Can you feel the beat? Bandai Namco’s 1998/1999 arcade racer Ridge Racer Type 4 is now released on PS4 and PS5. But with a catch. It’s part of the PlayStation Classics Catalog, available only to subscribers of PS Plus Premium/Deluxe. It recently got added alongside a bunch of new games on the PS Plus Game Catalog.
In the initial rollout of the new PS Plus, several of these PS1 games that join the Classics Catalog are available to purchase separately like Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Though that’s not the case for R4, or the previously released Ridge Racer 2 and all games by Bandai Namco for that matter.
Fascinatingly, this only affects games by Bandai Namco (or as they were previously known at the time, Namco). Tekken 2 and Mr. Driller are also unavailable to be purchased separately. All other games in the PS Plus Classic Catalog for Asia allow players to purchase the games separately should they wish not to subscribe to PS Plus Deluxe.
The PS Plus Classic Catalog for Asia region currently has 38 games, which include PS1, PS2 and PSP games converted for PS4 and PS5 (run through emulation). There are exceptions where remakes/modern remasters of games of the era take the slot instead of the original release in the catalogue, like Resident Evil 1 and Destroy All Humans.
Ridge Racer Type 4 was one of the most graphically impressive games of the era, but what makes it evergreen is its turn-of-millennium aesthetic. The jazzy music, the distinctive menu design and the evocative CG intro still live rent-free to players who played the game back when it was the hot new thing and still ages fine to this day.
Until Bandai Namco has a change of heart, the only way to experience Ridge Racer Type on the PS4 and PS5 is to subscribe to PS Plus Premium/Deluxe.
Despite some rumours bubbling up a couple of years ago, Ridge Racer as a series is no longer in active development.