🏎️💿🎶 Ridge Racer Infinity Video Game Music Review (RoBKTA) 🏎️💿🎶 @firagarecords #VGM #VideoGameMusic

I have something of an odd history with dance music. Like many who grew up in the mid-90s, my distinct opinion was that proper music had to have proper instruments, i.e. guitar, bass, and drums. Even the keyboard was a bit racy for my liking. 

That said, I never turned off thumping video game soundtracks as, to me, they didn’t count, so I would happily listen to the mental Rotterdam Nation across the Ridge Racer games and think nothing of it. 

Of course, like every grunge-slash-indie fan, once I heard Born Slippy, all bets were off and I remain a dedicated raver to this day.

Ridge Racer Infinity is a remix album of tracks from the venerable Namco series that comes to us from London-based Italian producer RoBKTA. It’s released via Firaga Records in digital, CD or cassette format. The sleeve is styled to look like a PS1 game, which is a great touch and very fitting.

The ten tracks on the album come from four instalments in the series and span multiple genres. We start off with On Your Way from Ridge Racer Type 4, originally a light affair with muted amen breaks and not a lot else. 

The remix, produced with Andrew Elmore, brings it up to the modern day and adds real depth to a fairly nothing track. Things really kick in when it comes to Drivin’ U 2 Dancin’, another Type 4 track. We now have a relentless 150bpm acid techno thumper that I would happily listen to on repeat for an hour. If you remember the Spanish guitar break from the original, I’m happy to report that it makes an appearance here, although with a really lush tone compared to the lightweight synthesised PS1 version.

 

It’s nice to see the lesser-known Ridge Racer PSP get some attention, with Disco Ball and R4cin’ All Night both featuring. The former starts with some mid-90s synth dropping into some excellent UK Garage-Esque breaks, which changes it up nicely. The latter, a collaboration with Tudd, is really reminiscent of Yuzo Koshiro’s Streets of Rage soundtracks in places. Given that SoR2 is my favourite game and favourite OST, it suits me down to the ground and is worth the price of admission alone.

As you might imagine given the era each game was released, there’s a lot of house and techno in here (the infectious Blue Topaz, Your Vibe) but RobKTA repeatedly broadens the horizons. Lucid Rhythms, again from Type 4, begins with some synthwave-style atmospherics, but grows into a piano-led drum ‘n’ bass anthem, while Burnin’ Rubber and Night Stream bring the breakbeats.

Ridge Racer Infinity is available on popular streaming services. The album is also available on CD and cassette tape from the Materia Store or Bandcamp. Visit Firaga records on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date on new releases.

RoBKTA's latest Neo Arcade remix album “Ridge Racer Infinity” is an unmissable collection of high-octane driving jams and a worthy tribute to the classic arcade racing series Ridge Racer. Songs featured on the 10-track album include On Your Way (from "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4"),
Drivin' U 2 Dancin' (from "Ridge Racer Revolution"), and Blue Topaz (from "Rave Racer")with collaborations from Andrew Elmore, Tudd, RoboRob, and Virix Dreamcore.

Note from RoBKTA: "Ridge Racer is possibly the one video game series that stuck the most with me musically and even before being under the VGM radar officially, I would just post RR remixes as a testament of my love for the musical identity of the franchise. Ridge Racer Infinity constitutes the album I always wanted to produce to show my love for the series and I am humbled and lucky to have by my side great talents to collaborate with, further experimenting with new sounds to add to the Neo Arcade formula while sharing with all you racing fans an authentic love letter to a racing franchise that has been missing from our consoles for too long."