Rad Racer
Rad Racer, known as Highway Star in Japan, is a racing video game developed and published by Square for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987. In this game, players drive a Ferrari 328 or a generic Formula One racing machine through a racecourse. The game was released in North America and Europe months after its debut. The title became well known for being one of two titles from Square that made use of stereoscopic 3D, which was made possible by wearing a pair of anaglyph glasses. Square president Masafumi Miyamoto initially conceived the game as an opportunity for developer Nasir Gebelli to demonstrate his 3D programming skills. Gebelli developed, and often drew by hand, the graphics for the game's 3D mode.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1987
- Developer
- Square
- Platforms
- 1 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 7 August 1987 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Square |
| Publisher | Square |
| Platforms | Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Genres | Racing |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q2212127, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Rad Racer? How long to beat it
Total play time for Rad Racer is about 10.3 hours to do everything, and around 1.8 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 1.8h | 25 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 3.5h | 1 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 10.3h | 4 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Rad Racer sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Rad Racer lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 39ahead of 2% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 27ahead of 70% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Rad Racer
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Rad Racer appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Rad Racer qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about Rad Racer
What platforms is Rad Racer on?
Rad Racer is available on Nintendo Entertainment System. It first released in 1987.
Who made Rad Racer?
Rad Racer was developed by Square and published by Square.
How long does it take to beat Rad Racer?
about 1.8 hours for the main story, 3.5 hours with the main extras, 10.3 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.