Pole Position II (7800)
The starting lights go out, the engine roars, and before you unfolds a corner that you either fly through at full throttle or end up in an explosion against the guardrail. Pole Position II is racing speed distilled into the purest arcade form, and on the Atari 7800 you can play it at home.
The original Pole Position was created by Namco and made the series famous as one of the most successful racing cabinets of the golden age; Pole Position II followed as an improved sequel with more tracks. The player first completes a qualifying lap that determines the starting position, and then tries to drive the race within the time limit, overtake opponents, and avoid collisions, which instantly wreck the car. The conversion for the Atari 7800 brought this pseudo-3D behind-the-car view to the home console.
Pole Position became famous especially for popularizing the third-person view from behind the car and the principle of qualifying before the race - two elements that became a standard of the whole genre. The tracks offered recognizable corners, advertising billboards along the track, and relentlessly ticking time that forced players to take risks.
The Atari 7800 was built for faithfully transferring arcade games, and racing titles like Pole Position II were among the things that showed off its capabilities in fast action. For players, this game represented a chance to experience an arcade race without having to go to an arcade.
The historical significance of the Pole Position series is indisputable - it was one of the titles that defined the racing genre and influenced everything that came after them. The second part expanded this legacy with a more varied selection of circuits.
Why play: For pure racing arcade action, where the only goal is speed and every wrongly taken corner costs you precious seconds.
Game 11 of 37 for Atari 7800
The same title elsewhere (1)
The arcade cabinet offered a real seat with an actual steering wheel and pedals, making the driving feel physical and immediate, and its own graphics board drew the track and rival cars smoothly at a high frame rate. The Atari 7800 had the capable MARIA graphics chip, built precisely for handling many colorful sprites, which made this port one of the more visually faithful arcade conversions of its generation — but control ran through an ordinary joystick, so the physical connection to the cabinet's wheel and pedals is naturally missing. The console's sound is also simpler than the arcade machine's dedicated sound board. Anyone wanting the real feel of racing should sit at the cabinet; anyone wanting the game at home, fast, should reach for the 7800.
