You’re probably familiar with the gaming term “First Person Shooter,” but what about “First Person Driver”? You know, a game where the POV is your car and you must safely race through a course. “Pole Position” was probably the first arcade game of the genre and it was a landmark. The port to the Atari 2600 isn’t entirely faithful to the source material, but the end result is a pretty good game.

PRESS FIRE TO START

In this game you play as an Indy racing car in the bottom center of the screen. You’re racing around an irregular-shaped track, not any kind of oval stadium course. The first stage is just a qualifying race of only one lap. The second stage is the Grand Prix wherein you must complete four laps as well as race against other cars which become increasingly difficult to pass.

Your car will automatically go as soon as the signal is sounded. You must also shift from low to high gear to increase your top speed. Even though you’re able to brake by pushing the button, I find it to be too sharp of a stop compared to downshifting which is gradual and gives you more power to steer. Low gear works well when starting from a standstill such as at the beginning of the race or if you crash. High gear is absolutely essentially to make any kind of progress because it enables you to go twice as fast.

PLAYER 1 – READY!

The first thing you’ll notice about “Pole Position” is how well it makes for a sense of movement. For a game so primitive in technology it’s almost as effective as the original arcade version. The problem is the acceleration factor, since your car seems to be either at a dead stop or flying down the track. Even though the game utilizes a speedometer, there are really only two speeds – fast and REALLY fast.

In the arcade edition you had to account for the laws of physics since you couldn’t just floor it and still be able to make the turns and/or pass the opponents no problem. Almost the opposite is true in this Atari 2600 edition because you can play nearly the entire game at maximum speed without the worries of having to brake. It’s a combination of flaws between the play controls and the graphics that never really give you the sense you’re making any kind of hard turn. Even though the game supposedly has a hairpin turn to it, as well as other “sharp” turns, it’s quite easy to stay centered.

The true challenge to this game is dodging the other cars. You don’t pass them as much as you avoid them. It’s like your car is a magnet and all the other cars are attracted to you. It’s a pain because often you won’t notice the other cars moving towards you until it’s too late.

Since this is a racing game, you can’t constantly slow down and expect to win, so finesse is the key to success. The best strategy I’ve found is to get directly behind an on-coming car because most likely they will change to the other lane so you don’t have to move at all. If they don’t move, it’s fairly easy to pass them around the outside, which will slow you down, but it’s better than crashing.

JOYSTICKING

Since this is a game where the overall challenge is based on motion, good play controls are a must to make it fun. The first few times I played “Pole Position” I found the controls a bit tight because simply swerving from one lane to the other isn’t as easy as it should be. However, after a little bit of practice I was able to get the hang of it.

What irked me is the way you shift gears: pushing up to go from high to low and pushing down to go from low to high. When you’re taking turns, and especially as you’re trying to pass the other cars, most likely you’re going to end up pushing the joystick up or down incidentally. This will cause you to suddenly change speed when you didn’t want to and if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time it’ll lead to a crash or just waste valuable time.

SPRITES & PIXELS

Perhaps one of the reasons this game is so appealing is due to its aesthetic qualities. Few games for the Atari VCS are as vividly colored as “Pole Position.” The color scheme is very complimentary and the graphics give the game a bit of a cartoony and inviting feeling. It also makes good use of parallax scrolling as the mountains in the background scroll as you move around the track.

But what’s with the other cars? Your own car is fairly detailed, but the others are simply bright yellow blocks in the distance which morph into castles, seemingly, as you pass them. Why did the game designers throw in such an ugly aspect to such a good-looking game?

CHIPPED TUNES

Since this is a racing game you can be sure there will be sounds of engines. Many of the earliest 2600 carts attempts at machine sounds come off as simply grating noise (i.e. “Indy 500”), but the tones in “Pole Position” are decent. The cars sound like cars, not chainsaws. The game also has little musical tunes at the beginning and end of the races which are good re-creations of the arcade version.

However, the sound of the opponents passing you can be quite grating if you’re neck-and-neck with them for any duration of time.

INSERT COIN TO CONTINUE

Although there’s no real “end” to this game other than finishing four laps on the Grand Prix stage, it will take quite a bit of practice to finish it. Fortunately, “Pole Position” is fun enough to hold nearly all players’ attention until they’ve aced the game. I’m sure it’d be quite as good to play after a long break, too. But it’s not the kind of game you’d want to play for any kind of marathon session.

GAME OVER

Although “Pole Position” is not a perfect game, it’s still impressive. This is probably as good as a first person driver could get for the Atari 2600, so it’ll do.

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