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Ace Driver

Ace Driver
Ace Driver Title.png
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Composer(s) Hiroyuki Kawada
Platform(s) Arcade
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Up to 8 players simultaneously
Cabinet Upright and sitdown
Arcade system Namco System 22
CPU 1x Motorola 68020 @ 24.576 MHz,
2x Texas Instruments TMS32025 @ 49.152 MHz
Sound 1x C352 @ 16.384 MHz
Display Horizontal orientation, Raster, 640 x 480 resolution, 32768 colors
Ace Driver: Victory Lap
Ace Driver- Victory Lap Title.png
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Platform(s) Arcade
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Up to 8 players simultaneously
Cabinet Upright and sitdown
Arcade system Namco System 22
CPU 1x Motorola 68020 @ 24.576 MHz,
2x Texas Instruments TMS32025 @ 49.152 MHz
Sound 1x C352 @ 16.384 MHz
Display Horizontal orientation, Raster, 640 x 480 resolution, 32768 colors
Ace Driver 3: Final Turn
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Platform(s) Arcade
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Up to 8 players simultaneously
Cabinet Sitdown
Arcade system System N2

Ace Driver (エースドライバー Ēsu Doraibā?) is a 3D racing arcade game released by Namco in 1994; it ran on the company's System 22 hardware, and in the game, players race in their Formula One-based cars on various circuits. It was followed by two sequels: Ace Driver: Victory Lap (1995) and Ace Driver 3: Final Turn (2008) - the former added two new tracks to the original, and the latter was a revival of the original.

At the start of the game, players can choose between Automatic or Manual Transmission (the former eliminates the need of the gear shift) and Beginner, Expert, or Expert Pro Race Class; in a multiplayer game, Expert Pro Race Class can only be played after all players select it. The cars are Team Red Lightning (cars 25 and 26), Scuderia Blue Castle (cars 3 and 4), Yellow Cyclone Racing (cars 17 and 18), and Green Island Motor Sports (cars 11 and 12) - and all eight of the cars carry advertisements for older Namco games, in a style similar to the Ridge Racer series.

Ace Driver received the award for the Best Coin-Operated Game of the 76th Annual IAAPA Show; it made extensive use of the CPU assist technique whereby a trailing player would be given a significant speed boost to allow them to catch up to the leading player. However, the speed boost continued for a short while after the losing player had overtaken the leader - leading to a tactic known as boosting, where a player would deliberately allow themselves to lose the lead, then during the last half of the last game lap would easily take back the lead with no hope of the other player catching up with them. Boosting also meant that straight skill races were difficult to have in the game given that the CPU assist would be continually changing the losing players' speed and position.


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