#ace driver

[vocaloidderivativeotd]

Today's Vocaloid derivative of the day is:

Kagamine Len: Ace Driver from Dreamy Vocal!

[lunaticobscurity]

there’s a new post up at the world’s greatest obscure videogames review blog, and today’s subject is a polygonal racing arcade game from the 90s! who doesn’t love those, right? go and read about it~!

and please show your support by reblogging this post and maybe also subscribing on patreon, for early access to new posts, more screenshots and more :D

[mathieu-pronovost]

[Arcade] Ace Driver: Victory Lap / エースドライバー・ビクトリーラップ (1996) A colorful 3D racing arcade game developed and published by Namco

[nettosgameroom]

Arcade Archives ACE DRIVER Launches on May 28th

Arcade Archives ACE DRIVER and Arcade Archives 2 ACE DRIVER will launch on May 28th, 2026.

[mathieu-pronovost]

[Arcade] Ace Driver: Victory Lap / エースドライバー・ビクトリーラップ (1996) A colorful 3D racing arcade game developed and published by Namco

[rave-stab]

Ace Driver Victory Lap

NAMCO system 22 1995

[theoreticalli]

I accidentally turned myself into the ace flag and I can't stop laughing (It's a little out of order but still

[jaykayell]

Obscure Arcade Tunes: Ace Driver Victory Lap

Back in the 90s, I worked at a mail order firm that imported anime and game merchandise with a complete wanker. He was an incredibly difficult patronising little shit of a man who almost ran the company into the ground when left on his own. We thankfully didn't have much in common but what we did was a love of arcade games and cheesy rave music. Oh and my girlfriend at the time too but that's another story.

What made working in the same room as him tolerable was the ability to listen to soundtrack CDs. Back then yer average import CD would set you back £30 and when you're earning a slave wage, that's a big chunk of change to splash out. This was a time when a scary amount of my pocket change would end up in the blessed Namco Wonderpark along Windmill street, the greatest arcade that's ever been. At the time I was mad for Rave Racer in a way that I hadn't been with Daytona and Ridge Racer. Tucked away in a corner was Ace Driver Victory Lap, Namco's take on Formula 1. Never having been a fan of the sport, I never bothered playing it but the guy I worked with was super excited when the CD soundtrack came in. Upon first play, it became an office favourite.

The second Ace Driver is a curiosity of its time, taking a wholly arcade approach to a technical sport but isn't remembered as one of the great Namco racing games. Most likely because it's a bunch of elements that just don't fit together. It's a looser, heightened take on Formula 1 coming only a few years after Sega made a decent job of capturing its finesse with  Virtua Racing.

The rave flavoured soundtrack however has a blissed midnight vibe to it, sounding like it belongs to a downhill drift racer ala Initial D. Namco had already been plundering the UK rave underground for soundtrack inspiration several years before Nobuyoshi Sano's work on Numan Athletics was more than a bit influenced by Prodigy Experience. But along with the HI-NRG pulse pounding beats and orchestral hits, Ace Driver's OST is pinned down by riding a blissed out wave.

Noboyoshi 'Sanodg' Sano wasn't involved on this one. Instead the soundtrack was composed by Keiichi Okabe and Hiroyuki Kawada and is far removed from their usual work on Namco titles like Dragon Spirit and Galaga 88. Okabe's intro is the audio equivalent of a sunrise coming up on a racing track while Slightly Refraction has an amazing breakdown halfway through that melts into the main track beautifully. Kawada's Let it go is aptly named as it builds up tension and pace only to remind you of the wind whistling through your hair throughout. And Infnity is a blissed out fusion of jazzy soul and breakbeats. Though obviously dance music in origin, it's more contemplative and, dare I say, chilled than you'd expect.

Revisiting this soundtrack, I'm reminded of when arcade games had a sense of optimism, an awareness that they're escapist fantasies. In these navel gazing times, gamers and critics (with a capital C) alike seem to equate seriousness with ART! One such critic I keep seeing seems to take pride in how above games they are. And looking across the current landscape of post-apocalyptic/gritty shooty goodies vs baddies nonsense that makes up the AAA sphere, it's tempting to agree. Especially when background music is so often an afterthought rather than integral part of the experience. Bored of droning orchestral backing music, give me fucking tunes man!

I've really no way to wrap up this post without going into melodrama about games being a gateway and a window into wider culture. But I will say that gamers could do with listening and appreciating other genres beyond cod classical without sneering at it being 'pop'. And on that note, I'm gonna link Exh* Notes by Sanodg here because it's a fucking banger.