Road Runner is a racing video game based on the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts. It was released in arcades by Atari Games in 1985.
| Road Runner | |
|---|---|
 Arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Atari Games Beam Software (NES) |
| Publisher(s) | Atari Games Atari Corporation (2600) Tengen (NES) US Gold (ST) |
| Director(s) | Mike Hally |
| Producer(s) | Norm Avellar Greg Rivera |
| Programmer(s) | Norm Avellar Greg Rivera |
| Artist(s) | Susan McBride Sam Comstock Mark West |
| Composer(s) | Arcade Hal Canon Earl Vickers NES Gavan Anderson Tania Smith |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, NES |
| Release | 1985: Arcade 1989: 2600,[1] NES |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 Players |
| Arcade system | Atari System 1 |
Gameplay
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The player controls Road Runner, who is chased by Wile E. Coyote. In order to escape, Road Runner runs endlessly to the left. While avoiding Wile E. Coyote, the player must pick up bird seeds on the street, avoid obstacles like cars, and get through mazes. Most of the time Wile E. Coyote will just run after the Road Runner, but he occasionally uses tools like rockets, roller skates, and pogo sticks.
Development
editOriginally, the game was set to be released as a LaserDisc game, with the game's graphics being overlaid over video footage showing the road and background scenery. Whenever the player managed to outwit the Coyote - such as tricking him into running off a cliff - a sequence from one of the original Road Runner shorts showing that exact situation would be played.
The game was going to be released in 1984, but Atari decided to cancel the game. In 1985, the game was released by Atari Games as a traditional video game. In the released game, all of the original LaserDisc-based elements were either removed or replaced with computer-generated graphics.
One prototype cabinet of this original LaserDisc version is known to still exist, and occasionally appears at arcade collector's conventions such as California Extreme.
Music
editThe background music during attract mode and 4th level is "Sabre Dance" from Gayane by Aram Khachaturian, the 1st level music is "William Tell Overture" by Gioachino Rossini, 2nd level music is "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and 3rd level is "Trepak" from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Ports
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Road Runner was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, and Nintendo Entertainment System. The Atari 2600 port was one of Atari Corporation's last games for the system, being released in 1989.[1]
Like other NES games released by Tengen, Road Runner was unlicensed by Nintendo itself, released as an unlicensed cartridge avoiding Nintendo's protections. It was planning on to be released in a licensed version by Mindscape, but it was scrapped in the fall of 1989.
Reception
editThe game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon #140 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.[2] The game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Exolon.[3]
Reviews
edit- Computer and Video Games (CVG) (Sep, 1987)[4]
- Computer and Video Games (CVG) (Oct, 1987)[5]
- Commodore User (Feb, 1987)[6]
- Génération 4 (1987)[7]
- ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) (Nov, 1989)[8]
- Zzap! (Sep, 1987)[9]
- ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) (Sep, 1987)[10]
- Happy Computer (1986)[11]
- Happy Computer (Jul, 1987)[12]
- Commodore User (Aug, 1987)[13]
- Commodore Force (Aug, 1993)[14]
References
edit- ^ a b "Atari 2600 VCS Road Runner". Atari Mania.
- ^ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (December 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (140): 74–79.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-17. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "CVG Magazine Issue 071". September 1987.
- ^ "CVG Magazine Issue 072". October 1987.
- ^ "Commodore User Magazine Issue 41". February 1987.
- ^ http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Generation%204/generation4_numero001/Generation4%20001%20-%20Page%20020%20(1987-Q4).jpg [bare URL image file]
- ^ "ACE Magazine Issue 26". November 1989.
- ^ "Zzap! 64 Issue 029 (HQ)".
- ^ "Aktueller Software Markt (ASM) Magazine (October 1987)". October 1987.
- ^ "Kultpower Archiv: Komplettscan Happy Computer Spielesonderheft 4 (1986)".
- ^ http://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=1779 [bare URL]
- ^ "Commodore User Magazine Issue 47". August 1987.
- ^ "Redirecting".
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External links
edit- Road Runner at the Killer List of Videogames
- Road Runner at the Arcade History database
- Road Runner at the Arcade Flyer Archive
- Road Runner at Atari Mania
- Road Runner at SpectrumComputing.co.uk