Throwback Thursday: Ridge Racer © Bandai Namco

Today’s gamers may have shown a preference hyper-realistic simulations with authentic handling, deformable body-work and accurate tire degradation, but not so long ago the most intoxicating speedfest money could buy was totally unconcerned with such features.

Namco's Ridge Racer is about as realistic as Wacky Races when it comes to replicating how an actual motor-vehicle handles on the open road , but for many years it was the go-to franchise for petrolheads – especially those who favoured an instantly-gratifying arcade experience over a comprehensively realistic one.

Originally released in arcades back in 1993, Ridge Racer – along with Sega's Virtua Racing – was one of the first driving games to truly harness the power of polygons. Namco (now known as Bandai Namco) was no stranger to the genre and, like Sega, had produced many sprite-based racers during the previous few years. However, Ridge Racer, which ran on the company's shiny new System 22 arcade hardware, marked a new era for this type of game; by today's standards the graphics look positively crude, but back in the early '90s those texture-mapped 3D visuals were absolutely jaw-dropping, especially when encountered in the special "Full Scale" arcade cabinet which included a wrap-around screen and a proper Mazda MX-5 to sit in as you played.

Ridge Racer © Bandai Namco

Ridge Racer lacked real-world cars and locations, but this allowed Namco to make the title even more visually striking. The fictional vehicles were brightly-coloured and eye-catching, while the single course found in the arcade original was a mixture of sprawling urban landscapes, incredible vistas and sun-kissed, deep-blue beaches. Likewise, the game's music was a selection of thumping techno tracks which seemed to compliment the on-screen action perfectly; in the noisy and crowded environment of your local amusement arcade, games needed to stand out to attract your gaze; Ridge Racer certainly did that, and then some.

However, it wasn't just Ridge Racer's cutting-edge 3D graphics and toe-tapping music which caught the attention of the arcade-going public: it had killer gameplay to match. The concept of power-sliding in racing games wasn't anything new – it was already a key mechanic in Nintendo's SNES classic Super Mario Kart – but Namco took the art of gliding effortlessly around corners to the next level.

In Ridge Racer, simply lifting your foot off the accelerator and turning left or right would put the car into a elegant, controlled slide, allowing you to effortlessly navigate corners at breakneck speeds as your tires screamed against the tarmac. The process wasn't particularly realistic – it felt like your car was spinning on a record turntable rather than a road – but it gave the game a distinct feel which became its unmistakable trademark, right up to the present day. For many people, pulling off your first power-slide in Ridge Racer stands as one of the most memorable events in your personal gaming history.

A remarkable technical achievement for its time, Ridge Racer would repeat the same stunning display on Sony's fledgling PlayStation console a year later.

A 1994 launch title – which was reportedly created in just six months – the domestic version of Ridge Racer was startlingly faithful to the coin-op, and in the eyes of many retro gamers was the title which allowed Sony to gain an early lead over rival Sega in the vicious 32-bit console war. A Saturn port of Sega's own arcade racing smash, Daytona USA, would be subject to a slight delay and the end result was nowhere near as impressive as Namco's Ridge Racer port. It might sound like hyperbole, but Namco's efforts could be seen as one of the main reasons for the PlayStation's early success, the decades of dominance that followed. Ridge Racer was unquestionably the cream of the PlayStation's release line-up.

With one critical and commercial smash-hit under its belt, Namco knew it was onto a good thing. The arcade-only semi-sequel Rave Racer arrived in 1995, offering very much the same experience as its forerunner but with a more expansive city environment. A much-improved PlayStation successor under the title of Ridge Racer Revolution would supply a brand-new course to race around, but 1996's Rage Racer proved to be the first time that Namco attempted to fiddle with the formula. The game featured a stronger focus on progression, as well as a more muted visual style which traded the bright colours for realistic browns, greys and blacks.

Rage Racer would be followed by what many still feel is the best domestic edition in the franchise: R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. Released at a time when gamers were being thrilled by the visual and technical brilliance of Gran Turismo, the final 32-bit PlayStation outing for Namco's series upped the ante in terms of graphics and added in a more robust single-player career mode, which saw you racing for different teams and interacting with your race staff.

Shortly afterwards, the series would see its first non-Sony release in the shape of Ridge Racer 64 for the Nintendo 64, while Ridge Racer V on the PlayStation 2 continued the franchise tradition of launching alongside new Sony hardware. In fact, the series began to make a habit of being first on the starting grid when new consoles hit the market – Ridge Racer 6 ( Xbox 360 ), Ridge Racer 7 ( PlayStation 3 ), Ridge Racer (PlayStation Portable), Ridge Racer 3D ( Nintendo 3DS ) and Ridge Racer Vita ( PS Vita ) were all launch games for their respective platforms.

Despite Namco's strict adherence to the typical Ridge Racer template, there have been attempts to diversity the series over the years. 2003's R: Racing Revolution tried to marry the power-sliding gameplay with a more authentic motorsport experience, and even introduced real-world cars and racing events.

More recently, Ridge Racer Unbounded – coded by Western studio Bugbear Interactive – introduced an emphasis on causing massive crashes. The fact that neither title was a massive commercial or critical success would suggest that Ridge Racer is very much a product of its time, and any attempts to update or augment the core mechanics are likely to be be with hostility from hardcore fans. As such, Namco's series remains a relic from the past, albeit one which is still well worth taking out of the garage for a quick spin, even today.