Game Classification

Dragsters race.

The player's objective is to drive a dragster to the finish line ahead of an opponent dragster. Elapsed times for the players are continuously displayed on the TV screen during play, as are each player's best elapsed time for that game.
A play sequence consists of a number of suc- cessive race heats in which tv^o dragsters compete against one another by moving horizontally across the screen, from left to right. In a two-player game each player drives a separate dragster. In a one-player game the player drives one dragster and the game's internal circuitry "drives" the other dragster. However, as the elapsed time of the player's dragster improves, so also does that of the game's dragster.
Before a race heat begins both dragsters are standing at the start line and the pickets in the fences beside each lane on the drag strip are motionless.
Also, a "Christmas tree" color display portion of the TV screen, between the two dragsters, will display start timing. This display changing to green is the signal for the race to begin. If a player now puts the car in gear and steps all the way down on the gas
pedal the dragsterwill move forward. Alsothe pickets in the fences begin to move, at a rate faster than that of the cars, thereby adding to the player's visual illu- sion of dragster speed and movement down the drag strip. A player may step down on the gas pedal while the Christmas tree is still yellow, but only if the car is in neutral. Otherwise, a red light appears, the words TOO SOON appear in that track, and that set of controls is disabled—holdingthe car back for about a second. Note that the car must be in gear to move. A player might thus have the car in gear before the green light appears, if the gas pedal is not depressed.
Conversely, a more advanced player can depress the gas pedal before the green light appears, /T/n neutral. This will allow the engine to rev up before the green.
Revving up in neutral requires some skill, as the revs climb quickly and the engine may blow when standing in neutral. As the dragster moves forward, the player must listen to the pitch of the dragster's engine sounds and/or note the position of the tachometer needle, so that he or she will know when to shift into the next higher gear. If a player shifts too soon, the dragster's acceleration will drop off temporarily, lengthening the elapsed time for that heat. If a player fails to let off the gas during a shift and/or lets engine rpm's get a little too high before shifting, then the dragster may go into a "wheelie" {front wheels lift up off the ground) after the shift is completed. When this happens the dragster loses some acceleration for a few moments. If the player waits until the engine rpm is so high that the tachometer needle is in its red region, then the engine may blow up. When this happens an engine explosion picture appears on the TV screen, explosion sounds are heard, the message ENGINE BLOWN is displayed...

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : Arcade

Links

• http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=drag-race&page=detail&id=688
• https://ia600500.us.archive.org/13/items/ArcadeGameManualDragrace [...]