Achieved at : 2026-07-21
Rank : 1
(world record)
Lups : 200
Approved :
Yes
Voting completed : 2026-07-27
| General Rules: |
Play with default settings unless otherwise specified. No use of trainers, cheats, saved game files, auto-fire (when not default present in-game), emulator save states, or other emulator advantages. No use of code modifications that give the player an advantage over other players. 1 player only. No continues. It is discouraged and may lead to voters not accepting your score to - excessively point farm - use glitches or other game exploits |
| Specific Rules: | Play the game in 1 player mode with default settings |
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TGP
Pole Position is the official Atari port of the Namco/Atari arcade game - probably one of the most famous racing games in videogame history. Released by Atarisoft in 1984, it was written by Richard G. Warner, who was also one of the people responsible for the BBC Welcome Tape all the way back in 1981.
The game follows the arcade game closely. You first have to qualify for the race by completing the course before the timer counts down from 90 to zero. If you manage that, you enter the full race of four laps, with your start position depending on how well you qualified. The race features plenty of cars to avoid and that get in your way, and you can also skid off the road to your destruction. Fortunately, you can restart, but you will lose valuable time. If you run out of time it is Game Over, but if you complete the race, you are awarded a selection of bonus points depending on how much time you have left and how many cars you passed.
This is a decent, but not perfect, version of Pole Position. The BBC graphics system gives the layout a chunky look that BBC users will be familiar with, but they are colourful and there is no difficulty recognising the cars as racing cars. The road moves fairly smoothly most of the time (there is the occasional lurch), but the other graphics can be a bit jerky at times. It didn't cause me any real problems though. Sound is adequate and does the job without any frills. The controls work well and threading your way through a tight bunch of cars is possible with care.
Overall, this is a good conversion of the arcade game for the Beeb, though not as good as some of the others (the Atari 8-bit version is very good). There are a few flaws, but during play these can be overlooked easily enough. I think anyone getting this back in 1984 or 1985 would have been very happy.
This run was made on the 21st July 2026 using the Pantheon emulator on PC. There are no skill settings or multiple tracks. The final score reached was 55,850 points.
Time stamps:
00:30 Title screen.
00:53 Options selection screen.
01:08 Game start.
01:58 Crash!
01:31 Qualification successful, fourth place.
02:45 Race begins.
03:12 Crash!
03:46 Crash!
04:20 First lap completed.
05:25 Second lap completed and a Crash!
06:39 Third lap completed.
07:46 Race complete. Game Over! Final score 55,850 points, time 239"35.
The game follows the arcade game closely. You first have to qualify for the race by completing the course before the timer counts down from 90 to zero. If you manage that, you enter the full race of four laps, with your start position depending on how well you qualified. The race features plenty of cars to avoid and that get in your way, and you can also skid off the road to your destruction. Fortunately, you can restart, but you will lose valuable time. If you run out of time it is Game Over, but if you complete the race, you are awarded a selection of bonus points depending on how much time you have left and how many cars you passed.
This is a decent, but not perfect, version of Pole Position. The BBC graphics system gives the layout a chunky look that BBC users will be familiar with, but they are colourful and there is no difficulty recognising the cars as racing cars. The road moves fairly smoothly most of the time (there is the occasional lurch), but the other graphics can be a bit jerky at times. It didn't cause me any real problems though. Sound is adequate and does the job without any frills. The controls work well and threading your way through a tight bunch of cars is possible with care.
Overall, this is a good conversion of the arcade game for the Beeb, though not as good as some of the others (the Atari 8-bit version is very good). There are a few flaws, but during play these can be overlooked easily enough. I think anyone getting this back in 1984 or 1985 would have been very happy.
This run was made on the 21st July 2026 using the Pantheon emulator on PC. There are no skill settings or multiple tracks. The final score reached was 55,850 points.
Time stamps:
00:30 Title screen.
00:53 Options selection screen.
01:08 Game start.
01:58 Crash!
01:31 Qualification successful, fourth place.
02:45 Race begins.
03:12 Crash!
03:46 Crash!
04:20 First lap completed.
05:25 Second lap completed and a Crash!
06:39 Third lap completed.
07:46 Race complete. Game Over! Final score 55,850 points, time 239"35.