Power Drift (パワードリフト)

One player first-person sprite based driving game.

There are 25 tracks, divided into 5 groups (A through E) of 5 tracks each. The object is to complete all 5 tracks in any one group. You can only play one group per credit. You must come in 3rd place or better to continue to the next track.

Power Drift has been described as a sort of sequel to Out Run. The sprite based graphics model looks the same as Out Run, but instead of racing against the clock, you race against 11 other cars on a looping track. The tracks are fairly detailed (for 1988) and give a good sence of racing in three dimentions. Many of the tracks loop over themselves, have very steep hills and some even contain ramps to jump over, adding to the 3D feel.

There are two types of cabinets, an upright and a cockpit. The upright cabinet has the standard driving controls; a steering wheel, a hi-low shifter, a gas pedal and a brake pedal. The cockpit model sports the same controls as the upright and is shaped to look similar to the go-kart style cars used in the game. The player sits in the car which is attached to motors that react to the game, much like the sit-in Out Run.

Each group of tracks has its own stereo theme music. Each song is composed in standard Sega 80s style, much like Out Run. Unfortunatly, these songs are not presented in the same manner as Out Run (remember that cool radio?) and are not named. That does not take away from the tunes at all, however, and each song adds plenty of upbeat retro to the race.

Power Drift has 4 difficulty settings and is very difficult even when set on the Normal difficulty level. It takes time and a lot of practice to master the game, even when the difficulty is set to easy. The first few tracks are generally easy, but they increace in difficulty to the point where you just have to push the pedal to the floor and hope you don't hit anything. The best part about Power Drift is that it is fast paced. The game wastes no time getting you back on track when you wreck, all the while yelling "Hurry up! Hurry up!", and there are few precious seconds between tracks to rest.

• Published for Sega Saturn (Japan) by Sega (as part of the Sega Ages series)
• Published for Commodore 64 (UK) by ?