Waku Waku gameplay. Video: YouTube/ashthedragonA super-rare Sonic the Hedgehog arcade game, released only in Japan, might soon be coming to a PC near you. A savvy fan has recently obtained the arcade board and dumped the title online. That means that everyone can play the game with the release of the next MAME arcade simulator.The game, dubbed Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car, was made for kids in 1991 and came with a life-sized car booth, which players 'drive' in. If you weren't in Japan in 1991, however, chances are you've never played the game as it wasn't released in any other format anywhere else in the world. Although the exact sales of the units are unknown, several driving booths have been found scattered across arcade centres in Asia. Any units sold over in the US are auctioned for high prices, but usually don't function that well, if at all.The player slots 100 YEN (80 cents) into the booth and helps Sonic—who adopts a policeman guise —pursue "bad people" and enforce traffic rules and regulations. You'll cruise through choca-bloc streets in pursuit of Dr Eggman who wants to "plough down everyone on the road" by throwing small bombs at them. The end goal is for Sonic to return back to his police station. Points (stars from one to five) are awarded based on how well the player avoided other cruisers on the street, and Eggman's explosives.While it's a title for kids, the game is still a precious piece of Sega history. According to games site Sonic Retro it's one of the "earlier instances of a fully voiced Sonic" early in Sega's life, with Takeshi Kusao providing the voice of Sonic, and Masaharu Sato providing the voice of Dr. Eggman.Cool Japan is a column about the quirky and serious happenings in the Japanese scientific, technological and cultural realms. It covers the unknown, the mainstream, and the otherwise interesting developments in Japan.