Sprint 2
1976 · Racing · Arcade
Overview
Sprint 2 (1976) is Atari's two-player overhead racer with steering wheels, pedals and a choice of tracks — the start of the long-running Sprint series.
Deep Dive
Sprint 2 put two players side by side at steering wheels and accelerators, racing each other and computer cars around an overhead track, with a selection of circuits to keep repeat plays varied. Growing out of Atari's Gran Trak 10, it became one of the company's most successful racing lines and was scaled up for Sprint 4 and Sprint 8, which seated four and eight players. The series did much to establish the overhead racer as a core arcade genre.
Developer Story
Sprint 2 was developed by Atari in 1976 as the first of its Sprint games — the '2' refers to its two players, and a one-player Sprint 1 followed in 1978. It featured two-player simultaneous racing on a variety of tracks and became one of Atari's most successful racing game franchises. The Sprint series ran through several sequels and established overhead racing as a core arcade genre.
Did You Know?
- Sprint 2 was one of the first arcade games to offer selectable race tracks, giving players variety across multiple play sessions.
- The two-player simultaneous format, with both cars on screen at once, was technically challenging for 1976 hardware.
- Sprint was so successful it spawned Sprint 4 and Sprint 8, scaling the formula to four and eight players respectively.
- The game used a steering wheel and accelerator pedal, establishing the physical control format that endured in racing arcades for decades.
Sources & further reading
- Sprint 2 — Wikipedia
