V.R. Playdate brings Virtua Racing to the crank

"The arcade legend, rebuilt for the crank." That's how Alex Urbano (@el_goe) describes V.R. Playdate, released on itch.io on 13 October. In 1992 Virtua Racing put real-time 3D polygons in arcades. This version runs on the Playdate's 1-bit screen in dithered black and white, and the developer calls it "an almost full adaptation".

You get the three original circuits, Big Forest, Bay Bridge and Acropolis, which the page says are built from the Mega Drive game's models. Races run five laps against the clock and a grid of 15 rivals, at Easy, Normal or Hard. There are four camera views, a ranking board that keeps the 20 fastest races and fastest lap on each circuit with three-letter names, and cups for each circuit you win. A secret car unlocks if you finish first on all three circuits in one session.

The crank works three ways. In Classic mode you steer with the D-pad and the crank changes the camera. Crank-1 makes it a steering wheel. Crank-2 turns it into an accelerator pedal: you wind it forward to speed up.

V.R. Playdate is a non-commercial fan project, free with an optional name-your-own-price tip (5.9 MB). Its page says it isn't affiliated with or endorsed by SEGA, which owns Virtua Racing. The page labels it version 0.9, and it's a sideload download. Our game page: games/vr-playdate.