Power Drift

The objective is to finish each race in third place or better in order to advance to the next stage. Players have the option of continuing if they finish the race in fourth place or lower before the game is over, but the player's score will not increase upon continuing the game.

The tracks have a roller coaster feel to them, with many steep climbs and falls, as well as the ability to "fall" off higher levels. To add to this feeling, the sit-down cabinet was built atop a raised hydraulic platform, and the machine would tilt and shake quite violently. Each circuit, labeled from "A" to "E" has a certain theme to it (for example, circuit A has cities, circuit B has deserts, circuit C has beaches, etc.) in a series of five tracks. There are also four laps for each course.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Power Drift on their 1988 issue as being the second most-successful upright arcade unit of the month. It went on to be the fourth highest-grossing arcade game of 1989 in Japan. The ZX Spectrum port knocked the long-standing RoboCop from the top of the UK sales charts in 1989.

The arcade game received positive reviews from critics upon release in 1988. Sinclair User magazine rated it 10 out of 10, comparing it favorably with Sega's earlier arcade hit Out Run (1986) and stating it was technically "a breakthrough", while praising the "breathtaking" graphics and "heartstopping" gameplay. Andy Smith of Advanced Computer Entertainment said it was an "exciting" and "thrilling high speed" racing game in "a futuristic car cum-Go-Kart" that "combines all that was best" in Out Run and Buggy Boy (1985) to come up "with a terrific driving game that looks set to be a winner".