Road Runner (video game)

Road Runner a racing game based on the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts. It was released by Atari Games in 1985.

Road Runner
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Atari Games
Publisher(s)Atari Games
Atari Corporation (2600)
Tengen (NES)
US Gold (ST)
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
Release1985: Arcade
1989: 2600,[1] NES
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Up to 2 Players
Arcade systemAtari System 1
CPU68010
Sound6502A
YM2151 (FM stereo sound)
DisplayRaster, 336 x 240, horizontal orientation

Gameplay
Arcade version screenshot.

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. Sometimes Wile E. Coyote will just run after the Road Runner, but he occasionally uses tools like rockets, roller skates, and pogo-sticks.

Development

Originally, the game was going to use laserdisc technology for the backgrounds and road. When the player died in the game, one of many cartoon death sequences taken from the original shorts would have shown. The game was going to be released in 1984, but Atari decided to cancel the game. The game was eventually released in 1985, but this version was a modified version. The laserdisc cutscenes were taken out of the final game, and the road and backgrounds were changed to computer-generated graphics. The prototype cabinet was eventually found, and it is now playable at California Extreme.

Ports
Atari ST cover

Road Runner was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Sinclair 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 rounding Nintendo's protections.

Reception

The 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]

References
  1. "Atari 2600 VCS Road Runner". Atari Mania.
  2. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (December 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (140): 74–79.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-17. Retrieved 2014-06-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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