Category:Final Lap

Final Lap is a series of four racing arcade games that were released by Namco between 1987 and 1993; the first three all run on the company's System 2 hardware, while the fourth and final one runs on their System FL hardware, and all four games allow up to eight players to race simultaneously when a maximum of four two-player cabinets are linked together. Four Trax and Suzuka 8 Hours also feature similar gameplay to the series, but with quad bikes and motorcycles instead of racing cars - and the latter went on to get a sequel with three new tracks in addition to the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 8 Hours 2.


 * Final Lap (1987): The original game was released towards the end of Namco's first 16-bit year and licensed to Atari Games for US manufacture and distribution; players must take control of the Williams, McLaren, March and Lotus cars as they compete in a Formula One race on the Suzuka Circuit. An upright-cabinet version of the game, entitled Final Lap UR (the sitdown cabinet was their standard model), was also released at the start of 1988.
 * Final Lap 2 (1990): The second game was released directly by Namco three years after the original and featured four different tracks to choose from instead of just one - they were set in the game's home country of Japan, Italy, Monaco, and the United States. The player cars were also redesigned.
 * Final Lap 3 (1992): The third game was released directly by Namco two years after their second; much like its predecessor, it featured four different tracks to choose from, but these ones were set in England, France, San Marino, and Spain. The player cars were also redesigned for a second time.
 * Final Lap R (1993): The fourth and final game was released by Namco one year after its predecessor and licensed by FOCA to Fuji Television - and once again, it featured four different tracks to choose from, set in Germany, Hungary, Belgium and Brazil. The players' cars were also redesigned for a third and final time (one with a green colour scheme), and the colour of the CPU-controlled cars was changed from green to blue as a result of this.