What a sorry, sad state of affairs we've reached when statements such as that are not only voiced, but actually taken seriously and given credence.
I'll try to answer everyone here so this will be a long post. First @Gabrien: how is this a sad state of affairs? This is how Ridge Racer has worked since day one. You choose a drift car and it drifts. You choose a grip car and it grips. He was not sure why he couldn't earn boost and why he was having problems earning said boost. Since RR6 this is how it has been since they introduced the drift mechanic. I get not knowing why it was happening (I"ll try to explain the icons below) and the most obvious course of action is to buy the best car you can afford when moving classes but this is not that type of game. I was pretty clear as to why I felt he bought the wrong car based on his posts and my guess at his playstyle and I"ll be honest here. For my play style it is also the wrong car. I know of others that prefer grip cars and that is their choice. You just have to adjust. It's a sad state of affairs in my eyes when someone jumps to a conclusion before understanding the situation. The same can be said about buying the wrong car in any racing game moreso in the likes of Asphalt, NFS, or RR3 as a lot of times real money is involved or massive time sinks. Anyway believe what you wish but in this case I feel you were just trying to make a point or prove you are superior to others when there wasn't a reason or need to do so. @CHK: I haven't played RR1 in a long time. Sorry, I thought you mistyped. @dnk: I don't have the tech to upload replays but I'll put some tips below that should help out. For everyone else here is a quick brief of the four icons and what I bought in order to get through the first 2 tournaments (Class 4). I can help out up to Class 2 as I haven't beat that one yet (haven't been playing, will more on Monday when I'm in meetings at work). The machines are broken out into 3 types. Grip, Drift, and mixed which is pretty obvious but which one is which may not be. The first car is the mixed one in the Class 4 tier. It does everything on average and in Class 4 is not the one you want. You want the Fiarre. Now the icons. The first is obvious. It is the max speed. The second is the time to max speed so acceleration. The third and fourth are linked. The third is the grip and the fourth is the drift angle. Now here is where it gets tricky. The higher the grip does not mean whether or not you can drift. It just means how quickly you can regain said grip so the higher the number the better on Grip cars as even grip cars can drift in the RR world. The fourth icon is the drift angle. The further into the negative the more likely the machine will drift in a given turn and the further into the positive means the less likely it will enter a drift. All cars can drift but how sideways you get determines how much nitrous you earn on Normal and UC settings which is why you want Auto for grip cars. As for why the Fiarre. In the RR world the Class 4 cars are slow. A grip car will hug the corners but right off the bat you won't have enough CR to earn level 3 nitrous. Not only that but you need to learn to drift in this roller coaster of a game or else you will not beat the later challenges if this game is going where I believe it is going. I upgraded the engine first as the game instructed. After that I put everything into nitro until stage 4 to get Ultimate Charge (You can do this by placing first in the first 2 races). Set the first to EX and the second to Ultimate. EX to fill your gauge faster when fully sideways and Ultimate to fill faster while boosting in a corner. I then went to running gear and unlocked stage 2 where you can adjust the drift angle and moved that up a notch while lowering grip down a notch. This allows you to get even more sideways and continue the drifts through multiple turns with ease. The less grip also means you will increase speed through turns. You may need to change these to your liking as everyone's preferences are different but this is what worked for me and it was still really easy to keep control of the car. I have a Class 2 car set up for almost zero grip with massive drift angle so I know how to handle a borderline out of control car and the settings about for the Class 4 are better standard fair. IT should be easy to adjust but don't be afraid to experiment if this is your first RR game. Finally I upgraded the engine which isn't super important as the constant flow of nitrous and abusing Ultimate Charge will keep you at max speed most of the time anyway anyway which even at Stage 1 engine is like 200 MPH. The key to winning the races is to not pop off one nitrous at a time right out the gate. All races are 3 laps, all the time. This will not change. You are playing the long game, even in the knockout races. The key to every race in the slower cars where boost is a little harder to come by due to not being able to take the corners fast enough (it's due to the slower cars not the upgrades) is to build. Once you get 2 full tanks built up, pop one going into a tight corner and build up Ultimate Charge which will essentially refill the tank you just let loose. Immediately after that tank empties pop off the next one and slipstream behind the person in front of you and whip around them. Now the key to keep the AI off your rear is to get away from them so they can't slipstream you. If you get far enough ahead they will not catch up. Basically keep chaining the boosts to get as far ahead as possible and typically by the middle of lap 2, as long as you aren't bumping walls or hitting other cars on the way up the line you will be far enough ahead the AI can't keep up. Hit a wall or miss a drift and they will be right up your rear again. They are aggressive. Hope that helps. @EightRooks: I do agree that the game isn't perfect. There are some minor things I would love to change like the terrible interface for starters. With that said, for serious fans of the series this is the game for them. Much like my issues with Ridge Racer as a series, no matter how much Namco wants this to be the ultimate Arcade racer geared to everyone, it really isn't. It is a hard game built around literally one mechanic that people either love or they don't. The addition of nitrous and now slipstreaming, while cool for fans to give them a little something extra in terms of strategy, really isolates the game from the outside world moreso than it appears on the outset as these are super simple concepts. Much like the later Tony Hawk games and the constant additions of things like the revert that instantly created a massive skill gap that made the game unfun or super convoluted for some of the newer players to be competitive. This game is pretty, has great controls, and to me one of the more accessible versions of the series but it is still a hard game that, if the player doesn't know what to do, will lead to ultimate frustration. I am a massive fan of the series obviously as it was my first racing obsession past Rad Racer for the NES. I stuck with the series even though I got burned on Unbounded (not a Ridge Racer game at all) and the Vita variant (waste of money) since I love the out of control while being in control attitude of the series. Constant drifts and crazy speed make this series and this portable version, while a little too specific in terms of mechanics (as others are also having problems understanding what is going on on screen) is a great iteration despite not being on a console. The concepts weren't difficult but the way they were implemented was and the barrier of entry become rather high. Side-note: I'm not trying to come off as sounding like an elitist but re-reading this massive essay while proofing it, even I think I sound like a tool. Not trying to talk down to anyone or anything, just trying to help. I'll check back periodically to answer questions if I can to try and help out.
Sweet goodness what a post. Thank you, thank you thank you I've played, with some success, versions of RR but lots to learn for me. For those that are new, there is nothing in video game racing quite like massive drifts in a Ridge Racer game. Once I got the hang of it on my PSP years ago I was hooked and knew this series would have a place or cartridge in every system I would own hence. Accelerated served as a reminder of RR, but now we have a full-fledged legit entry to the series on our iDevices. For less than the cost of a latte. Spend some time with this. Re-read and re-read again the post above. Read other stuff on how to drift in RR. Once you get the drift there is no going back.
Hey, thanks for the tips! Gotta say, this game is really fun and crazy when playing. The info is quite useful.
Thank you so much for that post man. I've been playing RR since the very first one (my all-time favorite is Rage Racer with R4 a close second) and I just could not wrap my head around the icons for the car stats. With that cleared up, it's time burn through this game. I REALLY appreciate it!
Same thing was happening to me on my iPod touch. Had to close out all my apps and reboot. That fixed it for me. Game has some nasty memory leaks I think.
I rebooted after it crashed several times in the tutorial. Continues to crash though. Currently unplayable. It's the only app I have the problem with.
Boy, the fun factor is through the roof at times. Have to say, this game at times has an even better thrill factor than Asphalt 8. The sense of speed is faster, the graphics are better (true ipad retina), and the driving and drifting is much more complex. Liking this game more and more as I play. If they could just get the framerates a little better on ipad retina, then I think this game would be more enjoyeable than A8.
Tried again today. Can't finish one lap without it crashing on my iPad Air 128gb. Apparently, I need to downgrade to an iPad 4 to play this game.
Yeah, but eventually, I think this game will need an ipad air to run with no framerate issues. Even an ipad 4 can not handle full ipad retina with fast driving games. Oh, I will trade you by the way.
My profile has been offline since yesterday. Can't play online time attack, and can't access leaderboards. Anyone else?
same thing for me. i was online on the 20th, then the next day i'm offline. i tried log out and in on Facebook and nothing. i read the news somewhere that online multiplayer will release in January so maybe this is the reason?
Yeah, it's cause it is full ipad retina. Looks are really nice. Not even that smooth on an ipad 4, but look forward to playing this on an ipad pro, bet you this would be one of the best looking driving games on ios.
We have an older 2nd gen iPad. Wonder if its smoother there. Accelerated stuttered when it first came out and was super smooth after an update. Here's hoping.
Game Impressions Finally found some spare time for that. Great Ridge Racer feeling on my iPad! I barely can remember but we enjoyed an early version of Ridge Racer on PS ages ago. Glad I bought it. Lots of upgrade options. Special time-limited (real time or game time?) offers for buying cars. Cool and encouraging announcements of the lady during race. Good speed feeling although I am still racing with a slow stock car. Racing is pure fun here. Made the tutorial, the qualification and the first two tournaments with the Fiarre. All on first place. Only one or two races I needed to do twice for the first rank. Upgraded nitro first. The drifting technique is pretty different from Asphalt but that's where the good racers are shining. They have all different approaches: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (a button for drifting), Colin MacRae Rally, Table Top Racing, Bus Derby… And I love it! Spot on controls (here: tilt for steering, two pedals), pretty graphics, good sounds. Some of the 20 (!) music tracks are okay as well. Missing local multiplayer!!! Multi-language. TONS of leaderboards and achievements. A really nice contribution to my racer folder. Very recommended so far (I hope I won't hit some timer or pay wall sooner or later).
Funny, I was wondering where you were at Habakuk. I agree with you, this is great A8 like fun. This game actually has a better sense of speed and graphics. Both this and Asphalt 8 are great fun arcade racers.
