 Ridge Racer had a development cycle of eight months . The development team was under pressure to complete it before their rivals , and designer Fumihiro Tanaka commented that " the other company " was in the same position . Ridge Racer was originally planned to be an F1 racing game , but the concept was replaced with one based on a trend among Japanese car enthusiasts at the time . Namco Bandai 's general manager Yozo Sakagami explained that they liked racing on mountain roads and did not want to slow down around corners , so drifted around them instead . The team therefore decided to create a game which lets the player test his driving skills and experience the car 's manipulation at high speeds while mastering drifting . 
