Pace Car Pro

Pace Car Pro is a four-player racing game released by Electra Games in 1974. The game is notable for both an early use of color graphics in video games as well as the earliest known use of ball-top joysticks in arcade video games.

A monochrome of the game was released in 1975 called Pace Race which also reduced the game to two players.

Gameplay

Up to four players compete to complete six or eight laps (adjustable by the operator) before their opponents. The length of the game is set by an AI opponent - or "robot" - which completes laps independent of the human players. Each car on the field is represented by a dot of a different color: Red, yellow, purple, and blue. Players can crash into the side of the track but do not lose anything other than their pace.

Controls

Pace Car Pro features the earliest example of the ball-top joystick, made famous by games like Galaxian and Pac-Man. The joysticks are analog in function with no self-centering, enabling them to utilize the full range of motion of the vehicles.