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group=lower-alpha is a 1974 Arcade game racing video game developed and manufactured by Taito and released under the titles Racer and Wheels in North America by distributor Midway Manufacturing in 1975. Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, the gameplay involves the player using the attached steering wheel to maneuver a car alongside a fast vertical scrolling road. The objective is to score points by driving past other cars without colliding with them; more points are awarded for driving faster. Players must do this under a 90-second time limit, which ends the game when it runs out. The gameplay concepts were adapted from two earlier driving electro-mechanical games: Kasco's Mini Drive (1958) and Taito's Super Road 7 (1970).
The original Speed Race and Wheels had an upright arcade cabinet, while Midway's Racer introduced a sit-down cabinet. Taito released an updated version of Speed Race called Speed Race DX in 1975. Two-player versions followed with Midway's Wheels II and Taito's Speed Race Twin.
The game was a worldwide commercial success. Speed Race was a hit in Japan, establishing per play as the standard for arcade games there, while Wheels and Wheels II sold 10,000 in the United States to become the best-selling arcade game of 1975. The Speed Race DX and Wheels versions were also among the top three highest-grossing arcade games of 1976 in Japan and the United States, respectively, while Speed Race DX was Japan's highest-grossing arcade video game of 1977. The game spawned the Speed Race series of arcade racing games. The game's use of vertical scrolling was also influential on later games.
In North America, the game became a hit when it was released by Midway there in 1975. Wheels sold 7,000 and Wheels II sold 3,000 for a combined 10,000 sold in the United States, making it the best-selling arcade game of 1975, according to sales figures provided by Ralph H. Baer. In March 1976, the first annual RePlay arcade chart listed Wheels and Wheels II as the second-highest-grossing arcade game of the previous year in the United States, in terms of coin drop earnings (below Atari's Tank and Tank II), while the Racer version was the year's eighth-highest-grossing arcade video game. In October, RePlay listed Wheels as the third-highest-grossing arcade video game of 1976 in the United States, below Sea Wolf and Gun Fight (both manufactured by Midway).
In Australia, Speed Race was also a major arcade hit. A significant number of arcade cabinets were sold in Australia.
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In Japan, Super Speed Race was among the top ten highest-earning arcade video games of 1977. Speed Race Race V was the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1978, just below Taito's own shoot 'em up hit Space Invaders. Super Speed Race V and Speed Race CL-5 were the fifth and sixth highest-earning arcade games of 1979, respectively. Super Speed Race was then the ninth highest-earning arcade game of 1980.
Titus Software's Automobili Lamborghini (1997) for the Nintendo 64 was later re-branded Super Speed Race 64 for its Japanese release, which was published by Taito in May 1998.
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