Thrill Drive (スリルドライブ Suriru Doraibu?) is a racing game developed and published by Konami, released to arcades in 1998. It is the first installment in the Thrill Drive series. It would be followed by three sequels.
Overview[]
Set on public roads across the world, the game simulates racing around crowded cities, where the risk of crashing into civilian traffic is prevalent. The objective across the game is to reach the goal within a set time limit while moving carefully through heavy traffic. The player can race in various cars ranging from a sedan to a tour bus.
Barring those of computer-controlled opponents, hitting (i.e., simply touching) other vehicles will count towards their total amount in damages. Crashing their vehicle (by way of running into another vehicle at high speed, falling off the road, and so on) will cause an accident, accompanied by the screen cracking and a horrible shriek, as well as significantly increase their amount in damages.
The player will then resume the race with their vehicle fully repaired, but in darker, bleaker weather. Getting caught in one accident will cause the weather to go from sunny to overcast, while three accidents will cause the clouds to constantly flash lightning. The music also becomes more unnerving/serious to compliment the player's situation.
There are 3 courses to choose from before starting a race:
- The U.S.A.: Its roads are wide, and is notable for its abundance of passenger cars and trucks.
- Japan: Has many intersections, also featuring a wide pedestrian crossing and left hand traffic.
- Europe: Unique for its rotaries and cobblestone road.
After a race ends, either by running out of time or reaching the goal, the player is assessed on several attributes pertaining to their driving technique. Going clockwise from the top, they are:
- Reflexes: How well the player can maintain their speed or drift while staying clear of walls and barriers.
- Courage: Driving through gaps between vehicles or on the incoming lanes.
- Style: Drifting or braking at the right moment.
- IQ: Their ability to stay ahead of their opponents.
- Desire: Changing the view of their car.
- Manners: Avoiding accidents (this attribute is topped out at the start of each race).
Playable Vehicles[]
- Fiat Barchetta
- Ford Mustang SVT Cobra (1998)
- Isuzu Cubic
- Lexus LS400
- Nissan Diesel Big Thumb
- Opel Corsa B
- Volvo V70
Trivia[]
- In the location test build of this game, the player could run over pedestrians and motorcyclists, incurring a massive damage record due to human injury. Once the game finally shipped out, however, pedestrians would always stay clear of the player (no matter how fast their vehicle was going), while motorcyclists could only be hit hard enough to make them fall over.
- When asked about why these changes were made, the development team answered that they wanted to forget they made this a feature to begin with. It is possible that they wished to avoid controversy over the game's already dire violence and themes of horror.
- The game has options for the Driver Animation (how the drivers' bodies react after they crash) and Message in Replay (the category given to a crash when it occurs). They can be set to HARD (default) or MILD. Differences are detailed below:
| HARD | MILD | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver
Animation |
The driver is thrown through the windshield,
lying on the front of their car. |
The driver is jolted slightly forward,
scratching their head in confusion. |
| Message
in Replay |
The categories are "COLLISION!",
"SERIOUS ACCIDENT!", and "FATAL ACCIDENT!!" |
The categories are "COLLISION!",
"ACCIDENT!", and "ACCIDENT!!" |
Furthermore, the HARD Message in Replay has ambulance sirens sounding out in the background, while there are none on MILD.
- Incidentally, the accident categories remain the same when the game is set to Japanese, but the omission of the ambulance sirens still applies.
- The U.S. course in this game is the only course in the series to loop forth and back to its starting point. While the Japan and Europe courses also end at their respective starting points, they use different locations for the later parts of the race.
- As of March 2021, all cabinets of Thrill Drive have disappeared, even in Japan, with Thrill Drive 2 seemingly set to follow.
- There are three cars that the opponent seem to not use which are the Muscle car, Box truck and Bus. As it's likely they prefer the Hatchback, Convertible, Sedan and Station Wagon.