Once you have inserted your coin into the cabinet of Namco's 1993 racing arcade game, Ridge Racer, you will have ten seconds to choose from one of the four modes: Novice (two laps, maximum speed of 180 km/h), Advanced and Expert (three laps, maximum speed 200 km/h), and Time Trial (three laps, maximum speed 220 km/h); you can also use the gear shifter to choose one of six songs to hear from the C352 during the game, as shown below.
| Gear | Song |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ridge Racer (Power Remix) |
| 2 | Rare Hero (Sanodigy Mix) |
| 3 | Feeling Over (Underground) |
| 4 | Rotterdam Nation (Foo Mix) |
| 5 | Speedster (I Like A.T Mix) |
| 6 | Rhythm Shift (12" Version) |
You shall then have ten seconds to choose between Automatic Transmission and Manual Transmission; if you select the former, the gear shifter and clutch pedal will be disabled, but if you select the latter, they won't. The amount of time you start out with also depends upon which mode you've chosen.
| Mode | Seconds |
|---|---|
| Novice | 66 (1:06) |
| Advanced | 59 |
| Expert | 52 |
| Time Trial | 47 |
Once your car (which is coloured red and affiliated with "Team F/A") appears upon the screen, the camera will zoom in on it and change to a first-person view of a woman who is wearing a Namco swimsuit and holding a sign with the text "1 min" on it; your chosen mode is also displayed on a flipsign on the starting bridge, which will then count down from "3" to "START" as that aforementioned woman and a race official run to get out of the way. You will then have to step on the gas pedal, to accelerate your car (your currently-selected gear will also be displayed in the bottom-left corner of the screen, and your current RPM and speed in km/h in the bottom-right corner) as you pass seven barriers on the right side of the track - and you will now have to turn to the left, as you pass under another bridge with another sign which has the text "CHECK POINT" on it. You'll then have to turn to the right as you pass under a giant television that has the text "LAP 1. LAP TIME: X'XX"XX" (X'XX"XX being your current lap time) on its screen, then pass a third sign which has an arrow pointing to the curved right and the text "120R" on it as you go into a tunnel; you will then pass seven black-and-yellow striped barriers on the right side of the track (which can be run over by your car, just for fun), along with ten more regular barriers with two construction trucks (which have electronic signs displaying arrows pointing to the left on them) behind them on the left side of the track. You shall then have to turn to the right as you pass a fourth sign which has another arrow pointing to the curved right and the text of "80R" on it, upon the left side of the track, then come out of the tunnel and pass seventeen chevrons (which are pointing to the right), a white helicopter, and a billboard for Brent Leisure Limited, on the left side of the track - and you will then have to turn to the left as you pass a fifth sign which has an arrow pointing to the curved left and the text "70R" on it on the left side of the track, then pass over a bridge and turn to the left again as you pass a sixth sign that has a second arrow pointing to the curved left and the text of "120R" on it upon the left side of the track. You will then have to turn to the right as you pass four lamp-posts (the third of which has a seventh sign with a third arrow pointing to the curved right and the text "80R" on it) and another billboard for the Namco Wonder Eggs theme park (which closed down in 2000) on the left side of the track, then turn to the right again as you pass an eighth sign which has a fourth arrow pointing to the curved right and the text of "80R" on it on the right side of the track; you will then have to turn to the left as you pass fifteen palm trees on both sides of the track along with ten restaurants, a third billboard for the Aladdin's Castle arcade, and twenty-one more chevrons (which are pointing to the left) on the right side of the track. You will then have to turn to the right as you pass under a third bridge with a ninth sign which has the text "CHECK POINT" on it then pass a beach hotel and a fourth billboard for the Namco Wonder Eggs theme park on the right side of the track along with a third electronic sign displaying the text "TIME EXTENDED" on the left side of the track, a tenth red sign which has an arrow pointing in a U-turn and the text "40R" on it on the right side of the track, and seventeen more chevrons (which are again pointing to the right) on the left side of the track - and you then have to turn to the left, as you pass an eleventh (back to blue) sign which has a third arrow pointing to the curved left and the text of "100R" on it, upon the left side of the track, then pass three gas stations (one is called "The Garage Starblade", while another is called "Pac-Man" and has a roadside cafe named "Cafe Dragoon") upon both sides of the track and a fifth billboard for the Aladdin's Castle arcade on the left side of the track. You will now have to turn to the left as you pass two more billboards for Brent Leisure Limited and the now-closed Namco Cyberstation arcade on both sides of the track, as well as a twelfth sign which has a fourth arrow pointing to the curved left and the text "100R" on it on the left side of the track as you go into another tunnel; once you have come out of it, you shall have to turn to the right as you pass four more regular barriers and a thirteenth sign (which has a fourth arrow pointing to the curved right and the text "80R" on it) as well as twenty-five more chevrons (which are, once again, pointing to the right), on the left side of the track. You shall then have to turn to the right again as you pass five more regular barriers and a fourteenth sign (which has a fifth arrow pointing to the curved right and the text "140R" on it) on the left side of the track, then pass under that aforementioned second bridge (which, you may remember, has a sign with the text "CHECK POINT" on it) to complete a full lap of the track - and your time will then be extended again (by 33 seconds if you are playing in "Novice" mode, 27 in "Advanced" or "Expert" mode, and 26 in the "Time Trial" mode). Once you have come out of the second tunnel on your second lap, the sky shall have darkened; once you are about to complete three (or two, if you are playing in "Novice" mode) laps of the track, the sign on the aforementioned second bridge will say "FINISH", instead of "CHECK POINT". Once you have passed under it, the camera will zoom in on the aforementioned television above the first tunnel with the text "LAP 2/3. LAP TIME: X'XX"XX" (X'XX"XX being your last lap time) on its screen - and it shall now display the text "RESULT" on the left side of its screen with your race position (from 1st to 13th) under it along with your lap times upon its right side and your total time at its bottom. The screen will now cut to a shot of your car driving into view from the right side of the screen and coming to a stop as the text "CONGRATULATIONS" appears at the top of the screen and each of its fifteen letters spin around; the text "GAME OVER" will then appear on the screen, and if your total time was less than 4'05"998, the game will go into "best-time" mode so you should enter your initials on the best-time table with pride. Once you've done it, the game will go back into attract mode.
However, if you're playing in "Time Trial" mode, you will have to turn to the left once you have come out of that second tunnel, and pass six more regular barriers, with two more construction trucks (which have electronic signs displaying arrows pointing to the right and the left on them) behind them on both sides of the track, then turn to the left, as you pass a fourteenth sign which has a fifth arrow pointing to the curved left and the text "20R" on it, on the left side of the track; you shall now have to turn to the right, as you pass a fifteenth (red) sign which has a fifth arrow pointing to the curved right and the text "20R" on it, along with nine more chevrons (which are, yet again, pointing to the right), on that left side of the track. You will then have to turn to the right again as you pass seventeen more chevrons (which are, for a fifth time, pointing to the right), on the left side of the track, then pass under a third bridge, with a sixteenth sign, that has the text "CHECK POINT" on it - and you will then have to turn to the left, as you pass a sixth electronic sign displaying the text of "TIME EXTENDED" on the left side of the track, along with seventeen more chevrons (which are again pointing to the left) on the right side of the track. You shall then have to turn to the right as you pass a seventeenth (red) sign which has another arrow pointing in a U-turn and the text "80R" on it, fifty-seven more chevrons (which are for a sixth time pointing to the right), and two more billboards for the Aladdin's Castle arcade and the now-closed Namco Cyberstation arcade upon the left side of the track, then turn to the right as you pass twenty-one more chevrons (which are, for a seventh time, pointing to the right) on the left side of the track; you'll then have to turn to the right again, as you pass thirteen more chevrons (which are, for the eighth time, pointing to the right) on the left side of the track. You'll now have to turn to the left, as you pass an eighteenth (back to blue) sign which has a sixth arrow pointing to the curved left and the text "20R" on it on the left side of the track as well as twenty-five more chevrons (which are once again pointing to the left) on the right side of the track - and you will then find yourself back on the main route (but the fourteenth sign which has the fifth arrow pointing to the curved right and the text "140R" on it will now be the nineteenth, and its arrow will also be the sixth pointing to the curved right instead of the fifth).