Rage Racer
| Rage Racer | |
|---|---|
Japanese cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) | Motomi Katayama |
| Producer(s) | Shigeru Yokoyama |
| Designer(s) | Motomi Katayama, Yasuhito Nagaoka |
| Composer(s) | Tetsukazu Nakanishi Hiroshi Okubo |
| Series | Ridge Racer |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Rage Racer is a racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the fifth installment in the Ridge Racer series and the third on the PlayStation following Ridge Racer Revolution (1995). It was released in Japan on December 3, 1996, with releases elsewhere following in 1997. It was the first game in the series to feature a CGI animated introduction, and introduced a new "mascot", Reiko Nagase.
The game introduced a new class-based Grand Prix on which the player must progress, and, in an aesthetic change, Rage Racer had darker colors and visuals. The game received a positive critical reception, with its graphics and gameplay praised, although received criticism for its crash mechanics, relatively drab visual style and shortage of tracks. Its impact was limited due to being not as groundbreaking as its predecessors, but nevertheless it sold well. Rage Racer was followed by a sequel, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 in 1998.