What's a console launch without a Ridge Racer title? Granted, Namco usually reserves Ridge Racer titles for Sony console launches, but there's always room for change. Ridge Racer 6 is up against some stiff competition on the Xbox 360, but it certainly does the job and comes out being a quality purchase.

If you've been living in a cave, in the middle of a barren canyon on Pluto for the past decade, you may not know what Ridge Racer is all about. In the most basic sense, Ridge Racer is an arcade-style racing game. The game is all about high speed drifting, overly enthusiastic announcers, and a large array of sleek looking vehicles.

While the latest Ridge Racer title may have been dubbed with the number 6, it's important to note that this is not the sixth game in the series since Namco does not seem to be counting the PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS versions additions to the series. In fact, Ridge Racer 6 borrows quite a bit from the PSP title, including the all important three level Nitrous gauge.

You see, Ridge Racer 6 is all about drifting (although not quite to the extent of Initial D in the arcades). Drifting not only gets you around corners faster, but it also builds up your NOS. This is where most of the technique comes into play for Ridge Racer 6. At first glance, the game may seem like nothing compared to the technical perfection that is Project Gotham Racing 3, but rest assured, Ridge Racer 6 has its fair share of skillful driving.

The faster you go into a drift, the faster your NOS gauges will fill. One level of NOS will give you a decent boost, two levels will give you a larger, more aggressive boost, and three levels will give you the speed you need to smoke all in your path. If you time your NOS usage correctly, you can perform and special drift that kicks in just as your NOS expires and will refill your NOS gauge much faster than a standard drift. Solid NOS management coupled with skilled drifting are a requirement if you wish to complete the more difficult races featured in the game.

Speaking of the races, Ridge Racer 6 features several modes of play. The first mode you're likely to test out is the World Xplorer mode. With 230 different race events, 30 tracks to choose from, and over 130 vehicles, it will take some time to work your way through World Xplorer. The race events are spread out in a gird format that's sectioned off into four classes. As you progress through World Xplorer, you'll move up in class and have access to faster cars. Completing a full grid section (usually around five or six races) will earn yourself a new car as well.

You can also partake in single races that are separate from World Xplorer, race against a friend sitting next to you on the couch, or take your game online to race against players from around the world. Up to ten players can participate in online races, and you can even download ghost races for top tracks, upload your own best times and ghosts or even purchase new cars in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The online play was smooth in most parts and works out very well.

Not everything about Ridge Racer 6 is good though. The announcer will get extremely annoying with a quickness. You do have the option to mute the announcer, or choose several other announcer options once you have unlocked them, but it's hard to understand why Namco would go with such an annoying "DJ" as the default announcer. In addition, the game takes over 30 seconds to load a race. You'll get used to it after awhile, and this seems to be a normal thing for Xbox 360 games since there's so much RAM to fill up, but it's not fun waiting 30 seconds for a single race to load.

Ridge Racer 6 is the first next generation Ridge Racer title, and while the game does look somewhat rushed to make the Xbox 360 launch, it's the best looking Ridge Racer title to date. The cars steal the show, looking far better than any other aspects of the game, but the lighting effects during night courses and in tunnels are spectacular. The background can be a bit drab, and honestly we'd expect a bit more from the Xbox 360, but as you're racing you won't be paying much attention to them anyway.

When all is said and done, Ridge Racer 6 offers a worthwhile racing experience on the Xbox 360. By focusing more on an arcade-style racing game, it separates itself well from PGR3 and the underground racer, Need for Speed. The extensive World Xplorer mode and endless replay value offered via Xbox Live racing will help to keep this title fresh for months. It does have a few minor downfalls, and the loading time is especially troublesome, but overall it's a very solid purchase for any Xbox 360 racing fan.