Sprint 2 (set 1) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 48 years ago:

Sprint 2 © 1976 Kee Games.

In this game you control a race car on a semi-circular track. You are looking down on the action from above. Your only goal is to drive around the track as many times as possible, and as fast as you can. There will be four cars on the track at all times (the computer lets you know that 'Grey cars drive automatically'). Player one controls the white car, while player two, if present, controls a black car. The game will rate you at the end. You can get rated Granny, Rookie, or Pro, and getting a score over 250 points will extend the game an extra 30 seconds. The game has several different tracks available, and you can select them with a button at the start of a match. The graphics are simple black and white with two shades of gray thrown in for good measure. They are simple, but they get the job done.

TECHNICAL
Game ID: 005922

Main CPU: MOS Technology M6502 (@ 756 Khz)
Sound Chips: Discrete circuitry

Players: 2
Control: Steering wheel, Gas pedal, four position shifter

Sprint 2 came in one form - that of an orange and black upright. The game had car sideart, and featured an integrated marquee/monitor bezel. Many early titles combined those two components, that was before anybody had begun to think about conversions, which are hard to do on these machines. The control panel featured two steering wheels that had 360 degree movement and worked off optical encoders, as well as a gas pedal and a four-position shifter for each player. All of the game circuits are built into a single large PCB, which also has an integrated power supply.

TRIVIA
Sprint 2 was released in November 1976, selling at an MSRP of $1495. Approximately 8,200 units were produced.

It was Atari's first mass-produced microprocessor-based game. Sprint 2 was considered, by other game designers, one of the great all-time games. This is by far the most common game of the Sprint series, there were more of these than all the rest of them put together.

After a nearly 50-year run, the mid-1970s video games like Sprint 2 spelled the end of the electro-mechanical arcade games (such as "Killer Shark" seen in the movie 'Jaws'). Video games would spawn a nation-wide phenomenon which has gone on to this day.

Sprint 2 was one of many mid-1970's Atari games such as "Night Driver", "Starship 1", and "Drag Race", which were often found at carnivals and bowling alleys. Kids would flock to these establishments just to get an opportunity to play the games rather than the primary source of entertainment they offered. When the 80's arrived, video games could be found everywhere including grocery store,s and kids didn't have to go very far to play their favorite game.

A Sprint 2 unit appears in the 1978 movie 'Dawn of the Dead' and in the 1982 movie 'Tron'.

SERIES

• Sprint 2 (1976)
• Sprint 8 (1977)
• Sprint 4 (1977)
• Sprint One (1978)
• Super Sprint (1986)
• Championship Sprint (1986)
• BadLands (1990)

STAFF
Designed and programmed by: Dennis Koble, Lyle Rains

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[US] [EU] Microsoft XBOX One (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"

• HANDHELDS:

[UK] Nintendo DS (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-UKV]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-EUR]"
[US] Nintendo DS (mar.16, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (june.30, 2005) "Atarimix Happy 10 Games [Model NTR-ATAJ-JPN]"
[AU] Nintendo DS (nov.2007) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-AUS]"

• COMPUTERS:

[US] Steam (mar.24, 2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"

CONTRIBUTE
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