Power Drift

Power Drift
Developer(s)	Sega-AM2
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Yu Suzuki (producer)
Platform(s)	Arcade, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, DOS TurboGrafx 16
Release date	1988
Genre(s)	Racing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Input methods	Paddle, 1 button
Arcade system	Sega Y Board
Display	Raster 320 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 24576 colors

Power Drift is an arcade game released by Sega in 1988. A racing game, it made high use of sprite-scaling to create a 3d effect, similar to contemporaries Out Run and Hang-on. The tracks have a roller coaster feel to them, with lots of steep climbs and falls, as well as the ability to "fall" off higher levels. To add to this feeling, the sit-down cabinet was built atop a raised hydraulic platform, and the machine would tilt and shake quite violently.

Gameplay

Twelve drivers from all walks of life compete in this racing game. The object is to finish each race in third place or better in order to advance to the next stage. You have the option of continuing if you finish a race in fourth place or lower.

Courses

Each circuit, labeled from "A" to "E" has a certain theme to it (for example, circuit A has cities, circuit B has deserts, circuit C has beaches, etc.) in a series of five tracks. There are also four laps for each course.

Secrets

If you can place first on all five tracks (which is indicated by all five gold trophies on the number of wins display behind the course letter), there is an "Extra Stage" where the assigned car is a vehicle from other Sega games. Courses B and D allow you to race with the fighter jet from After Burner in the Extra Stage, while courses A, C, and E have you racing the motorcycle from Hang-On.

You can also press the start button while in a race to see a rear view.

Oddly enough, the billboards in the game contain an ad for now defunct real-life Chicago radio station WLAK 94, a real estate sign saying "SOLD!" with the name of Australian real estate company Max Christmas, and for Los Angeles furniture store Victory Furniture, using each entity's then current real-life fonts and signage. This might have been an in-joke amongst the designers, or they might have been inspired from seeing Western advertisements in magazines, travels or the like.

Music

Each course in the game has a theme song, and they are as follows:

Notes and references

External links

• Game hardware page at System16.com
• Power Drift at World of Spectrum