If you were to look over the critical reception for Ridge Racer 2 (called Ridge Racers 2 in Japan).. a metacritic of 70.. it kind of skews what Ridge Racer 2 really is. You might actually get the impression that Ridge Racer 2 is a repackaging of the first Ridge Racer for PSP released less than two years before. And well, that's kind of why I'm here perhaps.

PSM3 Magazine UK said: "Take the original, add some barely noticeable new additions and re-release it. Great game - awful cash-in."

''Barely noticeable new additions''.. well in any case let's break down Ridge Racer 2.

The first Ridge Racer for PSP has 12 courses. Ridge Racer 2 has those same 12 courses and adds 9 new ones. That's 75% more content and 21 courses in all. (if Ridge Racer 2 is a cash in, would you then say Street Fighter 3 Third Strike is over Second Impact?) And together these 21 courses make up every course that appeared in a Ridge Racer game for the first Playstation. And with 21 courses, Ridge Racer 2, like Ridge Racer PSP, broke the record for the amount of courses in a Ridge Racer game, imagine that. (since Ridge Racer 6, released just before this, had only 15 if I have it right)

I would say that the 75% percent is almost enough to make a new game, but admittedly it's not because the 9 new courses include a few lemons.. such as two oval courses, and Phantom Mile which is literally the shortest course in the game. (though you might not realize it at first) As well as a couple of drab city courses from Ridge Racer Type 4.

However among the new courses are the expert course from Ridge Racer Revolution, properly updated with wider roads and more awesome views, and the awesome Mythical Coast the iconic course from Rage Racer.

Anyway in addition to new courses the game's soundtrack meets the ratio adding I think three new folders, at least 12-18 added tracks including more tunes from older games as well as great original remixes, these include many of the best tracks in the game and in the series. (for what that's worth in any case, hmm) And I wouldn't be mentioning this if it wasn't important.

Besides that the differences between Ridge Racer 1 and 2 are more subtle or negligible. The menu, interface, presentation, announcer, etc is unchanged, I'm sorry to say. (so this is no Street Fighter Third Strike after all) However, the cars have new paint jobs. When you pick a car, Ridge Racer 2 unlike the first does not feel the need to tell you what country was your car made in (an improvement) and the game has a better intro movie, less cheesy and much less needlessly long. Obviously, Ridge Racer 2 has new or altered circuit combinations in order to use of the new courses available in the game as well as the returning ones. And finally, although I can't be sure on this, I think the cars in Ridge Racer 2 pop their exhaust more often and is more audible, and I point this out because it's a significant improvement. (the little things... the little things)

Anyway I don't want to make it sound like I'm all defending the game, because maybe it's not perfect and maybe, just like with the Speed Racer movie, the critics know well and mean well... to an extent anyway. For one certain thing there's the obvious paradox that if you already have Ridge Racer for PSP (as you should) then Ridge Racer 2 is significantly less relevant to you since you already have more than half of the game. And if you don't have Ridge Racer for PSP, why would you import Ridge Racer for over $20 when you can throw down less than $10 for the first and see for yourself how awesome it is. So while Ridge Racer 2 is better than the first for obvious reasons, it's only the one you actually play first that will take your breath away, after that, it's like.. ok.

I suppose one could also figure that maybe Namco has purposefully left out content in the first Ridge Racer in order to make Ridge Racer 2 later on.. even though the first was received very well. What's interesting to note though is that the two Rage Racer courses in Ridge Racer for PSP do not have a road merge where the Mythical Coast would be.. it is replaced with a cliff. (twilight zone music) Thus for Ridge Racer 2 to include Mythical Coast it had to defy its own continuity.

Like the first, the game is (for me anyway) really easy, only this time with the introduction of oval courses, the learning curve is shattered by starting the game with them - races that can only be won by drifting deliberately on straightaways to fill the boost meter just to let out a string of nitros on the last stretch, the only way to overtake the First Place Guy. Still easy, the only time I am challenged is during the boss races at the end of the game, and the final you're-not-intended-to-beat-these circuits, which thankfully, is quite a filling dose of racing action. Though I wouldn't mind if the entire game was closer to them, or if more of the vehicles handled like the Hijack. (the wayward pickup supercar, and I mean wayward)

Anyway, as Ridge Racer 2 was released in Europe, Japan, Australia, but not USA, I had to buy the game from a UK seller. Anyway it was great, the game is so much fun, but I have to mention that as soon as I finished the last circuit, I put the game down for good. The game is repetitive in the sense that out of its 21 courses it repeats them a lot as it has you race many circuits, repeating the same 21 courses over in various combinations and gradually increased difficulty. I had no problem playing them.. I played and I played, but as soon as the game ran out of stuff for me to complete it was over so fast your head would spin, and I even decided to sell the game and have already done so. (Yea, lately it's been taking longer for me to get around to writing a review for a game)

To think.. if the game had even more circuits, I would continue to play exactly that much longer. But if the game had no circuits and just an arcade mode, how much longer than an hour would I play? This really brings up some very deep thoughts... about games, game design, and why we play. Could it be that I am shallow, or rather more likely that the game is shallow? If there was something more compelling in the game to keep playing it, would it really be any different from adding more arbitrary circuits to complete.