Turbo (video game)

Turbo
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Steve Hanawa
Platform(s)	Arcade ColecoVision Intellivision
Release	Arcade October 1981 ColecoVision 1983 Intellivision 1983
Genre(s)	Arcade-style racing
Mode(s)	Single-player
Cabinet	Standard and Sit-down
Arcade system	Sega VCO Object

Review scores
Publication	Score
AllGame	Arcade: CV: INTV:
Arcade Express	CV: 10 / 10
Tilt	CV:

Turbo (ターボ) is a racing game released in 1981 by Sega. It was one of the most popular arcade games of 1981.

The game was manufactured three formats: standard upright, cabaret/mini, and a seated environmental/cockpit. All three versions feature a steering wheel, a gearshift for low and high gears, and an accelerator pedal. The screen is a vertically oriented 20-inch raster display. In addition to the on-screen display, Turbo features an LED panel to the left of the screen that displays the current player's score and the high score table. Turbo also features lighted oil and temperature gauges on either side of the steering wheel.

Turbo was ported to the Colecovision and Intellivision home consoles.

Turbo requires the player to navigate a road race through different urban and rural locations, through differing weather conditions, and during changing times of day. The cars in the game resemble Formula 1 race cars. In order to proceed, the player must pass and stay ahead of at least 30 competing cars before time expires. Some opponents drive predictably, while others swerve across the road suddenly.

In the first round, the player has unlimited lives; collisions with other vehicles will return the player's car to the starting line. In subsequent rounds, the player is limited to three lives, and awarded an additional life (up to a total of four) for each completed round. In addition to competing racers, an ambulance occasionally comes along from behind and overtakes the player - they must be avoided, as contact with them will cause the player to lose a life; the game will be over when all player lives are gone.

Turbo was designed and coded by Steve Hanawa. In an interview, Hanawa stated that despite its historical significance as a precedent-setting racing video game, he considers the process of creating it to have been his worst development experience at Sega. Development of Turbo required such a difficult and protracted schedule of coding and debugging that he was hospitalized for a month following its completion due to stress, exhaustion and a spontaneously collapsed lung.

Turbo set many precedents in racing video game design, several of which are still standard today. Turbo was the first full-color raster display racing game to feature the now common third-person perspective, rear-view racer format, the first third-person racing game to feature scaling sprites of competing AI drivers, trees, and cityscape elements (including skyscrapers as tall as the screen), the first third-person racing game to feature multiple landscapes (cities, countrysides, seasides, bridges, and tunnels), as well as the first racing game to feature different times of day and different weather conditions (clear weather and snow). Turbo was also the first third-person racing video game to feature hills in its race course.