Sprint 4 was an old arcade game released by Kee Games way back in 1977 (Kee Games was one of Atari Games' old pseudonyms).

The story

This was the second in the series of Sprint games, including Sprint 2, Sprint 4, Sprint 8, Sprint One, Super Sprint, and Championship Sprint. They were actually released in that order. The number designation does not indicate a sequel, it merely indicates the number of players the machine supports, which means that this one can take four players at once.

This game was designed by Dennis Koble (who later went on to make games for Imagic) and Lyle Rains.

The game

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. With the computer controlling cars for missing players.

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, if you enjoyed games on your Atari 2600, then you will be able to enjoy this one. If you are the kind of person who needs 45 million gourad shaded, bump mapped, texture compressed polygons flying at you every second, I would advise you to look elsewhere.

The Machine

Sprint 4 came in one form, that of a black standing cocktail table. With steering wheels on every side.

Each player had a 360 degree steering wheel and a gas pedal. Those controls were unique in their form, but not in function, and can be replaced with modern off the shelf replacement parts.

All of the game circuits are built into a single large PCB, which also has an integrated power supply. This is a bad design, and produces excess heat. If you have one of these you should place a small fan inside your cabinet pointing at the PCB to prolong its life.

Where to play

Currently this game is supported by Mame along with all the other Sprints.

This is one title that is definitely worth adding to your arcade game collection. The gameplay has stood the test of time (having been re-used for many newer games such as Super Off Road). Up to four people can play, meaning that this machine will probably end up being one of the favorites in your game room. Keep in mind that this is a big machine, and it is going to have to be in the center of a room, due to the fact that players go on all four sides. You should also keep in mind the fact that there is not a single complete Sprint 4 machine known to exist anywhere in the world.

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