Arcade Racer

From Sega Retro

Saturn arcade racer.jpg
Arcade Racer
Made for: Sega Saturn
Manufacturer: Sega
Release Date RRP Code

The Arcade Racer Joystick, called the Racing Controller (レーシングコントローラー) in Japan, is a racing wheel style controller for the Sega Saturn. As opposed to many digital controllers at the time, the Arcade Racer is analog in nature, allowing for smoother control than a standard Sega Saturn D-Pad. Whereas digital controllers rely on values assigned to on/off switches (like light switches, they react in steps), analog controllers respond in a smoother arc (like dimmer switches).

The Arcade Racer was designed primarily for racing games such as Virtua Racing, Daytona USA or Sega Rally Championship. Its height and angle can be adjusted by the user. The seven face buttons are positioned on the face of the wheel, and the Up and Down directions are redesigned into paddles on each side of the wheel which resemble semi-automatic transmission paddle shifters (or a "flappy paddle gearbox"). These paddles are digital, not analog, unlike the wheel itself. The Arcade Racer does not have L or R buttons, so games designed for it cannot use those buttons.

The Arcade Racer is supported by most driving games released for the Sega Saturn. There are a few, such as Impact Racing or Road Rash, that do not support it, however, perhaps because they need the additional buttons that the Arcade Racer is missing. Most games that do support the Arcade Racer will also work in analog mode on the Sega Mission Stick and 3D Control Pad, but a few, including Virtua Racing and Hang-On GP, require the Arcade Racer for analog play.

List of supported games

note: Please expand or fix this list as needed. This list may use Japanese names instead of Western ones.


Gallery

Physical Scans

Saturn, US
Saturn 80107 box.jpg
Cover
Saturn, EU
Saturn MK-80304 box.jpg
Cover
Saturn, JP (grey)
Saturn HSS-0115 box-2.jpgNospine.pngSaturn HSS-0115 box-1.jpg
Cover
Saturn, JP (white)
Saturn HSS-0141 box-2.jpgNospine.pngSaturn HSS-0141 box-1.jpg
Cover

External Links


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