is an arcade

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

game that was released by

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

in 1994 for their System 22 hardware. Despite its name, ''Ridge Racer 2'' is more of an updated version of ''

Ridge Racer is a racing video game series developed and published for arcade systems and home game consoles by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. The first game, '' Ridge Racer'' (1993), was originally released in arcades for the Namco System 22 ...

'' (which had been released in the previous year), than an actual sequel.

Gameplay

The gameplay is very much like that of the original, but unlike the

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

version of ''

'' (which was a single-player game), in ''Ridge Racer 2'' up to eight players can play simultaneously when four two-player cabinets are linked together. A player's number determines their car. There also are six new songs, including remixed ones from the original, that can be selected with the gear shifter at the start. The enormous television screen above the entrance to the first tunnel shows footage from Namco's 1979 title ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who ...

'' (in the original, it was playing ''

Mappy is an arcade game by Namco, introduced in 1983 and distributed in the United States by Bally Midway. A side-scrolling platform game featuring a mouse protagonist and cat antagonists, it runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware modified to suppo ...

''). All the billboards are for earlier Namco games, there is a rear-view mirror at the top of the screen, so a player can see other cars coming from behind). There is also a change in daylight from day to night (a car driven into the track's tunnel during the day will come out the other end at night).

Legacy

In 1995 ''Ridge Racer/Ridge Racer 2'' was followed by two true sequels: an arcade sequel, named ''

Rave Racer is an arcade racing game that was released by Namco in 1995. It runs on Namco System 22 hardware, and could be played by two people per cabinet for up to eight players total when up to four of them were linked together. It is the third arcade t ...

'', which was developed for Namco's System 22 hardware and a home console sequel, named ''

Ridge Racer Revolution ''Ridge Racer Revolution'' is an arcade racing game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation in 1995. It is the PlayStation sequel of ''Ridge Racer'' (the arcade sequel is '' Ridge Racer 2''). Like the original ''Ridge Racer'', th ...

'', for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

(which inherited ''Ridge Racer 2's'' soundtrack).

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Ridge Racer 2'' on their August 15, 1994 issue as being the fourth most-successful upright/cockpit arcade game of the month. In North America, ''RePlay'' reported the game to be the fourth most-popular deluxe arcade game at the time. ''

Play Meter ''Play Meter'' (initially ''Coin Industry Play Meter'') was an American trade magazine focusing on the coin-op amusement arcade industry, including jukebox and arcade game machines. It was founded in December 1974 by publisher and editor Ralph C. ...

'' also listed the title to be the thirty-seventh most-popular arcade game at the time. '' Next Generation'' reviewed the arcade version of the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "eight-user multi-player link-up has been added to enable ''Ridge Racer 2'' to compete on equal footing with Sega's ''

Daytona USA is an arcade racing video game developed by Sega AM2 in 1993 and released by Sega in 1994. Players race stock cars on one of three courses. The first game released on the Sega Model 2 three-dimensional arcade system board, a prototype debuted ...

'' and Namco's new ''Ace Driver''."

References

Notes

Footnotes

External links

*
''Ridge Racer 2''
at the Arcade History database {{Ridge Racer series 1994 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Namco arcade games Namco System 22 games Racing video games Ridge Racer Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Shinji Hosoe