Well said Sir! Well said I keep coming back to the same game with slightly better graphics....all for the love of the crazy drifting (not to mention the courses have always added quite a bit of flare). And it doesn't matter what they add, it's still that same game from 1993 at its core. EXIT: I will say though, I'd really like to use my Moga on this game instead of the virtual buttons (and I can't do tilt....just horrible with it). Tired of smacking a wall because my finger is slightly off from the button or the dreaded turbo instead of left turn
Wow just started on class 2 and I can see what a few people mentioned early on. They really juiced this game as far as difficulty curve and the competence of your car against the competition. $45k just for a stage 1 upgrade??? When the payout is only $5k at most and then subsequent replays will only b around $1,300, they really tried to make people grind or just buy IAP creds. Too bad.....I hope they balance this. Sure u can get thru the 1st 2 seasons pretty reasonably, but I can't even begin to fathom the amount of grind it's gonna take in class 1. Here I am feeling burned once again by namco bandai....thx NB.....2 times in 2 yrs....same franchise #######
I'm most of the way through class 2 and haven't had to grind. I did find I had to lower my standards about how I progressed though, since the finances do cut closer. In classes 4 and 3 I imposed a rule on myself that I never moved on to the next race until I got 1st in a race. I was able to do that all the way without ever grinding to upgrade my car, just by practicing each event until I could complete it very cleanly. When I got to class 2 for some events I could not come in 1st no matter how well I learned the track and how cleanly I ran the event. At first I thought I'd need to grind or make IAPs to upgrade my car, but then I realized the game only requires me to come in 3rd to progress, and I was just imposing the "must come in 1st to progress" rule on myself. I have been able to get at least 3rd in every class 2 event without any grinding, and 1st in a lot of them. When I earn enough money to upgrade my car, I then go back to the events I didn't win and retry them, and so far have always been able to win them. I do agree though that the game is not nearly as generous with vehicles as the console versions, which is obviously done to encourage people to make IAPs. In Ridge Racer 6 on my Xbox, by the time I finish a car class I've earned probably 5 or 6 cars of different types in that class, whereas in the iOS version I've only earned 1. Personally I don't begrudge them that, since I also paid 1/10th the price for the iOS version as the console version. Honestly, I've gotten so much more than $3 of enjoyment out of this game at this point, that if it does get a little grindy by the time I get to class 1 I won't have a problem with spending a few bucks to keep the game fun. I understand others feel like as soon as they've paid anything over $0 for a game that they should be entitled to a full premium experience, but I think of it more on a spectrum, where the more I pay the more premium the experience should be. IMO $3 is still a lot closer to the free end of the spectrum than the premium end, at least for a game this good. But that's just me.
Good assessment ^^^. I'm feeling the same about this game. I honestly haven't had this much fun with an ios racer. Kudos
I understand where ur coming from. What I dont like is the tought that paying a 10th the price makes it ok to get a 10th of the experience. I'm not holding a gaming system in my hand, nor a controller with six axis or vibration or analog sticks. I'm holding a phone that happens to be able to recreate (on a small scale) a console experience. But to say it's ok to expect less because we're paying less? Isn't that what the devs want? In my opinion, I have limited real estate on my phone, as well as limited gaming time that is split between this and a console. Nothing that is ever done on a phone will be the console experience....even games imported to iOS have changed for the platform. With that in mind, devs as well as consumers know we're getting a smaller package. But to allow a dev the notion that it's ok to under deliver or throw in a pay wall on something people already paid for, that intrinsically goes against my principles. My issue is that the review of this game by TA and then other outlets where they had a Namco rep explaining how accessible this game is and how well balanced the money system is....that's a straight-up lie. It's one thing to beat around the bush about something, but to outright lie and say that there's no grinding or pay walls....BS!! That's what I based my decision to buy this game on. I've been playing for half a day now just trying to beat the 3rd race of the 3rd tourney on class 2.....not only have I still not won enough money even for 1 upgrade, but I can't place better than 6th in it. And NB adding the per race boosts is also another way their trying to grab money. On the PS Vita version (which is by no means better than this vers.) these boosts were part of an unlock setup where you payed towards these unlocks. Once unlocked, u could set these up on ur car anytime. Yet here it's a per race ordeal for a good chunk of money, considering it gets ridiculously expensive on class 2 and up to upgrade EVEN STAGE 1. That's what bothers me the most is the 10x price increase with THE SAME PAYOUT. If I were making more in higher class races, that would be one thing, but this......this is the $#!+ that made me curse this company last year when they crapped all over Vita owners with an IAP fest that started with 3 cars and 2 tracks (and everything else had to be bought with IAP.....cars, tracks....even the damn music).....and that cost $29.99!! So if the mobile gaming front is based on "pay a little up front and a lot more once you're hooked", that's crap. No offense, But I don't buy it. I have games that were free that I've been playing for over a year and not dropped one penny into it. I also have paid-for titles where the devs absolutely wouldn't hurt their own rep or alienate their fans by adding IAP (unless it were episodic and stated up-front by the devs). If they wanted us to spend more money in game, then make it free. If you're going to charge for a game, most people are going to assume that it's a premium title. If they came out and said "we're charging $3 up-front and you'll have to pay more as you go" that would be different than charging a premium and structuring it like a freemium. There has to be a point when a dev goes "this game is either freemium or premium." And I'm telling you right now, I know this Namco Bandai company and it's not the Namco we remember from back in the day. NB would sell their customers' souls to the devil if it put even 50 cents more in their pocket. Hell, after the implosion that was RR Vita, everyone assumed the series was dead. They disgraced themselves so bad that no one in their right mind thought they'd try to do another RR. Yet they did, and then they pushed the no IAP and blah blah blah....all lies...
@chief78 I made it to class 2 and was able to buy a car (the fatalita) and a nitro upgrade before the first race just from the extra cash from the Class 03 Grand Prix. Playing through Class 02 was slow to upgrade but honestly I never had to play through a race more than once to get first. The difficulty spike is massive in Class 02 but then again you are dealing with faster cars in confined spaces. That is how Ridge Racer at the higher difficulties has always been. The ramp up from there in Class 02 I felt was fair enough that the AI was aggressive but beatable by just learning how to drive the faster cars. The AI does not have better cars than you as they are driving the same car class as you and do not have any of the boosts (which I still think are a crutch and a waste of credits). I haven't had to grind at all. I have had to replay a few races either by me not hitting a turn right and bumping the other cars or walls too much or me screwing up the touchscreen controls which are good but my fingers do wander from time to time. When I didn't get first it was a me problem and not a game problem. Once past the first series (the challenge tab) I had more than enough to upgrade my car most of the way. Then I moved on to the Grand Prix and maxed out the car after a few races. If you aren't quite good enough to win the early races or just haven't adjusted to the higher speed cars then I can get where you may be stuck or irritated but I'll tell you something that may make you a little more upset in that an upgrade or two will not help you win the Challenge series. I beat most of Class 02 Challenge with only a single nitrous upgrade. I didn't put my credits to the rest of the upgrades until after I beat all of the tournaments in the challenge series. The devs and reviews didn't lie. There is no need to buy anything extra to proceed. The only issue they don't mention is that yes, you can get stuck. While you can get stuck in other iOS racers by not having enough coins or stars to either buy a new car or proceed to the next series, in RR it is literally a race to race to progression. You either place 3rd or better and proceed or you don't which does narrow the focus. It's an old school approach that works for some while puts up a barrier for others. As a note: I mentioned the same thing about grinding and payouts in that other game and got blasted for it. Just saying. @bilboa The reason the game isn't so generous with the cars is that unfortunately there aren't that many. Granted the console variants re-purposed most of the lower level cars but there were still significantly more of them and they did look a lot different in the higher classes. That's one of my main issues with this game even though I really like it. There just isn't enough variety for me as there is literally one car that fits my driving style per class. I love driving to get my fix but I do agree that it kind of stinks and while I get the game was only $3 bucks it could use an extra car or two per class. When the update comes with multiplayer I'm hoping more cars get added. I would love to see an RC410 or the SYNQi.
@rapaleeman: I am able to progress, just so painfully slow. I guess when I'm going thru this game, I recall playing console where there was an ample enough of money and cars to keep progressing without having to go back much at all. I suppose this is the niche that all mobile games fall into, unfortunately. I'm pretty good at this game....not gonna claim I'm the, best but I'm pretty competent. And the later stages have always been harder, I remember the difficulty curve. What bothers me is how much more cars and upgrades cost at class 2 and higher compared to the payout. There's where the comparison to console has to end, unfortunately. And yes, Good Lord we need controller support. I'm tired of accidentally hitting nitro instead of left turn (and I don't do tilt....never liked it never will). So that is where my frustration lies (that and the the sometimes douchy AI that uses all the other cars to bump u eventually into a wall, ruining an entire race because even stage 1 nitrous takes a while to pop and you're really only gonna have a chance to pop it once).
As a note, you didn't get blasted, you got disagreed with. As long as people are reasonable and polite enough, it's not against the rules and perfectly acceptable for people to express disagreement. And the reason you were disagreed with is because you constantly had to make criticisms of aspects of the other game in every post you made praising the same aspects of this game when the irony is, as made clear by many other posts by other people on this game, that any criticism you made of that "other" game, while praising this one, is clearly the self same criticism that can be levelled at this game. Just saying. At least one of them isn't pretending to be be premium.
I get where some of your complaints are coming from. One thing I dislike about IAPs in games like this is that it creates a suspicion that the game is being unfair regardless of whether it actually is or not. If I hit a difficulty spike in a game which has no IAPs that could be used to boost performance, then I'll just assume that either I need to improve my skills or discover some new techniques or tricks, or maybe the game was designed poorly. However if I played the exact same game and hit the exact same difficulty spike, but the game has IAP boosts available, now I'm going to suspect the third possibility that maybe it's intentionally not possible to get past this point without making an IAP. I think that might be what's going on with this game. The only other Ridge Racer I've played a lot is Ridge Racer 6 on my Xbox 360. That game also gets extremely difficult, at least for me, in the higher classes in career mode. I still haven't finished career mode, and there are some races where I had to retry at least 20 times or more before I was able to win. Some events seemed so difficult, especially when using the dynamic cars, that I was tempted to think it wasn't possible to win. If there were IAP boosts available in that game I probably would have come to that conclusion, but since Ridge Racer 6 has no IAPs or even car upgrades, and I assumed the game was designed well enough, the only conclusion I had left was that I just needed to learn some better driving techniques to win. One advantage of the Xbox version is that you can watch replays of the top drivers in time trial mode, which allowed me to see just how much faster it was possible to go with the right techniques. I thought I was doing pretty well, yet top drivers were going 15 seconds a lap faster than me. I realized that there were a whole set of techniques that I didn't even realize were possible with the dynamic cars, for building up boost in corners and using it on the straights, that make a huge difference. It's too bad the iOS version doesn't let you watch replays. My experience with Ridge Racer Slipstream so far has been similar. Every time I've encountered a race where I couldn't come in at least 3rd with my current car, it's turned out that with enough practice and rethinking of my driving techniques I was able to get at least 3rd and proceed. Often it required more than just learning the track well and not hitting walls or rear-ending cars. I had to think carefully about where I was using my boosts, and where to stretch my drifts to gain nitro, and be more aggressive about blocking other cars from passing me. The latter was difficult for me, since I'm normally a fan of more realistic racing games, where blocking and shunting are frowned on, but in this game blocking and bashing must be embraced, since the AI will be doing it to you all the time.
Asphalt launched at a dollar. I paid for the game. That is considered premium to me yet it still offers the same pay for boosts and lethargic, snails pace of progression past the fourth season, especially if you happen to buy or upgrade the wrong car. The difference is that those boosts in Asphalt are basically required to place or progress at a reasonable pace. The amount of credits per race is a massive issue as there are so many cars that all can be upgraded. Those upgrades then double as soon as you buy the first cheap one. RR is about skill outside of the credits needed to buy the car needed for each class which the game gives you if you progress in the linear path the game gives you. It isn't about how many upgrades you put on the car. Other games are typically about the better the car or mod, not this one which is the reason I have zero issue with it. I've made that clear yet some don't seem to get it. Anyway, if you think that this game is pretending to be premium then I don't know what you consider to be premium. This is the exact same way the console games work except instead of doing super difficult one off manufacturers trials you just earn credits which to me is actually a lot easier. I have unlocked most of the cars (the ones that I like to use at least) just playing through the single player progression without having to grind or replay races over and over to get credits to get an upgrade. The prices are almost non-existent as the upgrades, especially for the Class 02 cars aren't required to progress. I have a bunch of cash left over after the battles but don't want the grip cars so I'll hold onto my cash for the hopeful extra content that comes with the multiplayer update. I could see for the car collector the credits may be a little sparse and that is a legit complaint, but not for those just looking to progress If you are so good at the game then you shouldn't have any problems progressing. I'm no game master or anything but I didn't have an issue at all. Yes it took a couple of tries to get first in every race but I was able to get at least third on every race. If I due get something less, this is usually due to me screwing up something in the race. If you were upset that you bought the wrong car or something then I might be a little sympathetic as the game doesn't really explain much in that sense (neither does Asphalt in the scheme of things either as the stats are pretty much not true at all in comparing cars). Your complaint is that you think the cost for upgrades are massive and you can't progress. You said as much a few posts back but now changed your tune that you are competent at the game but the prices are too high. I'm here to tell you that you don't need the upgrades to proceed so while I get the prices seem high and the progression does narrow if you don't get third, if you are looking to use those upgrades as a crutch to blow the competition out of the water that's not going to happen. This is not the game for you then. Unlike other games (this includes Need for Speed Most Wanted which I actually really liked despite the one off boosts on the outset looking shady as it seemed fair in the end as I progressed to better cars) Ridge Racer isn't about getting a faster car or buying upgrades. They help but aren't necessary to win. Ridge Racer is about getting better at driving the car that has the style you prefer fastest around the track. It is more player versus car versus track instead of versus AI although the Slipstream mechanic while a double edge sword in difficulty actually makes it a little easier to wiz around the track faster. If you are stuck, then get better. I hate to be that guy as that is a terrible internet type of thing to say but that is the only advice I can give anyone playing this game which is why even on the outset I strongly advised against anyone paying to buy RR bucks and skipping ahead. Ridge Racer despite being an innocent looking arcade game and despite what Namco wants to believe is actually a niche title with brutal difficulties. Much like Tekken. It is a company trait it seems.
I think we all three (and I'm sure plenty more) agree that this game takes practice, practice, and then practice on your practice I wasn't trying to change my tune, just clarifying that it's not that I don't have the skill to proceed...I do. I suppose maybe it's partly frustration for learning the intricacies of this iteration and where on the tracks to pull what. I'm slowly but surely progressing...I suppose I'll just medal out so I can unlock class 1. I do try to get 1st on every race and will replay one multiple times...I know I can progress as long as I medal.....just slower (exponentially) once you hit class 2.
I like this game a lot. Definitely different from any other racer I've played (I'm new to RR). Prices do seem quite high to me even in class 3, but I fully admit I probably just need to practice more instead of trying to upgrade. I could use some advice, though. In class 3 I bought the truck since it had the highest rank (for credits) but I'm having trouble progressing with it. Was that a bad buy? Should I grind for a car? Also, my main problem is other cars constantly slipstreaming me. What's the best way to deal with this? And finally, does anyone know of some videos or some examples of good RR driving technique? It's super fun but surprisingly hard and I want to get better. Thanks!
I haven't tried the class 3 truck, but from my experience trying a few other cars, it seems like any car can work, they just require different driving techniques. The truck is a grip car in this game, so you'll rely more on being maneuverable, and less on drifting a lot. As for thwarting sliptreamers, I just try to weave back and forth when going down straights, being careful of course not to contact the walls, to make it harder for them to slipstream. Also work on blocking cars and smashing them when possible. The other thing is, if you can get enough of a lead the other cars won't be able to slipstream you, for a while at least. Work on using slipstreaming to your advantage by using it to just keep up with the front pack while you build up multiple nitro tanks (assuming you've upgraded your nitro), and then do a two-tank burn to try to get enough of a lead to get out of slipstream range. They'll catch up eventually but hopefully by then you've built up another tank of nitro.
I think part of rapaleeman's point is that you are assuming that you need to upgrade your vehicle to progress, in which case you'd be right that progression is slow in class 2 due to the prices. rapaleeman is claiming that in this game you don't really need to upgrade your vehicle to progress if you practice enough, so the fact that upgrade prices are higher is irrelevant. I can't completely vouch for that since I have been upgrading my vehicle whenever I can afford to, but I can say that it seems less necessary to upgrade in this game than in some other racing games. There have been a number of class 2 events where I couldn't get higher than 4th or 5th, and then practiced a bunch and discovered some new variation in my technique and was able to get 1st or 2nd. It sounds like rapaleeman has a bit more experience with Ridge Racer games than me, so based on my experience, I can easily believe that he's able to win with fewer upgrades and retries than me. I really do get the feeling with this game that winning is more about acquiring the right skills than having the right car or upgrades compared to some other racing games. It's not that other racing games don't require skill, it's just that the upgrades seem to make a much more dramatic difference, so that if you don't have the right vehicle or upgrades, your opponents will zoom out of sight at the start of the race before you've even had a chance to make any mistakes. I never have that happen in this game; it generally seems like if I'm not making any big mistakes then the race feels close, like if I'd just done a little better I could have gotten a medal.
I got curious after posting this, and went and bought the class 3 truck, the Danver HJ6000, and I was able to come in 1st in the first six class 3 races. This is with no upgrades to the vehicle. It took me a number of retries to get the hang of the handling, which is quite different from other vehicles I've tried in the game. It's got some weird traits. In some cases it seems to be hard to break loose into a slide, but in other places it just wants to keep drifting even down straights. Now that I've started getting used to it, it seems like I can do just as well as with the Prophetie, which is what I used the first time through class 3.
Still loving the game. It doesn't look as good on my iPad Air (due to blocky models and low-res textures) so I prefer playing it on my iPhone 5 where it runs beautifully.
