San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing

Overview

San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing (sometimes known as either San Francisco RUSH or simply Rush) is an over-the-top street racing game developed and released by Atari Games for arcades in 1996. Along with a major update (San Francisco Rush the Rock: Alcatraz Edition), the game was ported to the Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation, and Windows PCs.

Featuring 3D-accelerated graphics (powered by 3dfx Voodoo graphics hardware), San Francisco Rush features over-the-top racing set in a fictional version of San Francisco, U.S.A. The game combines a realistic driving model (with four difficulty settings for handling, where higher fidelity means higher speed) with spectacular jumps and stunts, and is known for its various use of hidden shortcuts. It was sold as a dedicated single-seat machine which can be linked-up for multiplayer (supporting up to eight players at a time).

The game was ported to the Nintendo 64 by Midway Home Entertainment in 1997, adding four additional tracks, a Career Mode, two-player split-screen multiplayer, mirrored tracks, and other bonus features. It was also ported to the Sony PlayStation by Climax Entertainment in 1998, tweaking the gameplay engine while adding an exclusive track and new modes. Both of these console ports were published by Midway.

In 1997, the arcade version of the game received an updated revision known as San Francisco Rush the Rock: Alcatraz Edition, adding the four tracks from the N64 version (along with new shortcuts for the three original tracks), the option for mirrored tracks, four new cars (for a total of 12), and new music. This version later received a smaller limited-release update in 1998, known as San Francisco Rush the Rock: Wave Net, which added online multiplayer via Wave Net.

The Alcatraz Edition of the game was later ported to Windows PCs by Karma Entertainment, released exclusively with some video cards. It was also ported to the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and PC as part of the Midway Arcade Treasures 3 and Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition compilations. Unlike most games in those compilations, the version of this game is a recreation and has some noticable differences.

The game later received a Nintendo 64 sequel (Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA), an arcade sequel (San Francisco Rush 2049), and a reboot (L.A. Rush).

Tracks

The original game included three tracks: Beginner, Advanced, and Extreme. They were later given names in the Rush the Rock update.

• Golden Gate (Beginner) - Known as "Track 1" in the N64 and PS1 versions.
• Embarcadero (Advanced) - Known as "Track 2" in the N64 and PS1 versions.
• Market (Extreme) - Known as "Track 3" in the N64 and PS1 versions.

Four additional tracks were added in the Nintendo 64 version of the game (one of which, The Rock, was hidden through a convoluted cheat code). They were later added back into the arcade version with the Rush the Rock update.

• The Rock - Known as the hidden "Track 7" in the N64 version.
• Downtown (Advanced) - Known as "Track 4" in the N64 version.
• The Heights (Extreme) - Known as "Track 5" in the N64 version.
• Sunset (Extreme) - Known as "Track 6" in the N64 version.

The PS1 version only includes the original three tracks along with one new exclusive track (Track 4).