style game and it knocks it out of the park and does everything pretty well minus what is said about the negatives.  I feel even with that it is a good to great racing game on the PS1. 

PS1 Game Review: NASCAR Racing

 NASCAR Racing was one of the first racing sims to go to PS1.  It was a game that had good success on Windows and other computers and it went to the console with this game.  This game has its ups and downs but it is something that didn't gain traction to go forward to the consoles and went back to the computers after this.  Here are the positives and negatives of NASCAR Racing.

Positives: 

1. Most tracks are on here as of the 1996 season, including North Wilkesboro.  It is a bit surprising that this was the case as North Wilkesboro was out at years end.  I know Daytona isn't on here but that track wasn't on a game until 2001 so that makes it better to stomach knowing that no game had Daytona on it until 2001. 

2. Most of the big names at the time are also on this game.  So names like Wallace, Earnhardt, Labonte, Waltrip, Gordon are all on here from 1996.  That tends and lends credibility that this game was in the right direction right away.

3. There are two fantasy tracks that are honestly quite fun to drive and are noted to be pretty fun overall with this game.

Negatives:

1. No full field and that is a disappointment considering the computer games had essentially a full noted field at most times. 

2. The cars are blocks essentially and take damage like they would if they were tanks so they are not realistic.  It essentially is like a block and you can just run anyone over and not have an issue.

3. The cars are also not realistic in handling and notes that this is a struggle.  I know it is 1996, but this could have been good with the engineering of the game.

Much like Codemasters with Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing, Papyrus with NASCAR Racing mainly just had this be a game that just is lackluster and average at best.  The best way to explain this game is like Jarrett and Labonte, as many positives and as many negatives.  Just an average racing game that doesn't wow you.

PS1 Game Review: Andretti Racing

 Andretti, just the name should speak volumes. It is a name engrained in any time of motorsport.  From F1, Indycar, Sports Car, NASCAR.  Really any racing and you know the name Andretti.  Whether it is Mario Andretti, Michael, John, Jeff or any Andretti.  They also got into the foray of a PS1 game called Andretti Racing which also included stock car racing in addition to open wheeled racing.  For this game, it has it's good and bad, which are previewed below.

Positives:

1. Simple and basic, which is what EA Sports wanted to do with this game.  It ended up getting a greatest hits label but also it wasn't half bad to drive this game.

2. Driving is something you can do and have control on.  Unlike Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing, you won't twitch like crazy and have little to no influence on the car without crashing.  You can drive and handle the car and make changes.

3. It is some realistic tracks, some fantasy, which I would believe was mid-90's thing with most racing games as NASCAR racing didn't have it nor did NASCAR 98 and such.  So it was cool to see designed tracks and race on them and they didn't disappoint.  

4. Graphics to this are pretty good honestly.  Stock cars look like stock cars, same with indy cars.  The tracks are not like blocky and bad, and flow with the game.  

Negatives:

1. Stock car series is far easier than the Indy Car series or open wheel series.  They didn't do much in the input of this and it was shown easily.  I always start with Stock Car to just get it out of the way.  Typically finish first or second in this series first.

2. Indy Car series is almost too difficult as Stock Car is easy. They didn't really factor for this and it also shown itself in a bad way to be honest.

All in all that are the main negatives to this game.  Andretti Racing is still a better game than that of Jarrett and Labonte and CART World Series but doesn't square up to other racing games as well.  It is okay for mainly a one time play through and that is about it.

PS1 Game Review: Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing

 Jarrett, Labonte, two names embedded in the racing legacy's of four champion race car drivers.  Ned and Dale Jarrett as well as Terry and Bobby Labonte.  Meaning, they would have a great insight into NASCAR racing and a NASCAR game right? Yeah not so much.. as this is about Dale's son Jason Jarrett (essentially a Busch Series driver who didn't honestly drive after 2000) and Terry's son Justin Labonte (a race winner in the Busch Series in 2004) and their racing game, Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing.  The game company that made this game? Codemasters.  Yep that same company who either produces a great or a garbage F1 game every year made this game way back near the turn of the millennium.  This game, well, is good in some ways and bad in others.

Positives:

1. Mainly correct courses for the time of this game being made.  They did make one note and that was a short version of Brands Hatch.  Otherwise the courses are more or less pretty accurate for when they were made.  

2. Realism in car damage, to an extent.  If you smash the wall hard, you are liable to cause a lot of damage and ruin your race.  It makes that seem pretty realistic to a real racing car.

3. Realism in competition, also to an extent.  As you progress your competition gets harder and that is a good thing as well.

Negatives:

1. Honestly, the realism in car damage is not impacted in aerodynamics or anything remotely close to impact of racing plus it is fixable right away with a pit stop.  Therefore.. it doesn't do much for me on that.

2. The competition does get tougher but the bar is literally moderate at best for advancing to the next championships.  As long as you do well in a certain group of races, you are gonna finish top 2 or 3 and get the points needed.

3. This games music is fine but the driving is so all over the place and jittery it makes it hard to enjoy.  I play racing games for the sake of racing.  This game if you twitch at all you are going to wreck.  You don't have the chance to save your racecar from a wreck.

In all honesty, that's what I gathered from my last playthrough of this game.  It is mainly just a standard game for racing on the PS1.  Codemasters obviously has done far better but they honestly struggled with this one and really it doesn't excite me when I play this game as it did as a kid.