Subscribe
    Gossip

    Namco’s last arcade Ridge Racer game, Rave Racer, is getting a home version for the first time

    adminBy No Comments2 Mins Read
    Namco’s last arcade Ridge Racer game, Rave Racer, is getting a home version for the first time

    Another classic Namco arcade game is getting its first ever official home re-release.

    Retro specialist Hamster Corporation is continuing to work its way through Namco’s catalogue of early polygonal arcade games, re-releasing them as part of its Arcade Archives and Arcade Archives 2 series.

    The company has announced that Rave Racer, the third and final arcade game in the Ridge Racer series, will be joining the series on February 26.

    Rave Racer was released in 1995 and was the last arcade game in the Ridge Racer series, after Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer 2. It uses Namco’s System 22 hardware, an arcade board which allowed for polygonal graphics with 3D texture mapping.

    The game offered four tracks (two of which were new to Rave Racer), as well as tweaks to the handling, force feedback steering and improved visuals.

    While the game was originally supposed to get a home port, this was eventually scrapped. Instead, the PS1 would get Rage Racer, a separate game inspired by Rave Racer.

    Following the release of Rave Racer, Namco (later Bandai Namco) switched the series’ focus to home releases, meaning Rave Racer would be the last game in the series to be released in arcades.

    This is the fifth Namco System 22 arcade game to get a first-ever home port courtesy of Hamster, following Ridge Racer, Air Combat 22, Aqua Jet and Tokyo Wars.

    Rave Racer will be coming to Switch 2, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S as an Arcade Archives 2 game, and to Switch and PS4 as an Arcade Archives game.

    Each Arcade Archives game features Original Mode, High Score Mode (where you keep playing until you die) and Caravan Mode (where you have to get the highest score within a certain time).

    Arcade Archives 2 versions also add Time Attack Mode (where you try to beat the full game as quickly as possible) and Network Mode (where you can play online) when the game supports multiplayer.

    Arcade Archives 2 versions also include multiple save slots, a rewind feature and VRR support enabling a “more accurate reproduction of the original arcade game’s experience”.