team of employees led by Minoru Sashida, a designer that was known for his work on redemption games and mechanical prize-winning machines; Sashida used the knowledge he gained from these while developing Techno Drive. Sashida worked primarily on the game's graphical interface, which features bold, fluorescent color choices and flat-shaded polygons. Techno Drive was designed to be vastly different and distinct from Namco's previous racing game offerings, such as Ridge Racer (1993), and appealing towards a wide player demographic. The upbeat electronic soundtrack was composed by Koji Nakagawa, who later went on to compose the music for Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (1999). Techno Drive was demonstrated at the 1998 Amusement Operator's Union (AOU) tradeshow at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Tokyo, alongside games such as Ehrgeiz, Time Crisis II, and Panic Park. Its original concept attracted attention from publications. The game was published on July 1, 1998 in Japan. Reception and legacy Game Machine listed Techno Drive as being the third most popular arcade game of August 1998. A reviewer for Edge described Techno Drive as being a "complete and drastic departure for Namco", and a game that distinguished itself from most other racing arcade games with its futuristic presentation and vastly-different gameplay structure. The reviewer said that it drastically departs from the real-world setting of Namco's previous racing games, such as the Ridge Racer series, and as such made it an intriguing title. Staff from Next Generation believed that Techno Drive possessed the same amount of innovation as Soulcalibur, which was released in the same time frame. They admired the game's stylized graphics, which they took as "a concession to the real meat of the game: technical driving ability". Staff also expressed disappointment towards the lack of any kind of home release. A writer for the Italian publication MegaConsole enjoyed Techno Drive for its immersive techno atmosphere and printer feature. Console Plus writers found Techno Drive to be an aesthetically-pleasing arcade game, and its unique concept made it stand out from other titles. Max Krieger, the creator of the puzzle game CROSSNIQ+, credits Techno Drive for inspiring most of the look and presentation used in his game. A song from the game appears as a playable track in the Nintendo Switch game Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!. The music used for the Footwork Technique minigames was played live at Ridge Racer Night 2, a concert hosted to