''Konami GT'', originally known as ''Konami RF2 - Red Fighter'', is a 1985

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed and released by

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casi ...

, using their GX400 arcade architecture. The player drives a

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

which must reach various checkpoints without running out of fuel. A

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

mode (activated by the gear shift) increases the car's speed but uses more fuel and puts the player at a higher risk of hitting an obstacle. Fuel power-ups can be found on the road which the player must pick up to make it to the final checkpoint. The original title ''RF2'' is a reference to Konami's 1984 arcade game ''

Road Fighter is a racing arcade video game developed by Konami and released in 1984. It was the first racing game from Konami. The goal is to reach the finish line within the stages without running out of time, hitting other cars or running out of fuel ...

'', and thus this may be considered an unofficial sequel. ''RF2'' was a commercial success in Japanese arcades. The series was followed in 1996 by official sequel ''Midnight Run - Road Fighter 2''. ''Konami GT'' was made available on Microsoft's ''

Game Room Game Room was a social gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room let players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores ...

'' service for its

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

console and for Windows-based PCs on October 6, 2010.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Konami GT'' on their November 15, 1985 issue as being the sixth most-successful upright/cockpit arcade cabinet of the month. It went on to be Japan's fifth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game during the first half of 1986, and the overall eighth highest-grossing arcade game of 1986. Mike Roberts of ''

Computer Gamer ''Computer Gamer'' was a video game magazine published in the United Kingdom by Argus Specialist Publications, covering home gaming from April 1985 to June 1987. It was a colourful relaunch of the failing magazine '' Games Computing'', a mo ...

'' magazine reviewed "Street Fighter II from Konami" following its appearance at London's Preview '86 show in late 1985, calling it "a fantastic sequel to the Street Fighter game". He said it was "a three dimensional racing game in the style of" ''

Pole Position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

'' (1982) "but the quality of graphics and gameplay are in excess of anything that I have seen for a long time".

Other appearances

* Red-F2 was the name of one of the machines in ''Speed King NEO KOBE 2045'' (1996).

References

International Arcade Museum
1985 video games Arcade video games Konami games Racing video games Konami arcade games Video games developed in Japan {{racing-videogame-stub