Pole Position

Pole Position arrived in 1982 from Namco and ranks among the most influential arcade games of the early 1980s. It was one of the first titles to use a behind-the-car view of the track and a pseudo-3D perspective that gave players a real sense of speed despite technically simple 2D graphics. Its defining feature was a qualifying lap before the actual race — anyone who failed to post a fast enough time never made it into the main race, an unusual touch at the time that set the game apart from simpler racing cabinets. The cabinet also featured a gear shift for switching between two speed ranges along with a steering wheel and pedals, reinforcing the feeling of a genuine race and setting it apart from button-only machines.

A year later came Pole Position II, which added new tracks and small refinements while sticking to the same core formula. Thanks to its huge arcade popularity, the series quickly reached home computers and consoles as well, appearing on the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit computers and the Commodore 64, with each version varying in quality depending on what the given platform could handle. These home ports carried the game far beyond arcades and helped popularize the racing genre among home players.

Pole Position is still cited as the title that established the basic grammar of racing video games — the behind-the-car view, the sense of speed, and the chase for the best lap time — and its influence can be traced through many later arcade racers.