Virtua Racing (Arcade)

The first game released for the Sega Model 1 arcade board, the F1-inspired Virtua Racing marked Sega's maiden voyage into the virtual 3rd dimension, one which upon its release immediately proved itself to be a trailblazer for the medium at large. It was one of the first video games to feature polygon-rendered humans, which Sega AM2 would elaborate on in Virtua Fighter, as well as one of the first to feature true 16:9 Widescreen support. Not to mention its most important contribution to gaming: Virt McPolygon.

Get You The Exciting Race.

Unused Sounds#

A warning from the in-game announcer to hurry up. This was most likely intended to play whenever you're running low on time. A warning voice clip does play in the game's followup, Daytona USA, should you have 5 seconds remaining.

A wish good-luck from the Course Select announcer. This may have been intended to play upon selecting a course.

A confirmation of your victory from the in-game announcer. This was likely intended to play upon achieving 1st Place in a race. A similar voice clip plays in Daytona USA for this instance.

A confirmation of finishing the race from the in-game announcer. The final game plays a prominent "Get Goal!" jingle in this instance. Due to this, the voice clip may have been deemed redundant.

A title call for the game. This was most likely intended to play during the game's Attract Mode, which notably lacks much in the way of sound in the final game. Curiously, this voice clip was used in some late prototypes for Virtua Racing Deluxe before being replaced with different voice clips in each region.

Revisional Differences#

In mid-1993, a special amusement-part-attraction-sized version of the game named Virtua Formula was released in a handful of locations, only a couple of which were installed outside of Japan. This update added expanded multiplayer capacity to the game, possible per a system that would connect multiple arcade cabinets together, allowing them to display and register gameplay simultaneously. To accommodate this, several significant changes were made to the game.

Of note is that this version was used as the base for Sega Ages: Virtua Racing on the Nintendo Switch, as it was the only version where source code could be found (and in the possession of one of the original programmers, at that).

Attract Mode#

The attract mode sequences have been altered, with new camera angles present for each of the three track showcases.

Virtua Racing	Virtua Formula

The title image was naturally altered to reflect the game's new name.

The section where it shows the car in the pits now shows it driving into the pits with new camera angles.

If multiple Virtua Formula arcade cabinets are connected, Attract Mode will be set to an altered form featuring new rotating camera angles that take advantage of the additional screens.

Game Differences#

The capacity for 8-player multiplayer was added. Up to eight cabinets can be connected and register gameplay at a time.

Cabinets not currently in play can display the gameplay on the other cabinets with special camera modes and live commentary from Virt McPolygon.

The color palettes available for the car in the Test menu have been assigned to each of the 8 players in multiplayer. Said colors are also assigned to the title card for each cabinet.

Test Menu#

Virtua Racing	Virtua Formula

The placement of the "Coin Setting" indicator has been altered.

The "Car Color" option now delineates the associated number for the car.

The 16:9 Widescreen mode has been removed and its associated "Monitor" option is no longer accessible from the Test menu. Similarly, the "Cabinet" option has been removed.

The "Advertise Sound" option has been added. This is mainly intended for the linked cabinet variant of Attract Mode, which features more sound that the single cabinet variant. Regardless, this option will affect both variants.

Misc. Differences#

The Course Select announcer now always says "Adjust seat position!" before giving the usual instructions.