| Ridge Racer 2 | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer | Namco |
| Publisher | Namco |
| Composers | Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso,Nobuyoshi Sano, Takayuki Aihara[2] |
| Series | Ridge Racer |
| Platform | Arcade |
| Release | |
| Genre | Racing |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
| Arcade system | Namco System 22 |
Ridge Racer 2[a] is a 1994 arcaderacing game developed and published byNamco for arcades. A sequel toRidge Racer, it features more quality-of-life changes than substantial new content.[3] One major addition is the ability to play with up to eight human players.[4]
The game would be followed up byRave Racer.[5] ThePlayStation version ofRidge Racer was followed up byRidge Racer Revolution, which inheritedRidge Racer 2's soundtrack.
The gameplay is very much like that of the original, but unlike thevanilla version ofRidge Racer (which was a single-player game), inRidge Racer 2 up to eight players can play simultaneously when four two-player cabinets are linked together. A player's number determines their car.[4]
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 titleGalaxian (in the original, it was playingMappy).[6] There is a rear-view mirror at the top of the screen, so a player can see other cars coming from behind.[3] 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).[citation needed]
In Japan,Game Machine listedRidge Racer 2 on their August 15, 1994 issue as being the fourth most-successful upright/cockpit arcade game of the month.[7] In North America,RePlay reported the game to be the fourth most-popular deluxe arcade game at the time.[8]Play Meter also listed the title to be the thirty-seventh most-popular arcade game at the time.[9]
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 enableRidge Racer 2 to compete on equal footing with Sega'sDaytona USA and Namco's newAce Driver."[3] In 2023, Time Extension ranked the game 11th on their "Best Ridge Racer Games" list.[4]
