Virtua Racing

The original arcade game has three circuits, designated into difficulties. Beginner is Big Forest, intermediate is Bay Bridge and expert is Acropolis. Each level has its own special feature, for example the amusement park in "Big Forest", or the "Bay Bridge" itself, or the tight hairpin of "Acropolis". When selecting a car, the player can choose different transmission types.

R. View System" by allowing the player to choose one of four views to play the game. This feature was then used in most other Sega arcade racing games (and is mentioned as a feature in the attract mode of games such as Daytona USA).

Virtua Racing was developed alongside the Sega Model 1 arcade system, originally called the "CG Board" system prior to completion. The game was directed by Yu Suzuki and designed by Toshihiro Nagoshi.

The origins of Virtua Racing, along with the Model 1, date back to the development of the Mega Drive/Genesis console prior to its launch in 1988. The console was a major leap forward for home video game systems, allowing them to come closer to arcade quality. For Sega's arcade games to remain profitable, they needed to maintain a wide gap between arcade and home video games. At a meeting held during the console's development, Sega decided to begin development on an arcade system capable of producing 3D polygon graphics.

The arcade game was a major worldwide commercial success upon release, surpassing Sega's expectations and with high demand exceeding production output. The Deluxe and Twin cabinets were both selling very well, with the expensive Deluxe version selling about a fifth as many units as the less expensive Twin version during 1992. In Japan, Game Machine listed it as the most successful upright/cockpit arcade cabinet of October 1992. In the United States, it debuted at the top of the RePlay arcade earnings chart for deluxe cabinets in October 1992.

It remained at the top for the rest of the year and much of the following year, from February 1993 to July 1993, until it was dethroned by Sega AM1's Stadium Cross (with Virtua Racing at number two) in August 1993. Virtua Racing remained at number two in October 1993, below Suzuka 8 Hours. Virtua Racing was America's third top-grossing arcade game during Summer 1993, with weekly earnings averaging 1,500 tokens per unit. The game was also a major commercial success in Europe.

In 1994, it appeared at 4th place on Mega's list of Top Mega Drive Games of All Time. In 1995, Flux magazine rated the arcade version 36th in its "Top 100 Video Games." In 1996, the arcade, 32X, and Saturn versions (but not the Genesis version) appeared at 11th place on Next Generation's list of Top 100 Games of All Time. They noted that their ranking it higher than any other racing game on the list (including Sega Rally Championship and Daytona USA) was deliberate, since Virtua Racing "drives better".

In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the arcade version 32nd on their "Top 100 Games of All Time." In 1998, Saturn Power listed the game 92nd in its Top 100 Sega Saturn Games. they felt that Virtua Racing is "not as arcade perfect as it should’ve been."