Pole Position (Arcade)

In my (stupid) opinion, racing games are boring. Many of their gameplay makes you tour through certain course optimally until required lap's quantity is over. But few of racing games are registered as 'interesting' to younger Werdito. One of them is Namco's "Pole Position" (1982). 

Fuji speedway track looks like Thompson SMG that is made with half-melted rubber band. Elementary schooler me plays PC in elder cousin's PC. It's in bundle with other classic Namco's games such as Dig Dug, and Galaga. Of course, he can't achieve top hi-scores though he tried so many times till he got bored and switch to play Dig Dug. So can i accomplish this task that can't be done by very-younger me? I kind of doubt that myself as i'm not fans of racing games, but at least i will try.    

As soon as i start the game there is this blimp with GoodYear GooYer sponsor flies with banner that i guess tells me "Preliminary/qualification start!" as same with what the announcer says. So where is the start/finish pole? It's hidden so we can see the blimp. It get top priority because it has sponsor name, you see. Judging by her voice, the announcer is female. That's uncommon as i remembered there is no female announcer in any Formula-1 racing. Did i mention that this game is about F-1 racing?

 

See my car! That's definitely F-1 car. The control is simple: steering wheel to steer, accelerator/gas/throttle pedal to accelerate, brake pedal to brake and gear lever to change gear. That's for real cabinet as i play this with emulator, i use "a" & "d" to steer, "s" for brake, "u" to accelerate, and "i" to change gear. You can tells this is legit F-1 racing game by Marlboro^tm billboard there.

 

To pass the qualification, you have to finish a lap within certain time. I can't tell how much it is. Things for sure is: as long as you don't bump (then explode) to any billboard or any racer and you're doing it most of the time in High(-speed) gear, you will most likely to pass. Once again the lofty blimp flies across the sky. I (once again) guess its banner and the announcer tells me "Congratulation! You pass for the Grand Prix". By the way, i got 7th position. Not too shabby, heh?!

 

Off we go to the main race! I'm sure you're sensible driver/driving gamer that will probably think that to pass other racer you have to switch side left-right rigorously. But i'm not like you lots. I pass these competitor by driving in median with swaying little turning. How insolent driver i am!

 

Another different between main race and qualification/preliminary ones (beside more other racers that are randomly generated) is this water puddle that can slow you down. The racing committee thinks it ways to easy for me racers to just doing lap in main race with exact same condition in qualification/preliminary ones. So they have part of the track damped with roughly one or two dozen buckets of water. Or they use snowmen to do it. Whatever the case is: this is definitely sabotage. It's official but still sabotage nonetheless. Such is no-sportive manner in early-year F-1 racing.

 

The main course is time-limited, as same as time-trial ones. Your score is determined by how far you go, qualification position, and how many racer you can pass safely. It's so arcade game. The high-score seeking ones. You probably can't see that at some fair distance of this road is the finish line. I was so close! Let's try again.

 

This time, i'm in 6th position. I feel very confident.

 

Well, darn! My confidence is diminished *sweat drop*. Note to self: passing competitor on a turn is very bad idea.

Freak you, Pepsi! I hope you will never be better soda drink than Coca-Cola. Oh, wait! You are. Spy_laughlong01.wav.

I reach 5th position! I better don't get cocky to early like that time.

I manage to pass the finish line this time! One of big mystery from my younger's gaming experience has been revealed! There's no new track beyond this point. Instead i get extended play so i can rake higher score. It's basically like 1-up. I'm quite satisfied with that founding, i'm tempted to call it quit. But i will try few more times. Just to measure my driving skill further.

 

Yep, i get wrecked. Nice Agip billboard there, by the way. Looks very legit.    

It's Pepsi's curse! There is this racer that got fascinated by Pepsi trademark, wishing he get refreshing soda. Meanwhile i  change gear to low for this sharp turn too late (by 0.2 seconds or so). The result is 1 A.I racer dies in vain. Me? I'm fine. I'm resurrected few milliseconds after these gorgeous explosion. I just lost few seconds of racing-time and slew chance of breaking Hi-score. That's all.

There we go! 6 Top scores from me. So this is best time to quit this game. But before i draw conclusion.

Out of curiosity, i asked all-knowing Wikipedia about Fuji racing track. Turns out, it's real! Red layout is track in 1965 - 1974. Blue layout is track in 1975 - 1985. Green layout is track in 1986 - 2004. So if we ignore red tracks, then circuit is roughly 80% same with the one within "Pole Position". Case closed.

"Pole Position" is racing games that ignores your last position when you finish last lap instead you drive through track within limited time to earn as much scores as you can. And i love that kind of gameplay. But basically quite the same: drive as fast as you can, also as safe as well. The basic strategy is simple: put low-gear at start of race and when about to face sharp turns (hint: one of them has Pepsi's Billboard); set to high-gear in other cases. Also don't hit the break ever! Or maybe you can. I manage get those hi-scores without make my car to brake so there is that. It goes without saying that when your car is in high-gear, you have hard time when turning. There is no music in this game, but it has great sound effects and digitized voice that almost real. Speaking of real, the sponsor advertisements are quite same with the real ones in any real racing track. Except, obviously the GooYer. It seems, tire company has more conscientious law-suits than what other companies have. Is it possible to be in position higher than 5th in time-attack lap or pass the finish line more than once? Maybe, if you have driving skill of Michael Schumacher in his career days. While i get drunk-driving skill of Tavish Finnegan DeGroot (A.K.A Demoman) that has chugged down one or two bottle of turpentine instead of his beloved scrumpy. It better for the world that i don't have job as racing driver.