I feel somewhat deprived of my arcade gaming when I look back at my childhood. It was always a case of I had a certain amount of coins to spend and when I was in the arcade those little teddy bear machines would always take priority. I was first in line to want to win a fake soft-plush-Pokémon and I was all over those machines that contained Ninja Turtles as well. You know the ones I mean - those with the mechanical arm that you first move forward and then you move right before the arm grabs the teddy and drops it before it gets to the win box, usually. I still have that knock off Squirtle under my bed somewhere though, but that Ninja Turtle machine was rigged, I'm sure of it. So while my money went into machines that gave out cheap prizes only if you were lucky, other kids were spending their pocket money on arcade gold such as Ridge Racer.

Years on, I'm fortunate enough to have a PS3 - and even luckier to realise that those teddy-vending machines are just a big scam! The PS3 is home to many racing titles, but only one of those racing titles out of the launch line-up wouldn't look out of place in a swanky arcade somewhere in the far-from-swanky resort in Blackpool - and that's Ridge Racer 7.

Ridge Racer 7 has a simple exterior that hides complex secrets under the bonnet - or hood if you're from America. At first glance it looks like a piece of cake to play, proven by both siblings and parents gathering around the TV, watching, wanting a go - this game looks like one of those pick up and play titles, and it is. But if you pick up and play then you'll probably never come first. Instead, this game packs secrets and tricks to master that will help you reach first place - and believe me when I say I've never felt such achievement in a racing game as I did when I first won a race here!

The races in RR7 are always dangerously close. You could be tailing behind some jerk for three laps but then pull ahead at the last second and come in first place. That feeling alone sold this game to me, but it's working up to that feeling again that kept me playing. As has always been the case, Ridge Racer 7's gameplay focuses heavily on drifting. Sure, most racing games incorporate drifting to some degree - especially after The Fast and the Furious hit the screens - drifting seems to be all the rage all these years on. However, drifting is one of the secrets that makes simple-looking Ridge Racer 7 a little more complex to play, but the irony is that drifting in Ridge Racer is actually really simple and so intuitive when mastered that the game can actually play as simple as it looks after you've put in the hours.

Drifting can be infuriating to start with, but once you've got the hang of it you'll be grinning smugly as you take corners with the greatest of ease. Of course, timing plays a massive part in whether you make it round that bend without touching the sides or not, but once you've got the timing down it's just a case of taking your finger off accelerate and turning in the direction you want vigorously with the thumbstick to drift. Once you get back onto the straight you have to fight the drift by steadying the stick back to normal. Admittedly this is where the accidents happen, as you can be a drifting pro, but not knowing how to straighten up can cause your car to skid around everywhere and essentially lose you the race. The drifting is simple - it's straightening up that's the hard part.

Not only does drifting save you time around those bends (and sometimes it's the only way to get around those bends at any kind of a decent speed) but it also gives you nitrous to use as well. Nitrous charges up incredibly slowly, but with some well executed drifts, you'll charge your tanks up without even thinking about it and you'll soon have access to speed boosts on demand. Upgrading your Nitrous allows you to use (Nitrous permitting) double and even triple Nitrous boosts, which can be invaluable on those long stretches to overtake your rivals. A good way to build up charge is to pull off some drift stunts; you could blast down a straight, take your finger off accelerate as normal and push that thumbstick left twice in a row to do a 360 spin. Incorporating tricks into turns is something else as well, giving you more boost, more satisfaction and more reason to tell your friends that Ridge Racer 7 could well be one of the best arcade console games ever!

However, before you can make Ridge Racer 7 look easy, you'll need to master streamlining in addition to the drifting. Streamlining will be a familiar concept to well-versed racing fans and is pretty easy once properly understood. Basically it works like this - if you're behind an opponent's car then as long as you're lined up with it you go into streamlining mode. When you're in this mode you start to catch up with the car ahead - you receive a little speed boost. It's then up to you to use that boost to overtake and repeat until you finally get in first place. Of course, opponents will want to cash in on your streamline too, so it's well advised to keep on moving from left to right to make sure you don't give them an easy ride to victory!

Armed with the knowledge of drifting and streamlining you can please any crowd who decides to watch you play Ridge Racer 7, providing that you learn how to straighten up! And you'll start off at the back of the pack, streamlining your way to the front, taking those corners by drifting and building up your Nitrous as you go. It's the final lap and you've made it into the front runners, you're fifth and you've had Nitrous ready and available to use for quite a while now. You're just waiting for that right time to use it. Still streamlining, you make it into third place as you enter the last quarter of this last lap. Your attractive-sounding female co-driver, who I can only assume is sitting next to you, gives you tips and keeps you busy throughout the race. She's been telling you that certain opponents are in your streamline, so you acted upon that advice and managed to shake them off. She also kept an eye on your nitrous meter and gave you the praise you needed when you took a corner like a poet would make two sentences rhyme. You've just taken your last corner and now it's the stretch before the finish line. This is dangerously close, as every race seems to be - but now it's time to use that secret weapon, the nitrous you've been saving. You squeeze the trigger on your pad, you see your speedometer increase further into the red and you feel your car take off. Third. Second. First. You've just pulled ahead with seconds to spare and here you are, crossing the finish line, the wireless controller held above your head, your feet tapping along to the techno tracks and your girl congratulating you behind the blackened out windshield in the only way I can think as fitting. Your first ever first. And it feels great!

It's those techno tracks that really make racing an absolute pleasure for me. Racing games should always have some great music and Ridge Racer 7 doesn't disappoint with its massive selection of techno-hard-house-dance tunes to blast around the corners to. At the start of the race you can select your music and then that track will play through the entire race, and it doesn't end halfway through the race like it might do on other racing games - the dance tune just carries on. No silences here, which makes for uninterrupted audio bliss all the way to the finish line. Other audio highlights include, as mentioned earlier, that lady who keeps you in racing spirits and the racing sound effects come through the speakers in their purest form; high pitched revs and the overtaking particularly sounds brilliant as you streamline from behind an opponent, to their side, and then all the way past them. Ridge Racer 7 should definitely be praised for its audio achievements.

Ridge Racer 7 really packs the modes in too. The meat of the game lies in Ridge State Grand Prix mode - if you didn't already know, Ridge State is the State of Ridge Racing. In this mode you complete manufacturer challenges to win new cars, race, earn money, buy upgrades and cry when you lose a lengthy Grand Prix all because you didn't come first overall. Online Battle mode takes you online against other Ridge Racers, which is great fun and pretty challenging, Global Time Attack has you racing against the clock, Arcade lets you have a race with no strings attached and also allows you to go head-to-head with a friend offline. UFRA Special Events are available to download free of charge from the Playstation Store too - and after winning these races you can register your score for the whole world to see. Then you have the basic car customisation, which isn't all frills but it is functional and does the job well enough, plus there's also a ranking browser where you can view your score as well.

Graphically, Ridge Racer 7 pleases. The scenery is amazing, racing through holiday parks, ruins, caves, airport terminals and night-lit roads; every course is a joy to race on. The track design obviously underwent some thought too, as all tracks have straights in which to overtake and corners where you must concentrate on drifting. While the cars themselves all have that beautiful HD shine, I can't help thinking that they could be more detailed - sometimes the cars look a little too arcade-like for their own good, often resulting in them looking out of place in that breathtaking scenery all around you. That doesn't really matter all that much when you're focusing on overtaking, but I was disappointed at the lack of visual effects for gaining and using streamlining; it would have been nice to see your car tear up the road as you gained a boost from the car in front.

Ridge Racer 7 is pure arcade racer that I heartily recommend to any racing fan. It's possible that Motorstorm will overshadow this gem to the average casual gamer, but RR7 shouldn't be overlooked as its arcade pleasures will satisfy everybody in the room who watches. However, just because the game looks simple, doesn't mean that it is - Ridge Racer 7 offers a challenge that will test the most avid racer. Even though drifting makes those corners a lot more interesting, I that fear some people will be put off this initially frustrating mechanic that sometimes leaves you skidding about in the dust of the AI after losing multiple times just because you can't straighten up properly. Even so, every PS3 owner should give this game a try at some point, because you could persevere and fall in love with it - just like I have.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).