It’s a shame the Summer X Games ditched motorsports and Los Angeles after 2016 (the Winter Games brought snowmobiles back this year, but summer doesn’t have anything). Nowadays, visiting Anime Expo means walking on the grounds of a former Global Rallycross track. Williams putting its Dandadan-sponsored F1 car on display in the Exhibit Hall kept the racing spirit alive somewhat last weekend, but it’s just not the same for our non-pavement hearts.

While a total nightmare to find and a terrifying trip up metal stairs to get there, the Entertainment Arena—bizarrely situated atop a parking garage—came in clutch with a very interesting cabinet. Initial D is obviously not an off-road game and thus outside of this equation. Battle Gear 4 has dirt and snow tracks, but nobody calls that an off-road racer. No, the real attention grabber was the 1995 Namco title Dirt Dash.

Most anime conventions’ arcades are filled with rhythm games, but AX had long been an outlier with its emphasis on retro games thanks to Arcade1Up. This finally changed as of upon bringing in Game Saru as an arcade vendor, offering a small but still noticeable slate from the music genre like BeatStream and WACCA (Maimai DX was only available at the Sega booth). Even then, it was rows upon rows of old-school titles; Namco was well represented in this regard with the likes of Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Galaga.

Speaking of those studios, Dirt Dash is considered by many to be Namco’s answer to Sega Rally Championship. The latter needs little introduction as it’s one of the greatest arcade racers—and racing games in general—of all time, from the use of licensed WRC cars to the “GAME OVER, YEAAAAAAH!”

Dirt Dash, on the other hand, has neither of those. Instead, it relies on fictional vehicles with a generic game over screen where your navigator pleads for you to come back. Whereas Sega Rally was split into special stages not unlike the real deal, Dirt Dash consists of a long loop that goes through different environments (aptly called stages). While the player does race against the CPU, the timer is as unrelenting as the course such that the goal is chiefly to complete the full lap before it expires.

This continuous format across so many climates makes Dirt Dash feel less like rallying and more akin to desert racing or cross-country rally. The latter does specials as well, but the environments that the course traverses are a diversity that might make one think more of that discipline instead of standard rallying.

Even the vehicles available seem more in-line with raids of the ’90s. One is a yellow buggy that looks like a cross between a Class 5 and a prototype buggy. Another is a blue truck obviously based on those used in Baja, though one could probably stretch it to compare to a Protruck. The highest difficulty belongs to a full-fledged rally car. The computer cars also riff off actual rally vehicles, most notably a green SUV that eerily resembles the Mitsubishi Pajero.

The course consists of five stages, each increasing in difficulty: City, Hill, Jungle, Mountain, and Snow. Being a continuous race means you get no breaks in between and have to learn as you go.

NOURS, the official magazine of Namco, gave the following breakdown of each sector in its Winter 1995 edition: City is quite similar to the streets of Hong Kong or Chinatown, Hill is a mountain course with poor visibility because of mist, Jungle has poorly illuminated, Mountain is a “proper dirt course”, and Snow evokes memories of the 1987 film Take Me Out to the Snowland with its scene of a Toyota Celica GT-Four going through the snow.

As expected, obstacles are aplenty. City includes oncoming traffic like double-decker buses and even a long jump that’s measured, while Hill has a shortcut through a barn that shaves off critical seconds. Jungle starts off fairly smooth before becoming technical and narrow as you have to weave through fallen branches.

Unsurprisingly, Mountain and Snow are the hardest as both have sections lacking guardrails. The surface change is also accounted for upon hitting the latter, though at least hitting the icy stalagmites won’t kill all your speed like with the branches in Jungle.

Being an arcade racer, don’t expect anything too realistic, though Namco still includes some neat touches like doors swinging open due to damage that otherwise doesn’t end your race. The navigator also shows some sass in certain sections like begging to escape as you go through Jungle. Some cabinets even have air springs to better simulate driving on dirt roads, though the one at AX is a generic setup so we were not blessed with this feature.

The developers were even kind enough to include player tips, which were provided in the same issue of NOURS:

You might find it difficult because the roads are narrow and made of dirt, but don’t worry too much about the details at first and just drive hard. Once you get used to it, pay attention to the course markers that appear at the center of the screen. These icons and their colors have specific meanings. They tell you what section or event is coming next, so pay attention to them.

Let me explain them to you a little more. The color of the symbols will tell you that blue means to stay on the accelerator, yellow is to ease off the throttle, and red is to press the brakes.

Even beginners can get quite good at driving (in fact, even our clumsy female employee improved significantly). Don’t shy away from the Snow and Mountain courses just because you’re new either. They’re so beautiful and feel great.

Just have fun! It’s okay if you run into things or break something. That’s why game are great, right?

The magazine notes in a postscript that the dev, called “S-san”, had ironically crashed his motorcycle the other day: “There was hardly any nail left on his right hand’s ring finger…”

Overall, Dirt Dash is a tough yet enjoyable ’90s arcade racer. Unfortunately, it still pale sin comparison to others in the genre like Sega Rally, which explains why it seemed to fade out of public memory.

At least Ridge Racer is there to keep Namco’s foot in the racing game door.

Featured image credit: Justin Nguyen