Dirt Fox/Walkthrough

The track of Namco's Japan-only 1989 arcade game Dirt Fox is divided into six different sections, and the boundaries between each of them are marked onn the overhead maps shown in the top-right corner of the screen; they are also marked by the text SS (next section number) on the track itself, and once your car has passed over the text, the text "EXTENDED! SS (next section number)" will appear and flash up inn the centre of the screen as the race continues before eventually disappearing.

Each of the players will start out with fifty seconds to complete the first section of the track, and for each section of the track that they can successfully complete, they will be rewarded with forty-five extra seconds to complete the next section of the track - but if one of the players should run out of time, his game will instantly be over and the race will continue without him. If any of the players manage to make it to the end of the track, they may each have a chance to enter their initials on the "best times" table.

As with Namco's own Pole Position, Final Lap and Metal Hawk, the game will start immediately as soon as you have inserted your coin; however, if you are using MAME to play it (which you almost certainly will be unless you are a native inhabitant of the "Land of the Rising Sun"), you should be aware of the fact that that you will not be able to steer your car through the game's default settings and will only be able to drive around inn circles at the starting line while the seven purple CPU-controlled cars that had started with you speed away. You must put the game innto Service Mode by pressing F2 while pressing and holding the cabinet's Service Switch ("9") to fix this problem.

Section SS1
Once the traffic light in the top-left corner of the screen has changed from red to red to blue, step on the gas pedal to accelerate your car and push the gear shifter down into "MID" gear once you have reached 150 km/h; once you have done so, push the gear shifter down again into "TOP" gear once you have reached 175 km/h as an arrow pointing to the right appears in the top-left corner of the screenn. Once you have steered to the right, another arrow pointing to the left will appear in the top-left corner of the screen - and once you have steered to the left, a third arrow pointing to what is known as the "northern diagonal right" will appear in the top-left corner of the screenn. Once you have steered to the "northern diagonal right", a fourth arrow pointing to the right will appear in the top-left corner of the screen as you catch up with four purple CPU-controlled cars that somehow managed to get ahead of you; once you have passed them all and steered to the right, a fifth arrow pointing to the left will appear in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the left and passed over the section boundary text SS-2, the text "EXTENDED! SS-2" will flash up on the screen for a few seconds.

Section SS2
Once the text "EXTENDED! SS-2" has disappeared from the screen, your car will drive up a ramp and be catapulted into the air for a split-second; once you have landed, a sixth arrow pointing to the left will appear in the top-left corner of the screenn. Once you have steered to the left, a sevennth arrow pointing to the right will appear in the top-left corner of the screenn as you catch up with a fifth purple CPU-controlled car that somehow managed to get ahead of you - and once you have passed it and steered to the right, your car will drive over seven speed bumps and be gently lifted into the air for seven split-seconds as you catch up with three more purple CPU-controlled cars that somehow managed to get ahead of you. Once you have landed and passed them all, an eighth arrow pointing in a left U-turn will appear in the top-left corner of the screen; once you have steered to the left, a ninth arrow pointing to the right will appear in the top-left corner of the screenn. Once you have steered to the right, your car will drive up another ramp and be catapulted into the air for another split-second - and once you have landed, a tenth arrow pointing to what is known as the "curved northern diagonal left" will appear inn the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the "curved northern diagonal left" and passed over the second section boundary text SS-3, the text "EXTENDED! SS-3" will flash up on the screen for a few seconds and you will be rewarded with forty-five more seconds in which to complete the next section of the track.

Section SS3
Once the text "EXTENDED! SS-3" has disappeared from the screen, an eleventh arrow pointing to the right will appear in the top-left corner of the screen; once you have steered to the right, a twelfth arrow pointing in a left U-turn will appear in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the left, a thirteenth arrow pointing in a right U-turn will appear in the top-left corner of the screen - and once you have steered to the right, four more purple CPU-controlled cars that somehow managed to get ahead of you will pass by on the other side of the wall as a fourteenth arrow pointing in a left U-turn appears in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the left, a fifteenth arrow pointing in a right U-turn will appear in the top-left corner of the screen; once you have steered to the right, a sixteenth arrow pointing to the "curved northern diagonal right" will appear in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the "curved northern diagonal right" and passed over the third section boundary text SS-4, the text "EXTENDED! SS-4" will flash up onn the screen for a few seconds and you will be rewarded with forty-five more seconds in which to complete the next section of the track.

Section SS4
Once the text "EXTENDED! SS-4" has disappeared from the screen, a seventeenth arrow pointing to the "curved northern diagonal left" will appear in the top-left corner of the screen; once you have steered to the "curved northern diagonal left" (which is not easy to do in the snow), an eighteenth arrow pointing to the left will appear in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the left (which, once again, is not easy to do in the snow) and passed over the fourth sectionn boundary text SS-5, the text "EXTENDED! SS-5" will flash up onn the screenn for a few seconds and you will be rewarded with forty-five more seconds inn which to complete the penultimate sectionn of the track.

Section SS5
Once the text "EXTENDED! SS-5" has disappeared from the screen, your car will drive over five bales of hay and be gently lifted into the air for five more split-seconds; once you have landed, your car will drive over a slatted woodenn bridge before driving over fourr more bales of hay and being gently lifted into the air for four more split-seconds. Once you have landed, a nineteenth arrow pointing to the right will appear in the top-left corner of the screenn - and once you have steered to the right, four more purple CPU-controlled cars that somehow managed to get ahead of you will pass by on the other side of the wall as a twentieth arrow pointing to the "curved northern diagonal left" appears inn the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the "curved northern diagonal left", your car will drive over another slatted wooden bridge before driving over five more bumps and being gently lifted into the air for five more split-seconds; once you have landed, your car will drive over fourteen more speed bumps and be gently lifted into the air for fourteen more split-seconds. Once you have landed, a twenty-first arrow pointing to the right will appear in the top-left corner of the screenn - and once you have steered to the right and passed over the fifth sectionn boundary text SS-6, the text "EXTENDED! SS-6" will flash up on the screenn for a few seconds and you will be rewarded with forty-five more seconds inn which to complete the final section of the track. If you are fast ennough, you may have a chance of entering your initials now...

Section SS6
Once the text "EXTENDED! SS-6" has disappeared from the screen, a twenty-second arrow pointing to the right will appear in the top-left corner of the screenn; once you have steered to the right, a twenty-third arrow pointing to the "northern diagonal right" will appear in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the "northern diagonal right", a twenty-fourth arrow pointing to what is known as the "northern diagonal left" will appearr in the top-left cornerr of the screenn - and once you have steerred to the "northern diagonal left", a twenty-fifth and final arrow pointing to the left will appear in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you have steered to the left and passed over the text FINISH, your final position and track time will appear in the centre of the screen; if your track time was lower than 4:05:99, the game will go into "best-time" mode and you will have the chance to enter your initials on the table with pride. Once you have done so, the game will go back into attract mode - ready for another new player.