Hot Rod

Hot Rod is a top-down arcade racing game developed by Sega. Released for arcades in 1988 in Japan and in 1989 worldwide, the game was available in a four-player cocktail-style arcade cabinets, as well as a three-player upright cabinet. Home computer ports were published by Activision in 1990 for the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and Atari ST.

This game allows four players to play the game simultaneously, and the players will compete in races with three other cars.

Every time a player falls off screen, they are penalized by having gas subtracted from their gas meter. As soon as the gas meter reaches zero, the game is over for the player. The player can pick up flashing targets symbolized with letter "G". By picking up the target, 10 units of gas will be added to the player's gas meter. If the player successfully crosses the finish line, they will be rewarded additional units of gas.

After every race, the player goes to the Parts Shop to purchase upgrades for their car. These include three front or rear engines, three types of bumpers, three types of spoilers, and two types of tires. However, the selection of tires is abundant, and include radial tires, speed tires, spike tires, and snow tires. The player may equip either a front or rear engine, not both at once. It is also impossible to have a spoiler and a rear engine equipped simultaneously.

There are a total number of 30 different races across ten environments: busy highways, dirt roads, a beach side course, a mountain course, farmlands, snowy terrain, a desert, a construction zone, a shipyard, and city streets. There are 3 races per environment, with every third race taking the players to a stadium for a victory ceremony. Afterwards, the players find themselves in a new environment.