The soundtrack is pretty typical of late 80s Zuntata, which is to say that it’s really darn good. The visuals – the scenery, the sky and backdrop – change within the levels, so there’s still plenty of visual variation, though ultimately it’s not as varied as OutRun, nor does it really maintain the same “world traveling” theme. There are five stages, but rather than branching at the end of each level, most stages have a fork in the middle that will send you on an alternate track. It’s a game that really wants to go fast, as opposed to driving cautiously, hence the title. The car is very easy to control, though – you can take pretty much any corner at top speed, so long as you can steer through it. It also has a limited number of nitro boosts to temporarily increase your speed, which was, again, something Sega implemented in Turbo OutRun. From a technical perspective, it adds in elements like underpasses, tunnels, and weather clouds, all things that were implemented in OutRun sequels. There’s not a whole lot to say about the game itself beyond being an OutRun clone, though it does add some things. Taito was one of the first competitors to really give Sega a run for their money with these type of games, and so they released Top Speed in arcades the following year, also known as Full Throttle in Japan. Sega’s 1986 arcade racer OutRun was a technical marvel, featuring brilliantly lush graphics, a stellar soundtrack, and super smooth scaling that put most of its competition to shame.

Game top speed