ThemeParkPriest
Wacky Races—a 1968 Hanna-Barbera racing cartoon that never takes itself too seriously—is the inspiration for the H-B Ultimate Arcade’s main racing game. In the show, the zany racers travel to different locales. It always happens that Dick Dasterdly and Muttley think that they are going to win (but they never do).
Wacky Accelerated Racing (hereafter: “Wacky AR”) is a racing game that mixes Mario Kart Live with Sega Super Sprint (a Remote Control car race that is controlled by players in a traditional-style racing arcade machine; see YouTube video). The outside of each arcade machine where guests control the RC cars is made to look like a stylized version of the vehicle from the show. All cabinets have force feedback, a motion simulator base, and a fan (to simulate speed). There is a video camera on each car so that the player feels like he is in the car itself. Having the physical track layout allows spectators to watch the race.
The Wacky AR vehicles resemble the Mario Kart Live vehicles (relatively small and particularized to the character and vehicle). The Wacky AR vehicles are bigger than the Mario Kart Live vehicles to provide for better motors and internal parts; after all, these vehicles will be operating for several hours each day. Three copies of each vehicle will be made so that if one needs repairs or is charging that there would be at least one version available for each of the vehicles. Below are the Wacky Races vehicles that are in play (with the characters who drive them) in the order that the cabinets are laid out in the racing area:
The Boulder Mobile #1 (the Slag Brothers)
The Army Surplus Special #6 (Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly)
The Buzzwagon #10 (Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth)
The Arkansas Chuggabug #8 (Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear)
The Creepy Coupe #2 (The Gruesome Twosome)
The Bulletproof Bomb or The Roaring Plenty #7 (The Ant Hill Mob)
The Crimson Haybaler #4 (The Red Max)
The Convert-A-Car #3 (Professor Pat Pending)
The Turbo Terrific or The Varoom Roadster #9 (Peter Perfect)
The Compact Pussycat #5 (Penelope Pitstop)
Not playable by guests but found in the augmented reality:
The Mean Machine #00 (Dick Dastardly and Muttley)
The layout of the race track is shown here. The pathway is lined with padded boards. A race consists of 3 laps. At the start of the race, the announcer is heard saying, “We are here to crown the World’s Wackiest Racer...Three...two...one...and they’re off!” During the race, players collect tokens that allow them to use their vehicle’s special ability to get ahead of other racers. There are also tokens that give them defense against other vehicles’ abilities. When a vehicle is “attacked” by another vehicle, the vehicle comes to a stop on the physical course (meanwhile on the screen, the vehicle spins out). The Mean Machine always takes the lead in Lap 3. Near the Finish Line is a model of the Mean Machine. When the lead racer of those actually playing the game approaches, the Mean Machine tries to take out the other vehicle (sometimes through a laser, other times a hammer, etc.) but it backfires and destroys the Mean Machine. On the physical track, a red spotlight focuses on the Mean Machine. Both players and spectators hear Dasterdly shout, “Muttley! Do something!” The first vehicle to cross the Finish Line (after 3 laps) is declared the “World’s Wackiest Racer.” The vehicles automatically come to a stop shortly after the Finish Line so that it is easier for the staff member to re-set for the next race.