HAMSTER have come in with perhaps one of the big surprise titles to coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2 launch.

Not only will Ridge Racer be available day and date with Nintendo Switch 2, it will also kick off what HAMSTER are calling Arcade Archives 2.

Following the debut of the original Arcade Archives series in 2014, Arcade Archives 2 is the next step in the preservation journey with a completely updated UI to support seemingly more modern, powerful releases.

ACA games have often tended to favor classic 80s to early 90s titles – from Super Mario Bros to Rainbow Islands to Gradius. Ridge Racer feels like quite a step upwards as we move into the PS1 and modern arcade era of games. Who knows where it leads from here!?

It has also been confirmed there will be different pricing tiers for Arcade Archives and Arcade Archives 2. With traditional ACA games releasing at $14.99, ACA 2 titles will cost a little bit extra at $16.99. You will also be able to upgrade certain titles from ACA versions to ACA 2 versions for a $2.99 fee, including Ridge Racer.

Arcade Archives 2 is set to be supported by the latest formats only, being Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Meanwhile, Arcade Archives will remain on last generation, being Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. And in somewhat surprising, but good news, there will be a last gen, ACA 1 version of Ridge Racer coming June 5 as well.

However, the ACA 1 version of Ridge Racer will only offer ‘Original Mode’, ‘High Score Mode’ and ‘Caravan Mode’. Meanwhile, the ACA 2 version will additionally offer ‘Time Attack Mode’. In future, other ACA 2 series games will also offer modes such as Network Mode, but as ‘Ridge Racer is a single-player game, “NETWORK MODE” is not implemented.’

While this may also change from game to game, we understand Ridge Racer will have multiple save slots, a rewind feature, quick start, and VRR support. We can also confirm Ridge Racer will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on June 5 alongside a release on Switch 2.

Lots of info to unpack there, but all this to say, Ridge Racer is back, it’ll be available on every format going from June 5 and if you want the definitive experience, ACA 2 sounds like the way to go, on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

To the finish line!

(Source: HAMSTER)