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Ridge Racer: A Tale of Two Ridge Cities

As a backdrop for the racing action, Ridge City leaves little to explore — spatially — beyond its rudimentary trackside features. Yet in its meager polygons, saccharine hues, and crude textures, it depicts a place I can imagine myself inhabiting. Each area of the city feels memorable and personal, driven to life by landmarks and daydreams.

The Bouncer: Square’s Cutscene ‘Em Up

The Bouncer was a simplistic beat ‘em up — but only when it wasn’t a cutscene ‘em up — and its tepid execution transcended neither. The game interspersed layers of brief, repetitive combat sequences amid a feature-length reel of ham-fisted cinematics, and then slathered skill upgrade menus and loading screen lore dumps in between.

The Bouncer aspired to be a hearty stew of gaming and film. Instead, it was a stale sandwich, cinematically bloated and lean on play.

Dare to Be SquareSoft: Getting a Grip on Driving Emotion Type-S

I am fascinated by this era of Square. Not only did its output spearhead the early PS2 hype, but it sparked intrigue for the kinds of gaming experiences that would await in the new millennium. What would happen when a renowned gamemaker (mostly) synonymous with JRPGs takes a swing at other genres way outside its wheelhouse? What unique innovations would its interpretations contribute? And in what inventive ways could it screw things up?

The answers, I’d find, were capricious and messy yet so bizarrely satisfying.