Awesome Music / Ridge Racer

Ever since its dawn in 1993, Ridge Racer has been pushing forward the boundaries of arcade racing games... And music quality. All hail Namco Sound Team!

Ridge Racer 1

The first game offers a whole slew of wonderful techno songs. Well, it's a Namco game of the '90s, what did you expect?

• The main menu theme, which opens the series, is sure to get you pumped up.
• The self-titled song to Ridge Racer opens up the series with an upbeat tone to the racing atmosphere.
• Rare Hero, with its buzzing bassline and quirky beats, is surely one of the better themes of the game. It is so good, in fact, that it has been remixed a grand total of four times throughout the entire series!
• Speedster, a thrashing drum and bass song with powerful melodies and fast beats. Nothing better than that for a fast-paced racing game like Ridge Racer!
• Rhythm Shift is one of the darker songs of the game, with a strong industrial ting.
• Rotterdam Nation shows us how hardcore techno should be done. As the name should imply, it is a Rotterdam Techno song. Nice one, Namco.
• Feeling Over is strangely one of the more underrated songs of the franchise, we wonder why.
• And when you win, the announcer praises your win, in a demonic-sounding voice — with a badass loop of even more old school Dutch hardcore in the background.

Ridge Racer 2/Revolution

Revolution is regarded by fans as an Even Better Sequel to the original. Yes, even on the soundtrack. It is also the first game in the series to have remixes of songs from earlier titles.

• First off, We're Ready And Waiting For You, the main menu theme, which openly screams get ready!

• Despite the rather ironic title, Grip is regarded by fans as one of the best songs in the series.
• ...Dat Dan Day... is a prime example of pure hardcore.
• Lords Of Techno starts out minimalist, then erupts into something that needs to be heard to be believed.
• Maximum Zone is one of the game's softer and slower songs, though by no means bad.
• Speedster Overheat is one of the many great remixes this game has to offer.
• The Namco Sound Team really cranked up "Rhythm Shift" with its remix for this game. As they did with the remix for "Feeling Over".

Rave Racer

Rave Racer had a very eclectic soundtrack which made it for at least underrated music.

• EXH*NOTES, by Nobuyoshi Sano, kicks off the game with its majestic notes and reckless beats.
• Rotten7, by Shinji Hosoe, starts off gentle, but then explodes into something that has to be heard to be believed.

• Blue Topaz, by Takayuki Aihara, delves into tropical music territory. You can't deny it, it sounds so fresh.
• Kamikaze, also by Ayako Saso. It's right there in the name. Divine wind indeed.

Rage Racer

Rage Racer took a Darker and Edgier turn on the series, so did the memorable soundtrack, sacrificing the old hardcore techno in favor of Alternative Rock, drum and bass, Nu Metal and Industrial Metal. Worthy to say that the soundtrack is entirely made by two of the artists that will become permanent staples of the series, Hiroshi Okubo and Tetsukazu Nakanishi.

• The Introduction theme properly sets the mood for this game.
• The titular song already is one of the more pumping songs of the game, and depending on your tastes it can be a breath of fresh air after loads of rave music, as it is pure, unbiased hard rock.
• Mathemabeat is one of the more chaotic songs of the series.
• Lightning Luge is a good example of the hard-edged, dark breakbeat of the soundtrack.

• Mech Monster is also a very dark-toned song, this time, an industrial metal song.
• Silver Stream, with its ethereal melodies, is one of the more memorable tunes of the series. No wonder it got a place on the soundtrack for the PSP iterations of the series!
• Hurricane Hub is a quirky little back-to-basics hardcore techno song, although it definitely maintains the dark mood of the game's soundtrack.

• Volcano Vehicle perfectly fits with the final few races of the game.
• For those who have completed the game 100%, Deep Drive is unlocked. And man, it sure is worth it.

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4

To coincide with Type 4's overall Lighter and Softer style, the soundtrack decided to eschew the first installments' electronic music and Rage Racer's alternative music, and chose a more urban/mainstream vibe with hip hop, R&B, soul, new jack swing, and synthpop. Suffice to say, the end result is considered by the fans to be the best soundtrack in the series, bar none.

• Urban Fragments, the intro song, courtesy of Kohta Takahashi. Complete with Kimara Lovelace's soothing vocal delivery, it will get you relaxed and pumped up at the same time.
• Turn The Page as you enter the Real Racing Roots '99 Grand Prix. The fast pace of the song coupled with the drums and brass will get your adrenaline pumping, more so while reading the rules of the Grand Prix.
• The menu theme, On Your Way, by Hiroshi Okubo, sets the mood just right.
• Pearl Blue Soul, also by Okubo-san, starts off your career as a racer with its lovely melodies. And yet, it works so well with the fast-paced racing this game has to offer.
• Naked Glow. Need we say something else? Just listen to this song and be enraptured.
• Your Vibe, by Kohta Takahashi, is regarded by fans as one of the best songs in the series, and we here at TV Tropes wholeheartedly agree.
• If Lucid Rhythms doesn't soothe you, then nothing will.
• Silhouette Dance by Asuka Sakai. God, that melody is so lulling, and the drums have some hypnotic quality to it.
• Motor Species, by Kohta Takahashi and Tetsukazu Nakanishi, also has a definite Rage Racer-esque sound to it. Retaken in Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX+ — now with more DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!
• The Objective, by Koji Nakagawa, is a minimalist piece. It really does give the chills.

• Burnin' Rubber, by Hiroshi Okubo, gives us one of the funkier beats of the franchise, and it is glorious on so many levels.
• Revlimit Funk, by Kohta Takahashi, is also influenced by the older songs of the franchise. Think of Stevie Wonder having a baby with The Chemical Brothers and you get this ass-kicking song.
• This list just can't be complete without mentioning the uplifting, epic Move Me, by Kohta Takahashi. JPEGMafia made great use of sampling it in "BALD!"
• This is it. Final race of the Real Racing Roots '99. It's New Year's Eve. You're in Los Angeles. You're about to race in a pseudo-oval with a super-fast race car. And what song does this game put for you? One of, if not the best song in the entire series, Movin' In Circles by Hiroshi Okubo and Kimara Lovelace.
• Thru, by Koji Nakagawa, is another stand-out example of the game's softer, more mellow soundtrack.
• The Ride, by Kohta Takahashi, should satisfy your needs for heavier beats in case you want them, complete with an Ominous Pipe Organ midway through.
• You fought until the end, and you and your team finally skyrocketed to fame and won the Real Racing Roots '99. Cue The Parade, by Asuka Sakai ft. Kimara Lovelace, to celebrate this victory!
• One More Win, the ending theme, composed by Hiroshi Okubo. If Ridge Racer gets an anime adaptation, this should be the theme song.
• Eat 'Em Up, by Hiroshi Okubo, is the bonus song unlocked after getting all 320 cars in the game, along with the Pac-Man bonus car. It's a very, very, very silly song themed after everybody's favorite pellet-eater, and mind you, this is the first of many Pac-Man themed songs in the series!

Ridge Racer 64

64's soundtrack is less diverse than its predecessors, focusing more in electronic beats, but it also has its own shining moments.

• Motion Blur. An electronic track with an awesome night-driving ambience, like the one found in the Extreme tracks.
• Ridge Racer Roots has a funky electronic drum beat upon which guitar and keyboard riffs are laid with amazing results.
• Manual Override. Want to race with style and sophistication? Pick this track.
• After "Eat 'em Up" from R4, we give you Galaga Pac Jam, unlocked after you get any of the Namco arcade-based cars (Blinky, Pooka or Galaga '88). Double the old-school awesomeness (with some Dig Dug thrown in as well) for an insane amount of catchiness!

Ridge Racer V

V's soundtrack goes back to basics with pounding electronic music, while having a much more sophisticated sound. It is also the only soundtrack in the series not to be supervised by Hiroshi Okubo: it is instead supervised by Kohta Takahashi. It is also the second soundtrack in the series to have contributions from non-Namco Sound Team artists, this time, by famed electronic rock duo Boom Boom Satellites, Takeshi Ueda of digital hardcore group The Mad Capsule Markets, and DJ Mijk Van Dijk.

• LOLO1010, by Yuu Miyake, is the main menu theme, and when it is that awesome, you know you're in for the ride of your life.
• Hydroprism, also by Yuu Miyake, is the song used for the intro to Grand Prix mode. With its dark, dubstep-esque rhythm, this song just screams: "Are you ready?".
• Fogbound by the Boom Boom Satellites is the game's own Real Song Theme Tune, and kicks off the game just the right way.
• DareDevil by Kohta Takahashi rapidly became the Soldat Crinale's own Image Song. Justified, as it plays during the one-on-one race against it. A crushing lead riff, coupled with ominous lyrics and a healthy dose of Metal Screams lead the point home on how ruthless is the opponent you're facing.
• What happens when The Mad Capsule Markets meet Ridge Racer? DRFTDVL, a maniacal, energetic digital hardcore song, is the result.
• Samurai Rocket, by Kohta Takahashi, is a super-powerful heavy metal tune which is bound to satisfy your needs. Bonus points for being a Call-Back to the soundtrack for a very old Namco game, Genpei Touma Den.

• Not to be confused with the same-named song in Rave Racer, Euphoria by Kohta Takahashi is a spacey, uplifting tune, perfect for night racing.
• Tsui Tsui, by Yuu Miyake, is a rabid hardcore techno song. Don't say we didn't warn you.
• Paris by Nobuyoshi Sano, while by no means one of the main songs of the game, has reached high popularity in the fandom.

• Junx by Mijk Van Dijk is a funky, brassy tribal house version of the already awesome unlocking screen music.
• RRV also gets its song themed after Pac-Man, with the nu jazz-influenced MotorPacCity5 by Yoshinori Kawamoto (who also composed part of the soundtrack of Star Fox: Assault.
• The ending theme, On The Painted Desert (Vocal Mix ft. Dice) by the Boom Boom Satellites, is a suitably trancy trip-hop song reminiscent of Mezzanine-era Massive Attack, with a bit of Nine Inch Nails on the side.

R: Racing Evolution

No, not even the Gran Turismo-esque spin-off was devoid of great music. R's soundtrack is more akin to Type 4's one, with lush, catchy nu-disco jams.

• Show The World, the intro and ending theme, kicks off the game with powerful vocals and an enthralling piano melody.
• Deep Resonance starts off with an ethereal vocal delivery that pave the way to a synth riff.
• Liquid Soul is perfect for calming down while trying to tame a GT race car in a tight circuit.
• Brooding and ominous, Mars Landing is considered one of the better songs in the game.
• Divas is easily the happiest, catchiest song in the soundtrack. The guitar picks catch your attention, and it just gets better from there.
• Funk-A-Tronic harks back to the Revolution days with a MIDI sax over an extremely modern, sharp beat.
• Rising is another dark tune, with a Rage Racer-esque synthline and vocoded vocals.
• T Minus Ten is the perfect song for when you need to concentrate and break lap records.
• Monte Carlo, with its combination of piano and tropical drums, is an example of what the Namco sound team can truly pull off.
• Carmine neatly mixes everything heard in the soundtrack in one amazing package.
• Boombox combines a techy beat with the soundtrack's trademark lush atmosphere.
• The soundtrack's crowner, Time Compression is a 6-minute glitch hop epic that gets progressively more intricate. It gets to a point where the song starts glitching out before returning to its smooth, heady beat, while the background melody still keeps glitching. Utterly phenomenal.

Ridge Racers

The soundtrack for the PSP iteration of the series feels like a greatest-hits of the previous games' soundtracks, much like the game itself (which is a love letter to long-time fans of the series). Couple it up with awe-inspiring remixes of earlier songs and you have a buffet that will please you.

• Disco Ball, by Hiroshi Okubo, is the game's main theme, and with its lush, dense melodies, perfectly encapsulates the new course Ridge Racer takes with this game.
• Synthetic Life, by Kohta Takahashi, is a touching medley consisting of music from Dragon Spirit, Xevious, and Galaga.
• Warp Trooper, courtesy of Ayako Saso, is a futuristic techno track that would fit in a sci-fi movie.
• Pulse Phaze, by Yuu Miyake, is in substance one huge love letter to Katamari Damacy.
• Highride, by Shinji Hosoe. It is the tribute to old Ridge Racer music.
• Bassrider, by Hiroshi Okubo, instead, targets more the fans of Rage Racer. And boy did it work!
• Tunnel Visionary, by Tetsukazu Nakanishi, is also one astonishing tribute to both Rage Racer and Type 4 alike.
• Vanishing Horizon, by Takayuki Aihara, mixes drum and bass with a smooth bossa melody. There's nothing quite alike this song in the entire series, which makes it all the more awesome.
• Rotterdam Nation Remix, with its buildup of babylonian proportions, is also a period-appropriate evolution of the original song, which was in the Rotterdam hardcore genre; the remix is in a more modern nu-style gabber genre.
• Rotten7 Remix takes the original and transforms it into a grand drum-and-bass masterpiece reminiscent of early Ninja Tune releases.
• Drive U 2 Dancing Remix manages to improve on the original with a denser beat.
• Kamikaze Remix. Universally regarded in the fandom as even better than the original. Probably has to do with the Japanese folk music trappings that give this song an aura of its own.
• Heat Floor Remix, with its military-sounding drums, basically screams: "I'M GOING TO GETCHA!".
• Heart of Hearts Remix. Who doesn't love hearing those high notes at the beginning? And it also has one of the best song bridges heard in the history of the series.
• Rage Racer Remix is quite possibly the most "metal" song in the game. An intro riff has never sounded so good.
• Rareheroes, the fourth remix of Rare Hero in the series, starts off sounding like the original song, before a wild drum-and-bass section starts.
• Tek Trek, by Hiroshi Okubo and Koji Nakagawa, is for some warped reason one of the least known songs in the game.

• Light Groove, by Asuka Sakai, is a luscious, sensual nu jazz piece reminiscent of Type 4.

Ridge Racer 6

The soundtrack for the sixth installment is a more experimental venture. It's also the first game of the main series to have default songs for every racetrack, that can be also played in others.

• Explorers, by Hiroshi Okubo, is the default song for the racetrack Harborline 765 and the game's main theme, and it deserves so, with its rocking drums and spacey synths.
• Valley of the Mind, by Shinji Hosoe, is the default song for the racetrack Highland Cliffs, and... Let's just say that this song is pure awesome. And plus... Who doesn't love that breakdown?!
• Nitro Mantra, by Ayako Saso, is possibly one of the darker songs in the series, and is fittingly enough the default song for the racetrack Sunset Heights.
• I Want You, also by Ayako Saso, is a just-as-dark industrial techno song. It plays as default song in the racetrack Crossbay Tunnel.
• Road Mauler, by Rio Hamamoto, is a bombastic, epic industrial metal song a la Rage Racer. Played as default BGM in the racetrack Southbay Docks, it is later used as one of the main themes for Ridge Racer Unbounded.
• Floodlight, by Nobuyoshi Sano, ventures this time into Type 4 territory with its uplifting synthpop a la Pet Shop Boys. Used as default BGM for Airport Lap.
• Hiroshi Okubo decided to approach a more jungle-influenced sound with Drift Psychosis, default BGM for the racetrack Seacrest District.
• Sueno del Mar, by Asuka Sakai, is based on the old school funk-influenced soundtrack for R: Racing Evolution, and is fittingly played as default BGM for the racetrack Surfside Resort.
• Trail of Light, by Takayuki "J99" Aihara, continues the R: Racing trend. This is the default song that plays in the racetrack Midtown Parkway.
• Ultra Cruise, by Tetsukazu Nakanishi, is a definite callback to the sound of Rage Racer. Played as default BGM in Lakeshore Drive.
• Highway Fusion, by Shinji Hosoe, is easily one of the best songs he ever put his name on. It is played as default BGM in Rave City Riverfront.
• Acid Eutron #001, by Yuu Miyake, is the only song in the series he's made under the alias Acid Eutron. You guessed it, it's an acid techno song, and it's awesome. Played as default BGM in Island Circle.
• Radiance, by Nobuyoshi Sano. Played as default BGM in Laketop Parkway, it builds up to a truly majestic Ibiza house piece.
• Photon Field, by Koji Nakagawa, is progressive trance at its finest, and is also the longest track in the game, clocking in at 5 minutes before looping back. Too bad it's the default BGM for Aviator Loop, the shortest racetrack in the game.
• If you've ever played Galaxian or Galaga, Galactic Life by Kohta Takahashi is bound to give you lots and lots of nostalgia. This is also the default BGM for Downtown Rave City.
• Keeping on with the tradition of having bonus unlockable songs inspired by Pac-Man, Run, Pac-Man, Run! by Akitaka Tohyama kicks off with the game start jingle of the original game before descending into schranz madness.

Ridge Racer 7

Arguably one of the more well-created soundtrack in the series, 7 takes 6's experimental nature up to eleven, while still sounding incredibly fresh. It is also the third soundtrack in the series to have outside contributions, this time from a whole slew of artists signed to American electronic music label King Street Sounds.

• Meet The World, the main menu theme, courtesy of Hiroshi Okubo, is a Variable Mix that progressively adds and/or changes sound layers as you proceed through the menu screens.
• Orbital Rock, also by Okubo, is the main theme of the game, and for good reason. It is a pumping alternative rock song that gets its job done. You know Okubo-san doesn't fret around when making songs.
• Turn Me On, by Akitaka Tohyama, has a very distinct jungle-influenced flow which is totally undeniable.
• Skidmarks and Beat Assassinator, both by Rio Hamamoto, will satisfy your thirst for crunchy guitar riffs.
• Freak Out, by Akitaka Tohyama, slowly builds up to a powerful tech-house beat with growling basslines.
• Supercruiser, by Park Jin Bae aka ESTi, is one of the more well-loved songs of the game by fans. And we clearly see why: it's a truly intelligent drum and bass song.
• Ditto for Shut Up Baby and Nitro Witch, both by Ayako Saso. The former is a heady, melodious progressive house song, the other is frenzied, brutal full-on trance.
• Same story goes for Transparency by Hiroshi Okubo, a drop-dead gorgeous trance piece.
• Combustion by Shinji Hosoe is also very well-liked by fans and for good reason: it mixes the hardcore techno sound from the first Ridge Racer games with a jaw-dropping Rage Racer-esque metal breakdown. It doesn't catch a break throughout its run, in the most incredible way possible.
• Down To Earth by Ryuichi Takada is what it is: a down-to-earth tribal house song, and could be best described in one word: enticing.
• Hard Drive by Nobuyoshi Sano is a marvelous synthwave song. Its description in the game says: "It is perfect for racing down a futuristic neon-lit city.". Need we say more?
• Listen Up! by Shinji Hosoe. Mind-blowing to say the least.
• Awakening, by Tetsukazu Nakanishi, starts off tranquil but steadily builds up to a hectic hardcore beat reminiscent of Rage Racer.
• M.T.T.B. by Hiroshi Okubo is a bootleg of "Movin' In Circles" from Type 4. The original song is chopped up and Kimara's vocals are highly processed, and the result is nothing short of glorious.
• While licensed music is the last thing you'd expect in a Ridge Racer game, the Namco sound team has had a great ear in choosing music for the soundtrack, if the songs they picked from the King Street Sounds label are of any indication. Songs like "Before You Reach For Love" by Urban Soul and Kiva, "Falling Upward" and "Nothing Lost" by Joshua Collins, "Bad House Music" by Hiroshi Watanabe, "Cross Saw Funk" by Tomo Inoue, "Wired (Savage Mix}" by One Wired Tribe and "Galaxy" by Agora Rhythm all manage to stand out from the rest of the soundtrack while not sounding out of place at all.
• Eat The World is the bonus, Pac-Man themed song that is unlocked alongside the Pac-Man bonus car, and samples some of the sound effects from the original game to make the result massively catchy.

Ridge Racer 3D

Alternative Rock. Synthpop. Industrial. Power Metal. Death Metal. Hip Hop. And that's all we'll say on the matter.

• Do You Wanna Ride?, the opening theme, perfectly sets the mood for the game with its churning guitar riff.
• Burn Up The Road by Hiroshi Okubo leads off the charge with an amazing guitar riff reminiscent of 80s rock.
• Call of Apsara by Ayako Saso is a bhangra-influenced progressive house song that is literally the auditory equivalent of a far-East country. And oh God does it show.
• Psychokinesis by Shinji Hosoe. Blasting drums? Check. Wobbling guitars? Check. Bleeping synths? Check.
• Napalm Sled, also by Shinji Hosoe, is also a quick, get-your-mind-right drum and bass tune, though it's far more minimalistic.
• Dr. Mad's Gone, also by Shinji Hosoe, returns to the old hardcore sounds of Ridge Racer in a truly bombastic manner.
• Aberration, by LindaAI-CUE, takes evident cues from the Rage Racer and RRV soundtracks. The result is a moody, aggressive industrial song that sounds like something you'd hear in a sci-fi epic film.

• Angel Halo by Rio Hamamoto is Ridge Racer gone power metal.
• What happens when somebody in the Namco Sound Team decides to do a death metal song for one of its games? Venomous, by Rio Hamamoto, is the result, and when the Namco Sound Team decides to do straightforward death metal, suffice to say, they don't make any compromise. Thought that was brutal enough? Heat Shadows, also composed by Rio Hamamoto, is easily the heaviest song in the entire franchise. That breakdown is skull-crushingly intense.
• Stream Of Lights by Hiroshi Okubo is one of the calmer songs in the game, though by no means unfitting for the game.
• Rolling Glider, by Keiichi Okabe, fuses a techno beat with an infectious guitar riff to great results.
• NOx Warheads by Ayako Saso is a fast, merciless drum and bass tune, and it doesn't give any breathing room. Amazing.
• My Crazy Chainsaw, also by Ayako Saso, manages to be both incredibly dark and surprisingly catchy at the same time.
• Tonight, the ending theme, is, believe it or not, a rap song. And yet, it manages to fit in just fine, with Sky Hy rapping over the menu theme.

Ridge Racer Vita

Despite being nothing more than some kind of demo, Vita's soundtrack definitely does the game justice. Probably has to do with the sound, which is a fusion of the styles from Revolution and Rage Racer, or the beautiful vocal delivery of Aimee Blackschleger, who's also contributed for the ending song of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.

• Digital Horizon, by Rio Hamamoto, also with Blackschleger, sounds like something straight out from an Ace Combat game. WHOA.
• Purple Sky, by Akitaka Tohyama. Sounding like a fusion of the songs "Plucking Flower Field" and "Electric Fountain" from the Tekken series, it could systematically be the new party rocker.

• Racer's Delight, by Taku Inoue, is the catchiest song in the franchise hands down.
• Take You Away, by Ayako Saso, also featuring Aimee B. Hello 6/8 time signature!
• Super Acceleration, by Kyoko Miyakura. Just plain glorious.
• Ridge Racer (USA MIX), by, believe it or not, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi of SEGA, as a promo for the Hornet High-Class DLC.