Hard Drivin'

n/a

Hard Drivin'
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Tengen
Developer: Sterling Silver Software
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT), Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: Atari Games
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Atari Games
Sound driver: Lisa's Sound Driver
Genre: Racing
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-12-21 ¥5,900 (6,077)5,900e T-48013 US 1990-12 $54.9554.95 301017-0150 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub EU 1991-12 301017-0170 EU ▼ (Sega Channel) 1996 SUBsub PT 1991 UK 1992-02 £34.9934.99 301017-0170 AU 199x BR 199x
Non-Sega versions Amiga Amstrad CPC Arcade Atari ST Commodore 64 IBM PC Lynx ZX Spectrum

Hard Drivin' (ハードドライビン) is a 1989 arcade driving game developed by Atari Games, which was later ported to numerous consoles and computers including the Sega Mega Drive.

Gameplay

Hard Drivin' is a driving simulator in which the player drives a sports car in a first-person perspective from inside the car. Like the original arcade game, the environment is rendered entirely using three-dimensional polygons, and the car handles in a relatively realistic manner compared to other racing games of the time. At the title screen, the player can start the game by pressing  START  or access the options screen by pressing , , or . Then the player is prompted to choose an automatic transmission or a four-speed manual transmission before starting the race.

The game is played to attain the best lap times rather than the best position, so the other cars serve only as obstacles. The race is timed (unless the Game Mode is set to Practice in the options) and consists of two laps. The game ends when the timer reaches zero, but the player gets more time after passing a checkpoint or completing a lap.

At the start of the race, pressing  START  starts the car (though it starts automatically when the timer finishes counting down from 10). The car steers with or . It accelerates with or brakes with . When using a manual transmission, the car upshifts with + or downshifts with + (unless Manual Shift is set to Reverse in the options, in which case the directions are reversed).

Bumping into another car at low speed slows the car down. Hitting another car or a building or other object at high speed causes the car to crash. Crashes are followed by third-person replay, then the car is reset back onto the road near the site of the crash. Driving off-road for too long also causes the car to crash. Pausing the game with  START  when off-road, then pressing resets the car back onto the road (but still costs time).

Tracks

There is only one course which is divided into two tracks, a Speed Track and a Stunt Track. The track is selected at a junction at the beginning of the race (continue straight for the Speed Track or turn right for the Stunt Track).

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	This track contains gentle curves and open stretches of road and emphasizes speed.
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	This track is an implausible stunt course that has a bridge jump and a loop-de-loop. Completing the Stunt Track within the challenge time in the bottom-left of the screen (1 minute, 40 seconds) allows the player to race a Challenge Lap against the "Hard Drivin' Champion," an opponent car called the "Phantom Photon." Beating the Phantom Photon places the player at the top of the best drivers list. The player's car passes through the Phantom Photon instead of bumping or crashing into it.

Production credits

• Programming & Graphics (Sterling Silver Software): Dennis Koble, Lee Actor
• Sounds: Lisa Ching, LX Rudis, Don Diekneite
• Illustration, Graphic & Package Design: Louis Saekow Design
• Thanks To: Juergen Friedrich, The Tengen Hard Drivers

Source:

US manual

History

Legacy

Hard Drivin' had an arcade sequel, Race Drivin', which was ported to the Sega Mega Drive in 1992 and to the Sega Saturn in 1995. Race Drivin' includes all the content seen in Hard Drivin', but adds extra courses and vehicles.

Hard Drivin' stands as the first Mega Drive game to feature a full 3D world built with polygons.

Versions

The Mega Drive version is a direct port of the arcade version. While reasonably accurate, it uses fewer polygons, the frame rate is much lower (albeit not as low as seen in some other ports of the game), the screen is letterboxed, and the draw distance is shorter. The port also lacks the analogue steering used in the arcade version.

Magazine articles

Main article: Hard Drivin'/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Hard Drivin'/Promotional material.

Artwork

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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 Æskan (IS) 91 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 67 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 78 Console XS (UK) PAL 86 Computer & Video Games (UK) 52 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 35 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 75 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 84 The Games Machine (IT) 90 Génération 4 (FR) 88 Game Zone (UK) PAL 60 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 70 Hobby Consolas (ES) 72 Joystick (FR) 72 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 32 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 71 Mega (UK) 50 Mega Force (FR) PAL 50 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 58 MegaTech (UK) PAL 50 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 65 Mean Machines (UK) NTSC-J 51 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 51 Player One (FR) 69 Power Play (DE) 61 Raze (UK) NTSC 86 Sega Power (UK) NTSC 25 Sega Pro (UK) 79 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 81 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 86 Sega Force (UK) PAL 81 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 73 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 68 Video Games (DE) 57

	66
Based on 35 reviews

Hard Drivin'

Mega Drive, JP
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Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Made In Japan)
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Mega Drive, US (Made in USA)
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Mega Drive, US (cardboard, Made in USA)
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Mega Drive, US (Cardboard, Assembled in Mexico)
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Mega Drive, EU (colour manual)
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Mega Drive, EU (black & white manual)
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Mega Drive, PT
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Mega Drive, AU
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Mega Drive, BR
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Technical information

Main article: Hard Drivin'/Technical information.