PSP's Ridge Racer 2 finally arrives on PlayStation Plus

It has been a tortuous wait for Ridge Racer fans, the series has been completely absent across PS4 and PS5 eras, with not even a retro game to buy on PSN. As a happy Vita and PSP owner, I go back to either system's versions and relive the classic tracks, but this none-more-niche market means that many have missed out. 

Incredible to think that the mighty Ridge Racer 4 is only accessible to a hardcore of PSP and Vita fans. Things are so tough, I even dig the PS3 out for trophyless Ridge Racer 7 action from time to time, as you may have noticed, I'm a fan. 

Then, there was hope! News of the revamped PlayStation Plus Premium service promised a revisitation in the form of the PSP's Ridge Racer 2 as part of the new classics line-up. That may have happened in the summer launch across Asia, but we've had to wait until late December to get it over here. A wait so long, I had cancelled my PS+ and needed to re-sign up to celebrate the occasion. 

This Ridge Racer 2 has had a few tweaks too, with up-rendering, a rewind mode, quick save, and custom video filters. Yes, the cars look a little sharper, but pretty much everything is as-is with the UI looking rather blurry on a large screen. 

But who cares, there's racing to be done and while the world will be unwrapping the latest big-name games for the console, I'll be happy slogging around the tracks in pursuit of the Crinale and other goodies. And anyone who's been around PlayStation since the start can fire up the Solvalou for another drift around these hallowed digital tracks. 

Hopefully the Vita (which still has live, if largely empty, multiplayer lobbies) edition will come back to life, with a full HD remake, but I guess for the most part, Namco and Sony have moved on. Still, if enough people download this as part of their PS+ collection, who knows! 

Ridge Racer 2 is so good because it features more tracks (including reverse courses), more special class cars and the lovely Rally X retro game in the attract mode. 

At least now there is some PSP activity on PS+, with Star Wars Battlefront 2 heading out the loading dock. Anyway, have a good Christmas/New Year as appropriate, I'm racing off into the sunset!