Final Lap is a racing video game developed by Namco and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. It was the first game to utilize Namco's System 2 hardware, succeeding the earlier Pole Position titles. Notably, Final Lap allowed up to eight players to race simultaneously on the Suzuka Circuit, pioneering features like rubber banding to enhance competitive play. The game also offered a single-player mode focused on lap completion and distance traveled.
Final Lap is a racing video game produced by Namco,[2] and released by Atari Games for the United States in 1987. It was the first game to run on Namco's then new System 2 hardware, and is a direct successor to Namco's two earlier Pole Position games (1982-1983).
Final Lap was the first racing game to allow up to eight players to simultaneously race on the Suzuka Circuit, in a Formula One race. This was, at the time, considered a revolutionary feature and was implemented by linking together up to four two-player sitdown-style arcade cabinets.[2][3] It was also arguably the first racing game to implement "rubber banding" to ensure that less talented players were never too far behind the leader, a concept that would be taken much further by the Mario Kart series.[3] There was also a single player mode, in which the player's score was based on how far the car travelled until time ran out or if the player completed four laps (on default settings; the arcade operator can set the lap number to be as low as three or as high as six).