I Wanted One Of These So Bad When I Was A Kid!!
Kenner Red Line (1980, LED, 2 9 Volts, Model# 40290)
U. S. Patent # 4,373,722
Basically a drag race simulator. There are two sets of LED digits, one represents the gear you are in, and the other is either your RPM, estimated race time or MPH (top speed I assume), depending on the mode you are in. To start the race, you hold down start and press Gear, and then you try to complete a race with best time possible without blowing your engine. When you first turn on the game (or switch a racing class) it will display your top RPM. After the race is over, second set of digits will then show your time and top speed. There's probably more to it than that, but that's basically how it works.
There is a jack on the bottom of this game that is used to connect it to another Red Line so you can play 'head to head' with another player. I believe this is the first game to feature that kind of connectivity for dual player action. The countdown to start the race will commence after both players have pressed Start/Gear (I believe that's how it works, never actually got a chance to test this out...)
There is a test mode on this game that is entered by holding down Gear and Gas at the same time while turning the game on. It will then light all the LEDs one at a time, and then cycling through 0-9 on all of the digit displays. It will then sit with the Gear and the RPM digit lit. The Gear digit tests the logic of racing class knob (if it's at 'Stock', the Gear display will show 1, 'Modified' will show 2, 'Funny Car' will show 4 and 'Top Fuel' will show 8 (it's counting in binary)). The RPM digit is for testing the buttons. With none pressed, it should show '0,' Start button = 1, Gas = 4 and Gear = 8. Pressing different combinations of buttons will display sums of the button values (but anything above 9 is shown as a weird digit and one of the yellow LEDs lighting up.)
Who am I kiddin', I STILL WANT ONE!!
Kenner Red Line (1980, LED, 2 9 Volts, Model# 40290)
U. S. Patent # 4,373,722
Basically a drag race simulator. There are two sets of LED digits, one represents the gear you are in, and the other is either your RPM, estimated race time or MPH (top speed I assume), depending on the mode you are in. To start the race, you hold down start and press Gear, and then you try to complete a race with best time possible without blowing your engine. When you first turn on the game (or switch a racing class) it will display your top RPM. After the race is over, second set of digits will then show your time and top speed. There's probably more to it than that, but that's basically how it works.
There is a jack on the bottom of this game that is used to connect it to another Red Line so you can play 'head to head' with another player. I believe this is the first game to feature that kind of connectivity for dual player action. The countdown to start the race will commence after both players have pressed Start/Gear (I believe that's how it works, never actually got a chance to test this out...)
There is a test mode on this game that is entered by holding down Gear and Gas at the same time while turning the game on. It will then light all the LEDs one at a time, and then cycling through 0-9 on all of the digit displays. It will then sit with the Gear and the RPM digit lit. The Gear digit tests the logic of racing class knob (if it's at 'Stock', the Gear display will show 1, 'Modified' will show 2, 'Funny Car' will show 4 and 'Top Fuel' will show 8 (it's counting in binary)). The RPM digit is for testing the buttons. With none pressed, it should show '0,' Start button = 1, Gas = 4 and Gear = 8. Pressing different combinations of buttons will display sums of the button values (but anything above 9 is shown as a weird digit and one of the yellow LEDs lighting up.)
Who am I kiddin', I STILL WANT ONE!!