Ridge Racer 6 is the sixth racing game in the Ridge Racer series. It was released on the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005, in North America, December 10, 2005 in Japan, and January 20, 2006 in Europe. The emphasis of gameplay, like in previous Ridge Racer titles, is on finishing first out of 14 in several 3-lap races across several tracks and numerous vehicles. In most races, the player may earn up to three nitrous boosts by skillfully drifting around turns without crashing, which can then provide a short burst of speed to the player. Some races are designated “no-nitrous,” which prevents the player from earning any nitrous throughout the race; however, nitrous may be enabled selectively. The race is deemed completed if the player wins using this option, but the no-nitrous restriction is mentioned. Some races are also Duels between the player and a boss opponent, who typically has a much superior car than the player may choose from. Ridge Racer 6 features a new career mode called “World Xplorer,” a branching-tree arrangement of races where the player may only undertake races next to a race that has already been finished successfully. The races in Xplorer are laid up in such a way that the location of a race indicates what class of car may be utilized (horizontal position) and the complexity of the track (vertical position). Rewards can be acquired by finishing certain races or completing all races that encircle a region on the Xplorer. They usually involve new vehicles but also extra varieties of the courses (mirroring and reversing) or new branches added to the tree. A player can also participate in short races and time challenges for any unlocked circuit and automobile. Thirty new circuits are now accessible, including “Surfside Resort” and “Harborline 765.” There are also around 130 automobiles (ten of which are exceptional). Up to 14 people can race against one another online, and downloadable content is accessible through Microsoft’s Xbox Live service.
Players can attempt to beat another player’s “ghost” replay by downloading it from Xbox Live. Like previous Ridge Racer games, this edition expands beyond automobiles to include various bizarre vehicles, dubbed “special machines” in the game. These include a hovercraft (Assoluto Pronzione), a tripod supercar (Himmel 490B), and a large, noisy SUV (Denver Bass Cruiser). As with other Ridge Racer titles, the game has several allusions to other Namco games, such as Pac-Man, Soulcalibur, and Ace Combat. In addition, the game includes a Full Motion Video introduction starring series mascot Reiko Nagase. Namco said it intended to sell 500,000 copies of Ridge Racer 6 on the Xbox 360 in Japan. However, significantly fewer copies were sold. Ridge Racer 7 for the PlayStation 3 is a “director’s cut”/”final version” of Ridge Racer 6, but with significant alterations, such as new automobiles not seen in Ridge Racer 6, such as Sinseong, a Korean brand.
