Sunset Drive

Drive a top-down-into-the-distance convertible through a series of scenic stages. Weave between slower traffic, pick a route at each fork in the road, and reach each checkpoint before the timer expires.

• Steer through curves and weave around traffic
• Choose your path at branching forks
• Shift gears for acceleration and top speed
• Reach checkpoints before time runs out

• Desktop: arrows or A / D to steer, Up / Down to throttle and brake, Shift or Space to change gear (low/high); steer toward a fork to choose it
• Phone & tablet: tap controls supported on touch devices

• Daily challenge route
• Practice mode
• Easy, Normal and Hard difficulty

• Drop to low gear for snappy weaving in heavy traffic, high gear on open road
• Commit to a fork early so you're already in the right lane
• Brake before a curve rather than scrubbing speed inside it

Sunset Drive harks back to OutRun, released by Sega in 1986 and designed by Yu Suzuki, who researched it by driving across Europe.

It is not really a race. There are no opponents to beat, only a clock and traffic, and at the end of each stage the road forks and you choose — routes leading to five different destinations, which made it a game about routes rather than laps. You pick your music from an in-car radio before starting, one of the first games to ask, and the deluxe cabinet moved with the car.

Sunset Drive is an original free browser take on the classic branching-route arcade racer, with daily and practice modes. Play instantly, no install.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.