Pole Position (1982)

Namco

Arcade · Atari 5200 · Atari 8-bit · BBC Microcomputer System · Commodore C64/128/MAX · Commodore VIC-20 · DOS · Intellivision · Texas Instruments TI-99 · Vectrex · ZX Spectrum

2.89 from 111 ratings

271 members have it in their collection · 2 playing now · 27 backlogged · 12 wish listed

The very first racing game with the rear perspective camera and track based on real life.
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Details

Developers
Namco
Publishers
Atari, GCE, INTV Corporation, Thunder Mountain
Genres
Arcade, Racing, Sport
Themes
Action
Franchises
Formula 1
Series
Pole Position

Release dates

  • Sep 16, 1982 (Full Release) (Japan) Arcade
  • Nov 30, 1982 (Full Release) (North_America) Arcade
  • 1982 (Full Release) (Europe) Arcade
  • 1983 (Full Release) (North_America) Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Commodore C64/128/MAX, Commodore VIC-20, Vectrex
  • 1983 (Full Release) (Europe) ZX Spectrum
  • 1984 (Full Release) (Europe) BBC Microcomputer System
  • 1984 (Full Release) (North_America) Texas Instruments TI-99
  • 1987 (Full Release) (North_America) Intellivision
  • 1988 (Full Release) (North_America) DOS

Also available on

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Rating distribution

5 stars
5
4 stars
15
3 stars
61
2 stars
23
1 star
7
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Community All Reviews Statuses

AlfredoSalza

Status AlfredoSalza Mar 7, 2021

Prepare to qualify!

After playing Outrun, I wanted to go back to an older arcade racing game. Initially I tried to emulate the arcade version of Pole Position and after playing for a few minutes, I started to think that my controls were broken or something (since the car was getting too out of control). Also, I'm not really …

Read more

Prepare to qualify!

After playing Outrun, I wanted to go back to an older arcade racing game. Initially I tried to emulate the arcade version of Pole Position and after playing for a few minutes, I started to think that my controls were broken or something (since the car was getting too out of control). Also, I'm not really comfortable with MAME emulation in general so I looked for an alternative.

I went for something simpler and found Namco Museum for the GBA, where you can play a kind of decent port of the game. To my surprise, the controls seemed to be just as hellish so I ended up assuming that the game was simply made like that to eat as many quarters as possible.

After some attempts, I got 1st place (default settings). Despite the horrible sound the car makes and the complicated steering controls, it was still a pleasant experience, but above all an educational one on the history of racing games.

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