Rad Mobile (World) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 33 years ago:

Rad Mobile © 1991 Sega.

Another in the long line of ground-breaking racing games from Sega, Rad Mobile is a twenty-stage race across America; starting in Los Angeles and finishing in New York. With the game's release, Sega yet again introduced new gameplay elements to the genre, primarily in the form of dynamic weather effects. Sega's 1989 racer, "Turbo Out Run", also included limited weather effects, but they were far less prominent as a gameplay feature and a good deal less impressive than they are here.

Another Sega innovation is that many of Rad Mobile's stages have banked corners; with the car's cockpit view tilting to match the driving surface. Some stages also have police patrols, and players must either avoid or outrun the police cars or risk being pulled over. Being pulled over will result in a loss of valuable seconds.

In addition to the tight time limit, rival drivers (represented as red cars) and heavy traffic (two-way on some stages - see the list), players now had to contend with heavy rain, thick fog and darkness. Windscreen wipers and headlights had to be manually switched on by the player which, together with the first-person in-car view, gave a more realistic and interactive feel to standard but undeniably superb racing action.

Rad Mobile's stages and relative driving conditions are as follows:

• Los Angeles - Day;
• Mojave Desert - Day (2-way drive);
• Las Vegas - Night;
• Provo - Rain (features police patrol cars);
• Salt Lake City - Day;
• Rocky Mountains - Day (2-way drive);
• Cheyenne - Thunder Storm (features police patrol cars);
• Lincoln - Night;
• Omaha - Day;
• Kansas City - Fog (features police patrol cars);
• St. Louis - Night;
• Springfield - Rain (2-way drive);
• Chicago - Day;
• Indianapolis - Night;
• Cincinnati - Day (features police patrol cars);
• Columbus - Dusk;
• Pittsburgh - Night;
• Washington - Fog (features police patrol cars);
• Philadelphia - Day;
• New York - Day;

TECHNICAL
Deluxe model

Runs on the Sega "System 32" hardware.

Players: 1
Control: limited-range steering wheel + 2 analog pedals (brake and gas)
Buttons: 3 (green = turn the light on; blue = use wipers, orange = start game)

TRIVIA
Even if the title screen says 1990, the game was released in February 1991 in Japan.

Also released as "Rad Mobile [Upright model]".

Rad Mobile was Sega's first 32bit arcade game.

Sega's legendary game mascot, Sonic The Hedgehog, is shown in this game dangling from the player's rear view mirror. This is actually the first time Sonic ever appeared in a video game.

Round 17 (Pittsburgh) is driven after dark, but the game doesn't display a notification obliging you to turn the light on, unlike on previous rounds.

The game has no scoring system.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Formula: G.S.M. Sega 5 - PCCB-00059) on April 21, 1991.

A Rad Mobile unit appears in the 1992 movie 'Encino Man'.

UPDATES
The US version is slightly different, it has the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen. Moreover, the speed is shown in a mile per hour.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• The two-lane, oncoming traffic levels, such as the Rocky Mountains, are easier than they appear. Rather than trying to pass cars on the left and risk a head-on collision, pass them on the right. This is particularly good advice for the Rocky Mountains stage as it's possible to fall over the unsecured cliff edge that is situated on the left-hand side of the course.
• A truck is blocking the route on round 12. You have to drive onto the rail tracks to avoid collision with it. Stay on these tracks until you see "DANGER" sign just before the "Round 12 end" banner. Then go back onto the road. Don't slow down on this round; the train's speed is more or less the same as the player's car.
• There are at least two endings to this game depending on what place the player finishes in and whether or not he or she used any shortcuts. The best ending is achieved by finishing in first place without using any shortcuts.
• Watch out after you reach 152 km/h: the number changes into orange, which indicates you'll lose time after you crash into slow moving traffic (thus you'll have to accelerate from 0 km/h). When you're driving slower than 152 km/h and hit any traffic, you'll just slow down after a hit, with no risk of time loss, but cop will pull you over.
• The time is running out only after crossing the 'R[x] start' line (where 'x' indicates round number).

SERIES

• Rad Mobile (1990)
• Rad Rally (1991)

STAFF
Developed by Sega-AM2.

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Sega Saturn (1994) "Gale Racer [Model GS-9003]"

CONTRIBUTE
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