Final Lap

Final Lap is a arcade game that was released by Namco in 1987 and licensed to Atari Games for US manufacture and distribution. It was the first game to run on the company's then-new System 2 hardware, and was also the first game to allow up to eight players to play simultaneously when four two-player cabinets were linked together.

The players must take control of either the Williams, McLaren, March or Lotus cars in a Formula One race on the Suzuka Circuit. In the single player mode, the player's score is based on how far his car travels until the time runs out or he completes four laps of the circuit. Hitting another car or a billboard will not cause your car to explode, as it did in Namco's own Pole Position - but it will send you or the other car spinning off the track, costing you valuable time. In the multiplayer mode, up to eight players can race simultaneously - which allows for better lap times as the CPU-controlled cars appear less frequently.

In 1990, Philip Morris, the tobacco conglomerate, filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement against Namco on account of this game (along with Sega on account of their Super Monaco GP game), because both games featured Marlboro billboards - which can be found on both the real Suzuka Circuit and Circuit de Monaco tracks.

Morris was under investigation at the time for the Altria Group's role in under-age smoking, and the appearance of one of their brands in games aimed towards children and teenagers did not help their image. Namco were forced to pay a cash settlement and Sega had to edit their game to remove all Marlboro billboards.

This is the first game in the Final Lap series. It was followed by three sequels: Final Lap 2 (1990), Final Lap 3 (1992) and Final Lap R (1993). Four Trax (1989) and Suzuka 8 Hours (1992) also feature similar gameplay to this series, but feature quad bikes and motorcycles instead of racing cars.