Games

The Ridge Racer franchise has always been about one thing and one thing only – drift racing through city streets. No matter what instalment in the series you played, the basic set-up was the same: jam your finger down on the accelerator and never let go, carrying as much speed as possible into every corner as you modulate your braking to powerslide around every bend in the road.

But as well as its unwieldy subtitle, Ridge Racer: Unbounded adds another element to the template – mass destruction. Taking a leaf out of the Burnout book of arcade racers, …Unbounded is all about charging up a power bar by sliding, catching air or riding slipstreams, and when it hits maximum, crashing through buildings and ramming your opponents off the road.

Even though it’s never quite as explosive or exciting as either the Burnout games or the under-appreciated Split/Second: Velocity, it’s still a hugely enjoyable arcade racer – one that injects some fresh life into the Ridge Racer franchise while also presenting gamers with a serious challenge if they ever want to conquer it. And for those that do, there’s even a track editor waiting to be played with.

With its spectacular graphics and thumping audio it also feels right at home on the bigscreen. So what are you waiting for?

Namco, Xbox 360/PS3/PC, £50 Approx , On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 4/5