🎮 Play Lethal Crash Race Set 2 Online (Arcade)

Lethal Crash Race is a vertically-scrolling combat racer that Video System put out in Japanese arcades in 1993 under the title Bakuretsu Crash Race (“Exploding Crash Race”). This post runs the Set 2 ROM revision — the same eight-driver roster and race structure as the original arcade release, just a different MAME dump of the board. Pick one of eight international drivers, each behind the wheel of a punningly-renamed supercar knockoff like the Dadge Vipre or Lanborjini Daiblo, and race one-on-one down a single lane against the rest of the cast — plus a recolored version of your own car — across a course themed to each rival’s home country.

How to play

There’s no lap counter to watch: just get to the finish line before your opponent does. You’ll spend almost the whole race with your foot down — braking barely matters — and win by steering into rivals to knock them into roadside hazards like furniture, buildings and swamps, since a collision slows your car without stopping it dead. Keep an eye on your damage bar too: take enough hits and your car explodes, though repair items scattered along the track can patch it back up.

Controls: Arrow keys steer, Z accelerates, X brakes, Enter starts a race, and Shift inserts a coin. The cabinet also had a horn button for showmanship, purely cosmetic and with no effect on the race.

Tips

• Hold accelerate for almost the entire race — the brake is there but rarely worth using.
• Nudge opponents toward the roadside rather than ramming head-on; knocking them into scenery costs them more speed than it costs you.
• Grab repair items when you spot them, especially before a stretch you know is full of obstacles, since running your damage bar to zero ends the race in an explosion.