You want to drive fast? Really Fast? Nothing provides the adrenaline charged rush of speed like Ridge Racer. State-of-the-art features, amazing control, neck-snapping acceleration and true-to-the road realism make this the only racing game you'll ever need. Ever. And please, always wear a helmet.

Review
This was the game that had me up for hours. Still one of the greatest launch games in history, Ridge Racer helped pave the way for PlayStation's world order. Insanely fast speeds on the later levels, almost perfect handling based on different car physics, and the ability to drift around a 90 degree turn like it was a Sunday drive had everyone screaming for more.

It also didn't hurt that the game had no load times and only had Daytona USA as competition.

• Ridge Racer was released in several case formats. See Below.
  
  
• The original arcade version was a sit-down model.
  
  
• The game completely loads its required data into the PlayStation. You can remove the CD and still play the game in its entirety, just without music.
  
  
• Ridge Racer shares an interesting ownership custody between Sony and Namco. When the game was originally launched, it was under the Sony First Party ID tags (SCUS), but when it was re-released as a Greatest Hit, it was put back into Namco's stable (SLUS). This was also confirmed by the barcodes, as they each bear the respective company's first five digits. Because of this, we have listed that information here rather than in the above chart:
  
  
  • Ridge Racer (Launch) - SCUS 94300 / PSRM - 001020 / 7 11719 43002 5
  • Ridge Racer (Pack In) - No SCUS ID / PSRM - 001021 / No barcode
  • Ridge Racer (Jewel) - SCUS - 94300 / PSRM - 001020 / 7 11719 43002 5
  • Ridge Racer (Greatest Hit) - SLUS 00540 / PSRM - 007300 / 7 22674 02076 3
  
  
• While the game loads into the system Ram for the first time, you can play a round of Galaga. Shooting all the ships allows you to unlock all the CPU cars.

   

The Greatest Hits version was released under the Namco label, rather than Sony.

Variations / Misprints (continued)
     Here we go! The long lost non-GH jewel case variant! The disc artwork is completely different, reflecting the cover artwork instead.

The first difference between the pack-in version and the standard are the removal of the SCUS numbers and the addition of the "Not for Sale" logos on the disc and box.

There's literally no reason to use Fast load; the game loads once and that's it! Game loaded fine with both options turned on.