| R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 | |
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North American Cover Box art of R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 |
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, PlayStation Network |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation PlayStation Network
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| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) |
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 is the fourth game in the Ridge Racer series on the PlayStation.
Unlike some of the other titles in the series, this game is made only for a home console, and does not have an arcade machine version. It is the final Ridge Racer series game released in the PlayStation console before Ridge Racer V released exclusively on PlayStation 2. There are eight tracks and 321 vehicles, all of which are fictional. This iteration was one of the first games on the PlayStation to feature gouraud shading on the polygons, giving the game a visual depth that was previously missing. It was also the first Ridge Racer game on the Sony system to feature a two-player split screen mode, and featured two different driving models.
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The main mode of the game is "Grand Prix", where players take on the role of a racing driver new to the game's fictional "Real Racing Roots '99" Grand Prix. The Grand Prix is split into four stages - two qualifying races, two quarter-final races, three semi-finals and one final race on New Year's Eve 1999 - between which the player receives either a new car or an upgrade to their current one, based on their performance in the stage. In order to unlock every one of the cars, the player must race with every racing team and every manufacturer, in every qualifying position possible, hence enhancing the longevity of the game.
There are three types of variants for the video game logo for the NTSC-U/C (National Television System Committee), NTSC-J and PAL (Phase Alternating Line). On the black background, we see the word "WELCOME" in eagle bold font in white. Then the words began to shake up and down and after that, the red and white lines started to go left to right and do the same thing but the little bit of lines begins to fade out and after the same thing the word "WELCOME" started to fade out or disappear and the R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 game logo fades in white and soon, the background begins to change to yellow background and the game logo is now black instead of white. Also, the game logo begins to move up and stops at the top. The Announcer says "R4" or "Ridge Racer Type 4 and there is the copyright stamp at the bottom.
There are three types of variants: On Sony Computer Entertainment America, the logo says R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 and the copyright stamp says (C) 1998 Namco Ltd. All Right Reserved. On Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, this is a different game logo. The R4 logo has been dropped and nowhere to be found. Also, the copyright stamp is different and now said "TM and (C) 1998 Namco Ltd All rights reserved. On Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. this is a same thing as North America logo, but the info will appear below the logo.
R4 featured two models of handling; drift handling was the classic Ridge Racer handling where the player oversteers into the turn to slide the car around the corner, whereas grip handling is more realistic, employing the brake more and not utilising powerslides at all. There are a total of eight tracks to choose from.
There are four fictional racing teams available, each one managed by a different character who briefs the player between races. All the team managers have their own backstories.
There are four fictional car manufactures to choose from and one special car available:
The game has eight courses, six of them have a shared portion. The courses are:
Heat 1
Heat 2
Final Heat
By winning at least one time the Real Racing Roots '99, these circuits are available in Normal and Reverse directions for Multiplayer and Time Attack game modes.
Special edition box sets of R4 were packaged with the Namco Jogcon controller designed specifically for use with the game. The portable PocketStation device could also be utilized in R4 to trade cars with friends.
R4 featured a CGI animated intro with the Ridge Racer "mascot girl" Reiko Nagase, who first appeared in Rage Racer set to an acid jazz piece called Ridge Racer: One More Win by Kimara Lovelace.
The game includes a bonus disc containing a new version of the original Ridge Racer, called Ridge Racer Turbo (known in Europe as Ridge Racer Hi-Spec Demo). This game runs at 60 frames per second with gouraud shading utilised on the car models, as seen in R4.
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