Press fire to enter game.
Use the left and right controls to select your game.
Press fire to start.
Quarter-Mile Madness
You're at the wheel of a 2500-horsepower vehicle specially built to
propel you from a dead stop down a quarter-mile track in the shortest
possible time. Your reflexes have to be lightning fast because it's
like trying to control a rocket skidding along the ground.
Top Fuel Eliminator is a simulation of a complete season of drag
racing. The season is composed of nine events scored on a points
system.
You'll be competing against eight of the world's best drivers. To win
a race, or even make it down the track in one piece, you'll also have
to pay close attention to track and weather conditions and adjust your
dragster accordingly. Top Fuel Eliminator gives you lots of options
that will affect your chances of winning.
Time Trials
You may choose either Play Game or Time Trials. The Time Trials give
you a chance to practice on eight raceways on the Top Fuel circuit. To
choose the Time Trials, highlight Time Trials in white and press the
joystick button. The Pit Area screen will appear.
All your options and procedures for fine-tuning your dragster are just
as described in The Racing Season below. In addition, you may also
choose on which track and event you want to practice. To do so, first
push your joystick left or right to highlight the question mark at the
bottom right of the Pit Area screen. Press the joystick button, and
track information appears for one of the raceways. Push the joystick
left and right to cycle through the raceways. When the track you want
to practice on is shown, press the joystick button and proceed to set
up your dragster as described in The Pit Area, below.
During each practice run, you'll have the track to yourself, but you
must still take care not to foul or crash. (See Race Rules, below.)
When you've finished with your Time Trials practice session, you must
restart the game and select Play Game to begin the racing session.
Registering to Race
After you choose Play Game, you'll see the Registration screen. Here
you enter your name. Enter up to eight characters, then press Return.
The Pit Area screen appears, and you're ready to begin the racing
season.
The Racing Season
Nine events make up the racing season. They're scheduled in the
following order:
1. Winter Nationals
2. North Nationals
3. Spring Nationals
4. East Nationals
5. Summer Nationals
6. South Nationals
7. Fall Nationals
8. West Nationals
9. World Event
Each event is composed of several races: a qualifying round, the first
round of eliminations, the semi-final round of eliminations, and the
final round elimination which determines the Top Fuel champion for
that event. If you don't qualify for a race, or if you lose a race,
you're eliminated from that event and Top Fuel Eliminator goes on to
the next event.
Qualifying
You're given two attempts to qualify for an event during the
qualifying round. To qualify, you need not beat your opponent, but you
must not commit any fouls (see Race Rules, below), and you must beat
the posted "bubble time".
The bubble time is the maximum time allowed for the qualifying attempt
and is determined by the slowest qualifying speed. There are nine
drivers trying to race in each event but only eight are allowed.
Therefore, the qualifying time of the eighth fastest driver will be
the bubble. If you beat that time, then he is eliminated from the
field.
First Round
If you qualify, you'll automatically be placed in the first round.
Your opponent will be the one with the closest qualifying time to
yours. If you win the race, you advance to the semi-final round.
Losers will be eliminated.
Semi-Final Round
Two races involving four drivers are held in this round. The winner of
each race will advance to the final round. Losers will be eliminated.
Final Round
Two drivers will race for the event title. The winner is the champion
for that event. The loser is the runner-up.
Race Rules
A vehicle may be disqualified from a race for the following reasons:
- triggering a red light by leaving the starting line too early
- experiencing engine failure
- crossing the center line
- crashing
If one car "red-lights" and the other crosses the center line, the car
that red-lights will be declared the winner since center line crossing
is a more serious offense. By the same reasoning, a crash is more
serious than line crossing and will disqualify you first. If two cars
commit the same foul, the one who gets to the finish line first wins.
If both cars crash, the one that travels the greatest distance wins.
The Pit Area
Each race is preceded by the appearance of the Pit Area screen. It's
here, in the pit, that you're presented with playing options for
entering the race and for fine-tuning your dragster. The options are
designated by icons across the bottom of the screen. Moving the
joystick left or right cycles you through the icons, highlighting them
as you go. When an icon is highlighted you may select it by pressing
the button.
Entering the Race - The Xmas Tree Icon
This is the race icon. Selecting this option puts you at the starting
line of the race, so be prepared to put the pedal to the metal before
you select it. Once you're at the starting line, there's no backing
out. "Xmas Tree" is drag racing parlance for a set of vertically
aligned colored lights used to start the race. It appears to the left
of your dragster and should be observed carefully. A tachometer
appears to the right of your vehicle and should be given equal
attention.
The tachometer will first show a rev to an idle of 2000 rpms as the
Xmas Tree begins with a staging light. Your dragster will then rev to
5000 rpms, and the Xmas Tree will begin counting down the seconds to
the race. Your response time is crucial now, so stay alert. The Xmas
Tree will quickly run through a succession of yellow lights and then
hit green. This is your signal to go by pressing the joystick button.
A race is often won by launching at the precise moment the green light
is given. After that, you tear for the finish line with as much speed
and driving skill as you can muster.
You must shift gears only once during the quarter-mile race, and
you'll need real skill to pick the precise moment to do so. Shifting
is accomplished by pressing the button. Your dragster's engine "red-
lines" at 9500 rpms, and your engine will blow up, costing you the
race, if you don't shift before the tachometer reaches this mark.
However, you must also be careful not to shift too early or you'll
never generate enough horsepower to win.
Steering a 2500-horsepower monster in a straight line for just a
quarter of a mile is going to be more difficult than you might think.
It will probably take some practice before you gain enough skill to
compete against some of the better drivers in this game.
Fine-Tuning Your Dragster
You can increase your chances of winning by fine-tuning various
components of your dragster. These adjustments are made by selecting
other options available on the Pit Area screen. Each of these options
has several settings along with a corresponding calibration. Push the
joystick left and right to cycle through the available settings. Press
the joystick button to select a setting.
Question Mark Icon
This option provides you with track information that's essential in
determining what adjustments to make on your vehicle. The track
information is of such importance that this option is highlighted
automatically whenever the Pit Area screen is accessed. The
information changes continually, so it's best to check it before each
race and adjust your vehicle accordingly. Logic and experience will
dictate what adjustments to make in response to the information.
Clock Icon
Selecting this option allows you to adjust your ignition timing, which
is a critical factor in producing horsepower. The higher the number of
degrees of advance, the more horsepower will be produced. This
introduces a greater possibility of engine failure, though, so set
your timing cautiously.
Fuel Can Icon
Selecting this option allows you to adjust the nitro-methane mixture
used for fuel in your dragster. This very explosive fuel can be made
even more volatile by increasing the percentage of nitro in the mix.
This will produce more power but also increase your chances of engine
failure. If your racing opponent is slow, a low nitro mix may be the
safer way to go.
Clutch Icon
Selecting this option allows you to adjust the clutch on your dragster.
Clutch adjustment allows you to transmit engine power to the rear
wheels in a manner most suitable for the track conditions. If the
track conditions are good, setting the clutch for high grab will cause
the car to accelerate faster. Under slippery track conditions, low
grab may be preferable; power will be transmitted to the rear wheels
more smoothly, decreasing your chance of spinning your wheels.
Tire Icon
Selecting this option allows you to adjust your tire pressure to suit
track conditions. Under slippery conditions, a low tire pressure may
provide more traction. Traction is a product of friction and
resistance, however, so a low tire pressure may also slow you down a
bit, especially on dry pavement. Carefully consider the track
conditions before choosing your tire pressure.
Airplane (Wing) Icon
Selecting this option allows you to make a wing adjustment. The "wing"
is a wing-shaped device located over the rear wheels of the vehicle.
It controls the air's angle of deflection as it passes over the rear
wheels. As the angle of the wing increases, the downward force of air
on the rear wheels increases, resulting in better traction. However,
the amount of drag also increases, which slows the vehicle down a bit.
There is no free lunch in physics. You must decide where the advantage
lies, based on the conditions described in the track information. For
instance, under slippery conditions, you would probably benefit from a
high wing angle as it would keep the wheels from spinning excessively.
Engine Icon
This option allows you to adjust the supercharger speed. A
supercharger is basically a big air pump that forces the air and fuel
mixture into the engine under pressure, greatly increasing engine
performance. Increasing the supercharger speed, and thus the pressure,
increases the amount of horsepower the engine is capable of producing.
However, there is a greater danger of engine failure when too much
pressure is forced into the engine. As with the other vehicle
adjustments, use this one with discretion.
The major factors for determining horsepower are fuel mixture,
ignition timing, and supercharger speed. You'll learn from experience
how to deal with these variables for optimum performance. Besides
losing a race, there are other indications of a badly set-up vehicle.
For example, if you see smoke coming from your wheels in the overhead
view of the race, you may want to set up your dragster differently to
get better traction.
And the Winner Is...
After each race is completed the following information is displayed:
- A Performance Analysis of your driving in that race.
- A Ladder Chart showing the standing of each driver in the event up
to that point.
After each event is completed, the following information is also
displayed:
- An Event Points Chart showing the points awarded to you in that
event.
- An Accumulated Points Chart showing the points each driver has
accumulated up to and including that event.
Performance Analysis
Elapsed Time - your time from starting line to finish line.
Top Speed - the speed you were traveling at the finish line.
Reaction - based on the time elapsed from the moment the Xmas Tree
light turns green until you cross the starting line. If you're slow
crossing the starting line, your opponent may beat you even though his
Elapsed Time is greater and his Top Speed is slower. The winner is the
driver who crosses the finish line first, not the driver with the
fastest time or speed.
Shift - based on how well you shifted gears. Shifting gears too early
does not allow the engine to develop its full potential of horsepower,
which results in a slow Elapsed Time and a poor rating. Waiting too
long to shift will cause the engine to over-rev and result in an
engine failure. Remember, your engine "red-lines" at 9500 rpms.
Power - an indication of how well you set up your engine in the Pit
Area.
Traction - an indication of how well you set up the vehicle in the Pit
Area.
Engine Fail - caused by an improper pit set-up or a bad shift.
Crash - either you hit the wall or the engine exploded during a crash.
Red Light - if you leave the starting line before the light turns
green, you may be disqualified from the race.
At the bottom of your statistics chart a message displayed indicates
whether you're: Qualified, Not Qualified, Disqualified, Eliminated, or
a Winner.
Ladder Chart
At the end of each race a ladder chart appears to illustrate each
driver's standing in that race. If you qualified for the race, your
name will first appear among the eight names listed to the left of the
ladder chart that appears after the qualifying session. Pay close
attention to which driver you're going to race in the first round and
each subsequent round. As you'll learn through experience, some
drivers are faster than others, so you'll want to set up your vehicle
in the Pit Area accordingly.
If you win the subsequent elimination rounds of an event your name
will advance to the right, toward the final round that determines Top
Fuel honors.
Events Points Chart
After each national event is completed an "events points" chart is
displayed. Points are awarded in four categories as follows:
Qualifying Category:
Fastest 8 points
2nd 7 points
3rd 6 points
4th 5 points
5th 4 points
6th 3 points
7th 2 points
8th 1 point
Not Qualified no points
Contestant Category: Each contestant gets 100 points for entering the
event.
Award Category:
Winner 800 points
Runner-Up 600 points
Semi-Finalist 400 points
First Rounder 200 points
Not In Race no points
Season Points Chart
The Season Points Chart is displayed immediately after the Event
Points Chart. It shows the total points each driver has accumulated up
to and including that event.
The End of the Season
At the completion of the nine events Top Fuel Eliminator displays your
standing for the season among all nine drivers. You may then begin a
new season.
Joystick
To start the race (when the green light is illuminated), press the
joystick button. Shift before your tachometer reaches 9500 rpms by
pressing the joystick button. Steer your car by moving the joystick in
the direction you wish to drive - left or right.
