Well, in true Working Designs fashion, it was actually a few days late for launch. Silpheed: The Lost Planet was also supposed to be a launch title but wasn't officially released until a week later, too.
I've heard the US release of Ridge Racer V cleaned up the graphics a bit from the japanese version (much like how SFEX3 wasn't riddled with the slowdown from the japanese release), but I've never really bothered to plunk down the money to find out. The japanese release runs in a wacky resolution (like 640x240) and it makes actually driving nigh impossible. You have to memorize the courses because you just can not see corners coming up until you've already passed them and slammed the hell out of the wall.
But yea, if it's only going for $5 or so used, it's worth getting for the soundtrack even if the gameplay is so broken
It was better on PC :P It's a shame that they removed the multiplayer aspect, though. Did Bungie ever say why they removed it, specifically? I remember people raving about it at the trade shows and then when the game finally shipped there was no multiplayer love to be had. Would have been an awesome LAN party game.