Yearning for the days of walking through an arcade with the words ‘RIDGE RACER’ calling you from a distance? Excellent news for you: the original title in the series will be available as a launch game for the Nintendo Switch 2, coming 5 June.
It’ll be an entry into the new Arcade Archives 2 series by Hamster Corporation, which has been porting arcade cabinet titles for various consoles since 2014. So far, that’ll make it just the second racing game confirmed for Nintendo’s new console, alongside Mario Kart World.
Though Ridge Racer would receive a port to the PlayStation in 1994, that version was a technically downgraded adaptation of the game, making the Switch 2 release the first time the original cabinet version has found its way to a home console.
Curiously, the game will have wheel support, as well as compatibility with H-shifters and clutches, despite no such hardware being confirmed as existing for the Nintendo Switch 2. Maybe that’s to come, which then opens up the question of what other racing games could find their way onto the new console. That, or it could be future-proofing the game for ports to PlayStation or Xbox.
As with other re-releases in the Arcade Archives series, Ridge Racer will include a few bonus features. Multiple save states can be recorded, and there’s a rewind feature, handy when you inevitably run into the back of a sluggish AI and lose several seconds, plus ‘Time Attack’ mode. How that will work, given the whole game is effectively a time attack anyway, remains to be seen, but we’re curious.
Sadly, with Ridge Racer being a single-player title, there’ll be no online play as with other re-releases in Arcade Archives. Fingers crossed a Ridge Racer 2 port may come along and fill that void.
Any other arcade titles you’d like to see follow Ridge Racer? We’re thinking Sega Touring Car Championship or Le Mans 24 would be some pretty tantalising candidates.
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