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Side by Side 2 Evoluzione

Side by Side 2 Evoluzione logo

"Nice to see ya again."

The second game in the series, releasing in May 1997 in Japan with the RR update releasing several months later.

Note

If you are emulating any Taito JC System game in MAME, you should be running version 0.266 with -cheat switch and overclock the maincpu, sub, and dsp CPUs to at least 200%. Properly overclocked, it should run like this. Currently, Taito JC games suffer from a slowdown due to imperfect CPU emulation. Starting from version 0.267, changes in Motorola 68000 FPU emulation has made the performance worse, even overclocked.
It is also recommended to set the master volume in Sound Test to maximum, as the default volume can be very quiet.

WIP

Builds

Build Tag Language/Region Dump Status Notes
Unknown Japanese, original Undumped Earlier builds are known to exist with swapped month labels for the Professional (July) and Ace Driver (October) courses, as shown on the flyer, although they were either location testing or internal use builds. Although this mistake was fixed for all known arcade versions, it was never fixed in any version of Side by Side Special.
SIDE BY SIDE2 VER 2.4 J 1997/ 5/26 3:06:37 Japanese, original In MAME (sidebs2ja) Earliest known base Japanese version. This build has the month labels for the July and October tracks in the correct position. Added in MAME version 0.124u2.
SIDE BY SIDE2 VER 2.6 OK 1997/ 6/ 4 17:27:37 English In MAME (sidebs2) International English version; K in region tag probably means South Korea ("Overseas + Korea"?) Honda cars are available, but trim badges were removed from them. A cabinet with this ROM has not been spotted in the wild, although PCBs do exist given how it is dumped and present in MAME (since version 0.175).
SIDE BY SIDE2 VER 2.6 A 1997/ 6/19 09:39:22 English, US In MAME (sidebs2u) US English version with Honda cars disabled (an issue not mentioned in the flyer) and "Winners Don't Use Drugs"/"Recycle It, Don't Trash It" PSAs. It is unknown how many cabinets were actually distributed with this ROM as the game is not mentioned in the US list of the 2005 edition of Domestic and Overseas Arcade Game List, but PCBs do exist. Added in MAME version 0.81u4; despite the rarity, this version was the first one to be dumped and added to MAME.
SIDE BY SIDE2 RR VER 3.1 J 1997/10/ 7 13:55:38 Japanese, RR In MAME (sidebs2j) Evoluzione RR update, only released for the Japanese version. Adds reverse courses (shift when selecting cars) and post-race replays, adjusts shift points for AT users, and more. Most known cabinets are of this revision, either as purchased from an arcade distributor or originally upgraded through ROM upgrade kit. Added in MAME version 0.181.

Cabinets

WIP

Cars

See the SBS2 Cars page.

Tracks

See the SBS Tracks page.

Tip

For non-RR versions only, hold View button after coining up to temporaily unlock the Special (22:00) course, if the track has not yet been permanently unlocked. (Getting a high score will unlock the track permanently; the track is also unlocked by default in the RR revision.)
If the track is already unlocked (including if playing on RR revision), the course will be chosen automatically instead of the April course.

Version Differences

English Versions

There are two English versions of the game, one with region OK (international) and the other with region A (US). The OK version has Honda cars enabled, but without SiR trim labels. The A version has them disabled, with the Legacy and Levin being selectable by default instead. Both versions also have the "Evoluzione" subtitle removed from the game's branding. Note that, in the A version where the Honda cars are disabled, the Civic and CR-X logos in the car selection screen is left unchanged.

Otherwise, both are identical to the Japanese non-RR revision. The RR revision does carry one thing from the US English non-RR revision, the different LAN test screen during POST/startup (on original Japanese and international English versions it goes AE86 Levin, AE86 Trueno, CR-X, and Civic; in the US English and Japanese RR version, it goes R32 GT-R, FD RX-7, Impreza, and Lancer).

It is unknown how many cabinets are out there with either ROM installed, other than from PCBs where the dumps originate.

Side by Side 2 Evoluzione RR

In late 1997, Taito released an update to the original game in form of ROM upgrade kit for owners of the original revision of the game. (It might be also possible that later production runs of the game already have the RR update installed, as most installations tend to have the update installed.) Cabinets with the RR update are distinguished with a sticker indicating the new features on the cabinet marquee (Reverse and Replay), although some cabinets may not have them installed. The game's title screen is also updated with the "RR" letters.

This update adds the following features:

  • Reverse courses, selectable by shifting up/down when selecting a track. Lap records for both layouts are also seperated.
  • Post-race replays if the player finishes (regardless of finishing position). Pressing the view button will end the replay, while view can be changed by shifting gears.
  • The Special/22:00 course is unlocked by default, without need to hold view button after coining up (temporary) or registering a top ranking record (permanent).
  • The AE86s (Trueno and Levin) now have six-speed transmission. (This results in the AT/MT indicator no longer being available when driving either, however.)
  • CPU difficulty has been adjusted.

Others

  • Side by Side 2 (and Side by Side Special) are the only games in the series without an interior view (although the first Side by Side's "interior" view is just a hood overlaid on a higher bumper camera). Instead, a higher chase camera is present.
  • When in attract demo, pressing the View Change button will change the currently focused car.
  • When selecting a track, holding the View Change button will race with only player car(s) on the grid (called "Deathmatch" in the English versions).
  • When selecting a car, pressing the View Change button will change the music.
  • Available lap configurations in test mode (Configuration ➡️ Lap): (All races on SBS2 tracks in Side by Side Special follow "B" configuration, the default setting, as that game lacks the option to set how long races can be.)
Lap April March/July October
A 3 2 1
B 5 3 2
C 6 4 2
D 8 5 3
E 10 5 3
F 10 10 10

Warning

All cabinets must have the same amount of laps set if they are linked, or the game's multiplayer will break where the player(s) playing on the cabinet with less laps set will always win the race.