Battle of the Ports - Pole Position (ポールポジション) Show

[@kenwheeler3637]

The brakes for the Atari 5200 port are activated by pressing the upper left or right side buttons. The accelerator is either of the lower side buttons.

[@RetroCore]

bummer, I didn't know this. These buttons weren't mapped on the emulator. Thanks for the info.

[@kenwheeler3637]

@@RetroCore No problem. Pole Position is one of the games where the 5200 analogue controller is perfect for.

[@AmyraCarter]

That's an odd configuration. Then again, I'm used to the thumbstick axis having forward/reverse being set to up/down.

[@supermariofan772003]

Pole Position's not supposed to have a brake button in the first place. Neither Pole Position 1 or 2 in the arcades have brakes. And really, you don't need them imo.

[@riversarcadereview385]

you beat me to it

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Holy crap that Atari 2600 port is incredible! I’m amassed they could pull of that racetrack effect with such little memory.

[@luisreyes1963]

It was a fun game. Played it many times at my cousin's house when they had the Atari 2600 years ago.

[@Lightblue2222]

I just got my copy recently. It really plays nice. Best feeling racer on the system. Enduro is nice too but doesnt have that arcade track feel of needing to judge each corner differently.

[@Lauren_Tyler]

Pole Position for the Atari 2600 was impressive. The sense of speed is absolutely amazing.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

That 2600 version fell comfortably into the category we Atari kids called "Close enough!"

[@jesuszamora6949]

Plays well, really all that matters. Pole Position II on the 7800 is also bice.

[@patbrown911]

Enduro >>>>>>>>>>> any other Atari 2600 racing game

[@Lightblue2222]

@@patbrown911 I would disagree. Enduro is fun and addictive but lacks the same arcade feel. For Enduro every turning corner is the same, while in Pole Position each corner of the track needs to be judged different to keep up the speed, giving you a sense of learning the track. Enduro is only about passing cars. Enduro you can pass more than 1 car at a time, but in Pole Postion the A.I. steer left to right, so it's a different challenge to get around them. Pole Position you lose speed by turning sharp. So for that top time it especially helps learning the track so you turn as least as possible. Enduro is more manic adrenaline, frantically passing cars quickly dodging left and right, and is more what I'd expect from 2600. Pole Position has a bit more depth in gameplay. The whether effects on Enduro are neat though. Thick snow makes it slower to turn. Night makes it harder to see, especially the fog sections which annoyingly reduce draw distance. But very clever stuff.

[@BlaximilianD00d]

I find the vectrex to be an interesting system. Despite the lack of colors it still manages to look nice

[@rafaellima83]

I've played in a real one and yes, it looks really nice.

[@AmyraCarter]

Fun Fact: The Vectrex is a double 4-bit system.

[@philipthomas7536]

I have this for my Vectrex and it looks a lot better with the colour overlay card.

[@Lightblue2222]

The smooth scaling is incredible for a home system.

[@CptJistuce]

​@@Lightblue2222Scaling effects are super-easy on a vector display.

[@fulgenzio1973]

Wow, the Vectrex port is amazing! What a great piece of hardware.

[@geoserenity]

Not to mention an unexpected version to see

[@jesuszamora6949]

Dude, it's a shame the platform didn't take off, it looks gorgeous even in HD emulation.

[@KISSbestfan]

@@jesuszamora6949 vector graphics are not comparable to SD/HD, since you can resize vectors to any size you wish without quality loss

[@jesuszamora6949]

@@KISSbestfan Oh I get that. What I mean is that even emulating in HD on a raster monitor looks great. Nothing will truly replace a real vector display, though, shame it didn't take off.

[@Mayhemerz]

Just a pity it was one of the last games released and thus is a bit tricky to find today, at least cheaply here.

[@spahr001]

The best Pole Position I've played outside the arcade was the 2004 Jakks Pacific plug and play. It had a rotatable joystick that worked great.

[@RetroCore]

Someone else mentioned that. It's a shame I can't get hold of those here in Japan.

[@pacmanfan6451]

Ms. Pac-Man 5-in-1 (the Jakks Plug And Play that you mentioned) is available on Mame and it runs fine. At the moment (at least with the latest Mame release), the sound cuts out in some areas, but it'll get fixed with a later release.

[@monicamanzo8727]

Hahahaha it’s my fav game for the past 33 years. I play it every day. Never gets old

[@solarflare9078]

I remember having that. It's just a bloody shame I can never find it/get my hands on it again....

[@joshmartimez2235]

Played an original arcade cab of this game at a movie theater 20 years ago and loved every second of game play. I have the game on a Namco collection for ps2 but game play isn't the same due to having no steering wheel or pedal.

[@reagandow850]

Oh boy...those tires screeching bring back lots of memories. I had no idea there was a Vectrex port of this.

[@pop2uno]

I like the bgm, very "70s satanic lyrics in reverse". As always, thanks for the memories and cheers from México.

[@SebasHCG]

this music is the opening of an anime called "pole position", a great cartoon opening song :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGSQeqNrjdWJZ5o

[@sonicmario64]

One noticeable billboard that I remember catching my attention in the Nintendo 64 version of "Pole Position" (from "Namco Museum 64") is the one with Blinky The Red Ghost from the "Pac-Man" cartoon series saying "But Clyde!", which always made me chuckle, especially because I thought it was supposed to be a hot dog character of some sort until I learned about there being a cartoon show based on "Pac-Man". XD

[@stabarnak9841]

thanks for the props to the vectrex version - my personal favoutite, that I still play few times a month...less so since I acquired Vector Patrol (Moon Patrol) - the first arcade port to vastly exceed the arcade version in visuals and gameplay.

[@elektrosoundwave]

Used to play this at the laundromat in the small town I grew up in. I also now have the theme song from the TV show stuck in my head

[@hil1893]

Damm, that arcade machine can display up to 3840 colors? Its more than the mega drive or the amiga which are hardware that relesed later.

[@Colin_Ames]

Another great video. Pole Position was the game I played more than any other in the arcades.

[@RetroCore]

That doesn't surprise me. It was everywhere back in the day. It's one of those Arcade games you were pretty much guaranteed to find when on holiday ☺️

[@bland9876]

The game that was on GameCube and Xbox and Playstation 2 and that was just called Namco Museum is also the same as the Gameboy Advanced Namco Museum and Pac-Man collection combined so the games play similarly including the fruit in Miss Pac-Man taking a different path when it bounces around

[@RedRanger2001]

The ones in the Namco Museum N64, Namco Museum CD, Namco Museum PS2, and Namco Museum 50th Anniversary are emulations of the PS1 version with added speech samples...

[@liefacts3000]

Wow. The reverse intro sounds flipping ace.

[@RetroCore]

It also keeps the copyright holders at bay.

[@fwingebritson]

great video. It reminds me of why I never bothered with home consoles and stuck with the arcades until into the nineties.

[@TwinFamiProductionsOLD]

For the 5200, there is a brake. You have to press one or both of the top controller buttons on either side

[@Clasiku]

Ahh, I remember playing this after riding the Go-Karts. I always found myself liking this game A LOT and I think I got a high score as well.

[@chrisdavis4292]

You also have to remember that Pole Position and Pole Position 2 were on the Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for the Playstation 2, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube. They both looked arcade perfect. It also has a virtual arcade with 80's music playing in the background.

[@RetroCore]

Those versions are Arcade emulation.

[@lordmaximus780]

I can't believe you just crushed my warm childhood recollection of Pole Position on the C64. It was amazing, to me! Still have the original game box and cassette. Ignorance is bliss I guess!

[@RetroCore]

I'm afraid so. Over the years of making this series I've found so many games I loved to be awful.

[@robbiereisman8954]

I remember as a kid I absolutely loved Pole Position. I thought it was so cool that I could "drive" for real on the arcade machine. In my view, the 2600 port is excellent for the hardware. I have it on my Vectrex and it is quite good. The Jakks Pacific plug 'n play version uses a cool steering control where you twist the joystick to simulate steering.

[@apollosungod2819]

Namco's early 1980s arcade hardware and programmer teams were programming on dual CPU arcade boards which no doubt gave Sega the challenge to step their game up and develop the dual and triple CPU Super Scaler arcade boads... Also it's crazy how Namco was also first at making a dual CPU 3d polygon graphics arcade board in the late 1980s way ahead of Sega but Sega eventually caught up and just completely surpassed them in the 1990s with super expensive arcade board hardware like the Sega Hikaru, a quadrilateral polygon rendering monster.

[@sumdood8563]

Imagine stepping into an F-1 car and having tons of fun driving around the race track Until you realize there aren’t any brakes.

[@solarflare9078]

This is actually one of my favorite arcade games out there, and it was definitely a joy to play it with the wheel and pedals it came in. Imagine if Hamster released this on the Switch's Arcade Archives Collection with compatibility with the Joy-Con wheels. If it means having a(n) (emulated) port that can play almost exactly like the arcade, I'm all in for it.

[@SuperKokuJin916]

The very first video game I ever played!! Early '85 as a happy 3 year-old who didn't understand the accelerator had to be held down to "go"; not just steer! LOL. It will always have a special place in my heart. The early Namco arcade music gives me all kinds of feels!! ☺ The blue Jakk's Pacific plug n play emulator console with the twisty knob (😳) controller was different but actually played great once you got used to it!! Good job on reversing the opening track!! You don't want the legendary Shuki Levy on your case. It still sounds GREAT!! 👍🏾

[@RetroCore]

I sure Shuki Levy would be cool :) He's a legend of our youth.

[@MVC2fan1]

I played the emulated version of this on the PS2.

[@SockyNoob]

The C64's tire squealing noise is adorable. Sounds like a mouse squeaking.

[@leefischer5814]

Gotta say I didn't think there were that many ports of Pole Position. I am pretty shocked and also surprised that they never ported it to the Master System or Famicom. Awesome episode as always 👍

[@0000-i1z]

Yeah, even it’s spiritual successor Final Lap was released on Famicom.

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

This game makes me nostalgic for the old 80s Fuji layout. 90s Fuji was largely unchanged, but the modern layout now has one of the worst final sectors I've ever seen on a race track, and I'm convinced it was designed so that nobody would ever be able to figure out how to take it properly.

[@OrionCrazyCarl]

I played this a lot at various holiday camps during the late 80s ! And 90s! Last time I remember was 1997 at pentewan sands in Cornwall ! This and the proper sit in cabinet version or hard drivin' rinsed all my holiday money ! Great video

[@RetroCore]

Wow, classic country side barns with arcades in them :) I remember as a teenager visiting some country pub with my family down in Devon. The pub had a barn and inside were all many of old arcade machines. Original cabs too. There was Space Invaders, Pacman, Star Wars and a few tabletop machines. None were switch on unfortunately.

[@DragonSlayerKyo]

That's always par the course for Atarisoft… They'd always put little effort into other ports to make their own in house releases look better. Though the Micro port is really impressive. I can forgive the slight choppiness, granted I don't think the Micro was ever designed to handle games like this.

[@Tempora158]

5:28 The Japanese version of the PS1 port does have the original Japanese voice sample. Highly likely Atari owns that "Prepare to qualify" voice clip and Namco's Japanese in-house dev couldn't be bothered to get an English speaking voice actor to record a new reading of the line as all the other console ports do contain a new recording of the line which, probably not coincidentally, were done in the United States. Except the GBA port, that seems to be using the Atari voice sample.

[@RetroCore]

Really? That's just lazy of Namco not to rerecord the voice samples for the western release.

[@gingerdude94]

A very enjoyable trip down memory lane. Thanks.

[@topofbones]

The scaling of the original system still impresses me. Lots of good ports from 8 to 128 bits.

[@Lightblue2222]

I just recently added this to my 2600 collection. The gameplay is surprisingly good. Very playable is right! I was thinking the same thing when comparing video of the 5200 version. The 2600 plays smoother. Even the backgrounds scroll choppy on 5200 in comparison. I guess they went for graphics over gameplay. The computer cars have an upgraded look, and there are actually road signs now, but that doesnt make up for choppy gameplay. Great episode! Love all the comparisons.

[@RetroGamePlayers]

Awesome comparison, I remember playing the Atari 2600 version and thinking it was amazing

[@RetroCore]

Well, it plays well for that system. I can imagine being happy with it myself if I had it back in the day.

[@iespostavid]

2600 programming: I recently noticed in cornering that one side of the red/white track ends before the car graphic. (The red/white track could be programmed with missile0, missile1, or the ball object.) The Missile0 object (used here for one track side) will have the same top-down colors as the 8-bit wide sprite (Player0 - your car) IF it falls on the same horizontal scan lines. Ending it off screen before the race car is a brilliant trick. In the opposite turn direction it flips sides. Sometimes you can see a bit of black at the end closest to the player’s car. That’s the black of the player car’s front tire.

[@iespostavid]

I always thought the 2600 street gray was too light. I made a color hack with darker gray track, white center line (which makes white oncoming cars) and green mountains with purple back mountains. You can find it on AtariAge. atariage.com/forums/topic/225033-fixing-pole-position-and-enhanced-source-code/?p=2992264 Note: If the left zero on the speed bar isn’t a zero, that’s an Emulation bug just fixed in Stella 5.1.2 and later.

[@RetroCore]

Cool information there. Thanks for the insight.

[@jkajmo]

Fun fact: Pole Position (arcade) is the 1st video game I've ever played in Poland (communist Poland so a game like this was very illegal)

[@RetroCore]

Cool. I can imagine it was quite a few years old by the time you could play it.

[@jkajmo]

@@RetroCore oh yeah :) it was in August of '87. I'll always remember that day because discovering such a thing as video games is one of the greatest moments of my life (and I actually had/have an amazing life of adventures so that should tell you just how much I LOVE video games) 4 months later for Xmas I received a Commodore 64 & my life changed for the best. "The Last Ninja" "The New Zealand Story" "Giana Sisters" & "Donald Duck's Playground" became the staples of my life.

[@jkajmo]

@@RetroCore Also, I totally love your awesome channel. New subscriber & I can't stop binge watching your videos, on repeat :)

[@RetroCore]

Thanks! I'm happy to hear you are enjoying the channel.

[@enigma776]

Had a Vectrex and had this game and you are right it plays absolutely great and looks fantastic with the overlay. Just a shame I don't have the Vectrex anymore, like most people it was sold once it started to collect dust and now regret it seeing as there a collectable now.

[@NightSprinter]

I think the top fire button was the brake on the 5200? I know that version had Trak-Ball support, where you had the same opto-mechanical control as the arcade, but believe uses the keypad for gear control. Also, the PS1 version (and Pole Position II on Namco Museum Vol. 3) have support for analog controls via Namco's own "NeGCon" controller, which was originally meant for the Ridge Racer series.

[@PeBoVision]

it has been awhile since I've seen the Vectrex version without its overlay. Ir really is one of the best ports...not as good as Moon Patrol (which is actually better than the arcade versiom) but it plays well. When it comes to racing on a Vectrex though, nothing beats Hyper Chase for white knuckle speed. The Ti version like so many other ports, moves the car left and right rather than the road. Racing games always look and play better when the car stay centre screen...A friend had the 800XL version when I bought the TI Atarisoft version back in the day...made my friend laugh and me cry. But it is playable.

[@IncaWarrior3000]

I don't like Pole Position on the Atari, but I love Enduro . I recommend Enduro..... a very fun racing game from the Atari. I have Pole Position for the gameboy advance. Also I played the Arcade version... such a great game. Great video as always Retro Core.

[@ABlackFalcon]

The Atari 5200 version of this game is fantastic! It's a great port which plays extremely well, and is a standout game on the console. The analog joystick is perfect for this game so you get very good control of your car, and the two buttons for accelerate and brake (you really should fix that in the video, the 5200 has two buttons remember!) work well. This is one of the games that shows off the strengths of the 5200's analog joystick.

[@williamhowe1]

The next thing you'll also notice about the Atari 5200 is the fragile controller.

[@forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499]

Very cool. Love Pole Position. Didn't even know about the Vectrex port.

[@Lee_MCMLXXI]

The amount of 10p's I slammed into that sit down version on holiday in Torquay in 1985 was criminal - wish I enjoyed the holiday a bit more!

[@RetroCore]

Torquay, man that brings back memories. We must have went there a few time as a kid. In fact a lot of those southern costal places were nice. I remember Exeter being another place we'd visit in summer.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I played a version of this game on an old iOS version. It was brilliant, it had way more features than the original arcade version. I wish I still had a copy of it, but the app’s been deleted and modern iOS wouldn’t support it anyway.

[@bland9876]

One of the sad things about cell phones

[@RetroCore]

This doesn't really effect Android that much.

[@ChaunceyGardener]

Just for designing Pac-Man Iwatani can be considered a legend!

[@RetroCore]

He sure can be. He's right up there with the best of them IMO.

[@jesuszamora6949]

Namco was blessed to have him, that's for sure.

[@eds2011]

And when I trying to play this game in my old atari 2600 this game in certain point of the game always crash. Seeing this video I almost crying because I remember all the good moments when I playing this fantastic game that I remember that times. Thank you :)

[@l34052]

When I was a kid this was state of the art lol, I loved my speccy. Thank the Lord for PCARS and Assetto Corsa😆😆

[@frankschneider6156]

Who needs brakes ? We brake for nobody.

[@DanielAyy]

I don't know why, but these early 80's episodes are great to watch while eating breakfast

[@RetroCore]

So much variety in the ports, maybe?

[@DanielAyy]

@@RetroCore yeah, that sounds about right! Keep up the great work btw 👍

[@QuanAnhAnimationMM]

i forgot to tell here, while Mass Media gone famous for Pole Position ports collection from PS1, N64, GBA and Dreamcast, Namco ported their arcade ports to Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/ME as well under their pack, Microsoft Return Of Arcade (Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Galaxian are present with). it's 100% the same with arcade original

[@timpriddy349]

Damn shifter was always whacked on the arcade version, stuck in one gear

[@gingataisen]

We've come a long ways, people.

[@RetroCore]

That we have 😁

[@johnleonard317]

Very cool video. Thanks for the analysis.

[@RetroCore]

You're welcome.

[@JLsoft]

3:30 - Either of the top fire buttons on the Atari 5200 version are Brake. [EDIT: atariage.com/manual_page.php?SystemID=5200&SoftwareLabelID=649&ItemTypeID=&currentPage=8&maxPages=12 ]

[@pcbjunkie1]

This arcade game took many of my coins (200 lire at that time) from me when I was a kid. It never got old. Sadly, playing it on a console was never the same experience. I'm really impressed by the Atari home computer port though.

[@RetroCore]

I think back in the day just being able to sit in a cockpit style arcade cabinet made the experience magical.

[@solarflare9078]

Random Pole Position FPS counter cuz I'm bored: Arcade: 60 FPS Atari 2600: 60 FPS Atari 5200: 60 FPS* Atari 400/800: 60 FPS* PlayStation: 30 FPS GBA: 30 FPS N64: 30 FPS Dreamcast: 60 FPS ZX Spectrum: 20 FPS BBC Micro: 60 FPS** Intellivision: 60 FPS? VIC-20: 12-15 FPS (probably why it's not very exciting?) C64: 60 FPS TI-99: 60 FPS** MS-DOS: 10 FPS Vectrex: 60 FPS *Background scrolls at 7.5 FPS **Uses choppy background swapping instead of actual scrolling, which is NOT tied to framerate

[@BloggosPow]

Reversing the audio, very clever :D

[@RetroCore]

Yep. First I tried to remove it but KZbin wouldn't allow that so I just deleted the original upload and uploaded a new version with reversed audio.

[@BloggosPow]

@@RetroCore And it sounds recognisable too!

[@wiredupretro]

The 5200 version offers brakes unlike what you had stated. Check the instruction manual. Also- the analog steering surpasses other home versions released at the time which were just digital controls.

[@amerigocosta7452]

I'm no N64 (or graphics) expert but I believe the shaky car animation has to do with the usual bilinear filter / interlaced resolution the N64 is usually programmed to output. The difference with the Dreamcast sharp 240p output shown right after in the video is like night and day.

[@RetroCore]

That could be.

[@shotgunl]

Pole Position is good, simple fun with graphics soooo smooth. I played a ton of the VCS version, but I think that's the only version I've played besides the Dreamcast Namco Museum version. However, a nearby gas station (Amoco) had a Pole Position 2 upright cabinet for about a decade, up until swapping it for a Mortal Kombat cabinet. So, I'm not sure whether or not I've played more Pole Position or Pole Position II, but I've certainly put more money into to the sequel. Ha!

[@WrightOffsGaming]

Great thanks Mark, you should try playing the PlayStation port with a negcon as it made it a lot of fun with near perfect cornering if I remember correctly.

[@RetroCore]

Somebody else mention that too. It seems Namco basically set up the controls to only work properly with the NeGcon. Kind of dumb when most people, even in Japan, never owned one. They should have at least gave two control options like most racing games do. One for digital and one for analogue.

[@rudycassiano]

Excelent video! Congrats and keep joy our souls.

[@williamwilson3526]

0:20 That's A Lot Of Compilation

[@Charlie-Cat.]

Hahaha. Do I really have to say anything about this timeless classic Mark? But I will say another great work as always kind sir. 8^) Anthony..

[@GuitarAnthony]

PREPARE TO QUALIFY!

[@leomon32]

I'm pretty sure the announcer was saying "level start" in the Japanese version of Namco Museum on PS1, does they simply cut the Japanese samples ? Because it was in Japanese (now I have to check)

[@leomon32]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/noHPpKifi85rjpY confirmed, the sample get lost in the port, so I guess it's "censored"

[@RetroCore]

I'm not sure but it seems strange if they did. Normally they'd just keep them in.

[@luisemilio1143]

I loved this video

[@losalfajoresok]

I really would to see some homebrew port for the C64 using the power of the almighty breadbin!

[@jaymzjulian]

One note - a real atari 5200 actually has a two button controller, and the second button controls the brake. As an aside, it also supports analog controls via the trak-ball. Check out the manual: atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareID=2091

[@jaymzjulian]

Also on the colours: That's what happens on a 5200 (and atari 8 bit) when you play a PAL rom on NTSC or an NTSC rom on PAL - this video has the correct colours: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZW7f6N7irloatE

[@RetroArcadeGuy]

You should have added a drum track to the reversed version, it sounds so sick it needs it! I like it, lol!

[@tomsuzyinfluencerinfj2712]

Indy 800 (Atari, Arcade, 1975), Indy 500 (Atari, 2600, 1977), first real race tracks

[@RetroCore]

I should have been clear. I was referring to Formula 1 tracks.

[@zanegandini5350]

I never really had much reason to play Pole Position, considering I grew up in the early 2000s, but I still have to give it credit for basically creating the behind-the-car perspective of racing video games we know today. As for the ports, it's disappointing how most of them range from mediocre to terrible, and the best one here is probably the Dreamcast one. The PS1 and GBA versions are alright, but could have been better given what powerful hardware they were running on. Slowdown should have been completely out of the question.

[@RetroCore]

If you ever get the chance you should try playing on a Vectrex. It's a really old system from the mid 80's but it still manages to look really cool. Vector graphics just have a unique look to them that emulation can't replicate.

[@zanegandini5350]

@@RetroCore The vectrex is a pretty expensive system to collect for, sadly, so I'll likely never have the chance to play it.

[@solarflare9078]

There's also a 2008 plug n play port that I just remembered. It's not the best port, as it's missing the sharper curve at the end, the engine note is changed, you can't turn as sharply as the arcade (but it still controls really well with the analog twisting joystick) among other things, but it's still a well playing port that I have a lot of nostalgia with when I was much younger.

[@josemariapena4226]

The zx spectrum is a very Nice port. Graphically for Spectrum is very good!!

[@smallpaul2923]

The gba did some great arcade ports. Outrun and super hang on are excellent on it.

[@fcoraoni]

9:50 put your headphone in the highest volume and say goodbye to your ears 😖😆

[@RetroCore]

oh yes.

[@OM19_MO79]

Pole Position on PS was designed to take advantage of the neGcon. Just like Ridge Racer and RR Revolution, it's almost unplayable with the digital controller. The Atari 8-bit version also has selectable tracks. Atari announced the PP II home versions around 1982, after the 2600 release, it even had ads in magazines, the 5200 and 8-bit probably were going to be PP II ports but Atari didn't use the name until the 7800 release. The 5200 was a rushed console, it is basically an Atari 8-bit computer, the major difference is the inclusion of the GTIA graphics chip, which added other video modes and extended pallete, most 5200 games are identical to the computer versions, most of the times, Atari just changed the pallete used or changed some graphics to use the GTIA modes instead of the CTIA modes. Atari must have changed to that horrible pallete just to make use of a GTIA mode.

[@RetroCore]

That's kind of a dumb move from Namco with the PlayStation port. I mean, how many people actually owned a neGcon? Bot many. Even over here in Japan it's seen as an obscure controller.

[@OM19_MO79]

They wanted their controller to be a standard, and it kinda work. In the US it's pretty common and Sony and others supported the controller up to GT 2, except SquareSoft in Chocobo Racing. I couldn't play PP and RR until I got that ASCII controller with a ball that has a neGcon compatible mode but couldn't get a pole position in PP until I got the neGcon.

[@LillitosanEP]

My top 3 ports for this game: Arcade, GBA and N64. Good job‼

[@RAMCARTGAMER]

Arcade is not a port.

[@pclinuxos_br]

I remember spending lots of quarters in this one...

[@jesuszamora6949]

The 5200 joystick had a keypad like the Intellivision and ColecoVision. Also had more than one fire button IIRC. If I had to guess, the brakes are somewhere there.

[@RetroCore]

bummer, I didn't know this. These buttons weren't mapped on the emulator. Thanks for the info.

[@jesuszamora6949]

@@RetroCore We're always down for another updated video. :P Seriously though, what emulator are you using?

[@RAMCARTGAMER]

Is that the pole position cartoon theme music all spaced out? Love the video as always. PS: Imagine F1 cars exploding in this manner on race day due to minor car rubbing.

[@RetroCore]

hehe, yep. I originally wanted to use it but KZbin hit me with a copyright strike before the video went live. What's funny is that I uploaded the full version of that song with no copyright hits at all. I really don't understand how the content match works on KZbin.

[@adroharv9213]

I know it's a crude representation comparatively but I adore the 2600 version more than the arcade and any other port. It's a very different experience and works better for it personally speaking

[@riversarcadereview385]

Vectrex reminds me of the game "Speed Freak"

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

No compromise for sake of cost was the statement from Atarisoft. C64 version on cartridge £24.99

[@luisreyes1963]

Only on the Japanese arcade version can you see real-life adverts on the sides of the race track, as well as the giant tire landmark.

[@RetroCore]

It's a shame they removed the ads from the western versions.

[@PlayStation_5247]

I wish Namco would reboot the Pole Position franchise and make it have a real felling of the Formula 1 experience like how Sega's Daytona USA got rebooted with Daytona Championship USA 3

[@monicamanzo8727]

Pole Position all the way🥰

[@Gamevet]

Pitstop is my Pole Position for the C64. Atari soft didn't do the Pole Position port justice.

[@TheTurnipKing]

On the Speccy, in the early days, pretty much everyone had Chequered Flag so this poor port was more or less redundant

[@KISSbestfan]

I havent had any idea that this game was ported into so many platforms. I was only familiar with C64 so far

[@RetroCore]

I was kind of surprised too. I'm also surprised that there are no Japanese computer ports.

[@ryanyoder7573]

Is there an EGA Tandy or VGA port?

[@RetroCore]

I'm not aware of one. There may be a unofficial or clone port.

[@ryanyoder7573]

Ok thanks. I hate to see DOS represented in CGA. I owned a Tandy 1000 and sixteen colors with three voices plus a noise channel makes a big difference. Still own some Tandy’s today.

[@geoserenity]

...what's a brake button? Is it a cheat button or something?

[@RetroCore]

Accelerate and break.

[@leeboy2k1]

Fun fact:if you play a Vectrex emulator on a QLED display, the high peak white (nit) brightness those displays have, combined with FALD (full array local dimming) can give an unintentionally great representation of the original Vector CRT monitor, I can only imagine how even better it could be with a HDR profile ! Now I know Rasterizing introduces aliasing at low resolutions, but at higher resolutions or with an AA Open GL filter say on Retroarch, this can be circumvented to an appreciable level :) p.s any reason no Atari 7800 version Mark? Cheers!

[@RetroCore]

Pole Position wasn't released for the 7800. Pole Position 2 was though.

[@leeboy2k1]

@@RetroCore Ahh, you're quite correct Mark, have you already done PP2?

[@RetroCore]

Nope, not yet.

[@MVC2fan1]

Did you know that there's a plug n play version of it? It was bundled with Mappy, Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, and Xevious.

[@RetroCore]

Yes but those Jack Pacific plug'n plays aren't available here. Still, no great loss since that will be just an arcade rom emulated.

[@AmyraCarter]

Yeah, no kidding about the Vectrex; a friend of mine that runs a retro game store says that they could sell for upwards of two grand USD. I've only played one a few times, and I would of loved playing Pole Position on it (had Battletanx and some amalgamation of Spin Doctor available when I went to my friend's house back then). Also, that slowdown you mentioned about the GBA port is merely a GBA limitation that the port wasn't properly coded for; it is essentially the N64 port fit onto the GBA. The DS version would of been way better, but as far as I know, that got canned because Namco got sucked into another racing game project, Street Racing Syndicate (Midnight Club and sexy stripper model vids, whoo! lolz and hip-flop music). My favorite Pole Position port? The Windows fan port that allowed one to use a game pad so one could set accelerate and brake to an axis like in racing games from 1996 onward (Gran Turismo!) Sadly, that one is gone. So, the arcade original is what I like best, with the N64/GBA port being the next ones down. I would probably love the DC port, if I ever got a chance to play it.

[@johns6265]

Great video, it's always nice to a see a massive roster of ports. Pole Position was just a little bit too old for me, it certainly was impressive for 1983 but dropping a coin on it was a big ask, by the time I was going to arcades they already had Outrun and Chase HQ cabinets, even on home systems much more impressive looking games were available. Vroom is a good choice for a fast, playable F1 racer which must have had some inspiration from Pole Position on the Amiga and Atari ST, just so those systems aren't totally left out this week.

[@rafaellima83]

While I see your point and I am probably around your age, I really think Pole Position offers an experience that's different from Outrun and Chase HQ. And it was *damn* impressive for an 1983 game. And cheers for mentioning Vroom, most underrated racing game ever. That was freaking impressive for its time and I don't think it got the praise it deserved back at the day. People are always taking about the Lotus games, but I think Vroom was the best racing game of its kind on the Amiga.

[@RetroCore]

I can remember seeing Pole Position in the arcades when OutRun was around and yes, I would have probably not put my 10 pence in to Pole Position too.

[@ennahh76]

MS Dos’ engine sound is exactly the same as ZX Spectrums Chase HQ