STACK #197 Mar 2021

GAMING FEATURE

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WOW, WHAT A START!

Hard Drivin’ was the first example of a polygon graphics- driven arcade racer, taking us one (small) step closer to more realistic 3D visuals.

golden years of cl assic arcade racing slick Hotshot ing back with the l release this collectible physica

Memories of those

games come flood

es as Hard Drivin’ lease the perfect enuine arcade car

Racing , which receives a month. Reminisce and Ridge Racer , we thought its re ok back at some g nt of such favourit excuse to take a lo

Ridge Racer Namco (1993)

s inspiration.

hat likely served a

A masterpiece of design, this first-person racer was an audio- visual sensory assault, and a truly engaging racing (and drifting) experience. Few will forget

racer milestones t

Words Amy Flower

Gran Trak 10 Atari (1974)

Pole Position Namco (1982)

In glorious black and white, this was ground zero for arcade car

The most successful racer of the “golden era” of the arcades, this compiled many previously used features into one slick,

the ‘Riiiiidge Racerrrrrr!”

voiceover guy – paid tribute to in Hotshot Racing , as is the game’s style in general. Ridge Racer also inspired SEGA to develop their arguably even better smash hit Daytona USA , which could be played head-to-head on up to eight connected arcade machines.

games – steering wheel-equipped cabinet and all – and cast a template that would be revisited 12 years later in Atari’s much better-looking Sprint games. Monaco GP SEGA (1979)

challenging and really fun F1 package. It also added a qualifying lap, a real-world track (Fuji Speedway), and product placement. Two out of three ain’t bad… Out Run SEGA (1986) A seismic leap in

Another overhead racer, this plopped the car in the middle of a colour, scrolling track and challenged the player to race fast enough over various surfaces to extend their time. The series later spawned SEGA’s faux-3D Super Monaco games, via the company’s much- loved Turbo .

PEDAL PEDIGREE Hotshot Racing started life as Racing Apex from London-based Lucky Mountain Games, with their past experience – including work on the Midnight Club and Burnout series – colliding with that of Sumo Digital (more racing games than we could list, including entries in the TOCA Race Driver , Dirt , F1 and Forza Horizon series, plus all of the Sonic Racing games).

graphics and music when it hit arcades,

hurtling down multiple-choice

branching highways in an open-top Ferrari was

just as much fun on an upright arcade machine as it was in the wild hydraulic one that the player sat in. Hard Drivin’ Atari (1989) Billed rather hyperbolically as “The world’s first authentic driving simulation game”,

MARCH 2021

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