, as the name suggests, is the third title in the ''

Final Lap is a 1987 racing simulation video game developed and published by Namco. Atari Games published the game in the United States in 1988. It was the first game to run on Namco's then-new System 2 hardware and is a direct successor to Namco's ''Pol ...

'' series, released worldwide by

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

in 1992; like its precursors (as well as ''

Four Trax is a 1989 racing arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was released in North America by Atari Games, and was ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991 as ''Quad Challenge''. Gameplay Players take control of four quad bikes (red for ...

'', and ''

Suzuka 8 Hours The is a motorcycle endurance race held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan each year. The race runs for eight hours consecutively and entrants are composed of two or more riders who alternate during pitstops. History The race began in 1978 as a ...

''), it runs on

Namco System 2 Namco was a video game developer and publisher, originally from Japan. Bandai Namco Entertainment is the successor to Namco and continues manufacturing and distributing video games worldwide. For Namco games released following the 2006 merger w ...

hardware, and allows up to eight players to play simultaneously when four two-player cabinets are linked together. It features four new tracks set in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

, and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

- and for the third time, the players must take control of either the Williams, McLaren, Ferrari or Tyrrell cars (which have again been redesigned; Ferrari and Tyrrell replaces March and Lotus from the previous games), in a Formula One race on one of the four tracks. In the single-player mode, the player's score is again based on how far his car travels until the timer runs out or he completes four laps of the chosen circuit, and hitting another car or a billboard will again not cause a player car to explode, like it did in the two ''

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 rac ...

'' games, but it can still send it (or the other car) spinning off the track, costing valuable time; in the multiplayer mode, up to eight players can again race simultaneously, which shall again allow for better lap times, as the plain green CPU-controlled cars (which have again also been redesigned) will appear less frequently.

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

is the easiest one of the four and is recommended for the novice players - and once a player has mastered it he is ready to move on to

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

, followed by

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

(which had been replaced in 1991 by Magny-Cours in F1). However,

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

(in 1987-90 configuration, without the 1991 overhaul) is the most difficult one of the four and is therefore only recommended for the expert players and the ones who had managed to master Suzuka in the

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

previous titles.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Final Lap 3'' on their October 1, 1992 issue as being the third most-successful upright/cockpit arcade game of the month.

References

External links

*
''Final Lap 3''
at the Arcade History database 1992 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Namco arcade games Racing video games Sports video games set in France Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan Video games set in England Formula One video games Video games set in Spain {{f1-racing-videogame-stub