is a 1989

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

developed and published only in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

. It runs on Namco System 2 hardware, and lets up to four people play simultaneously, when four cabinets are linked together. This is similar to Namco's own ''

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 ...

'', which was released two years earlier and allows up to eight people to play simultaneously, when four two-player cabinets are linked together.

Gameplay

Each player must take control of a colour-coded car (red for 1P, green for 2P, blue for 3P and yellow for 4P) which are competing in an off-road race. They are given a preset amount of time to finish each of the track's six sections and for every section of the track that is successfully completed, the players' time gets extended. If any one of the players fail to successfully complete the current section of the track before their time runs out, the game will, like in other

multiplayer racing titles (such as the aforementioned ''Final Lap''), instantly be over and the race will continue without them. Between four and seven purple CPU-controlled cars will also start the race alongside the players, but they may catch up with additional ones in preset positions on the track.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Dirt Fox'' on their August 15, 1989 issue as being the twelfth most-successful upright/cockpit arcade game of the month.

References

1989 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Japan-exclusive video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Namco arcade games Off-road racing video games Top-down racing video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Shinji Hosoe {{offroad-racing-videogame-stub