Final Furlong

Final Furlong is a horseracing arcade game that was released by Namco, in 1997; it was one of only two games to run upon their then-new System 22.5 hardware (an Intel IDT running at 133.3289 MHz, with a Hitachi H8/3002 running at 14.7456 MHz and a C352 running at 16.384 MHz for sound). Up to four players can play simultaneously when a pair of two-player cabinets are linked together, and they must select one of three tracks (6.5 furlongs, 1 mile and 1.5 miles) and one of six horses to run the race, who are not assigned by player number - Leader (who maintains his pace in first place), Front Runner (whose best pace is between second and fourth place), Mid-Runner (whose best pace in a race opening is between fifth and seventh place), Strong Finisher (who holds back, until the "sprint point", then bursts loose with all his might), and two Almighty Runners (who can keep their pace in any position). The players must then rock the cabinet's horse mock-ups back and forth, to urge their horses forward, while pressing their "Whip Buttons" to increase their speed, and pulling back on the mock-ups' reins to steer them away from the railings (and other horses) which will slow them down; this game also received a sequel entitled Final Furlong 2, which was released in the following year.