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
Release1985: Arcade
1989: 2600,[1] NES
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Up to 2 Players
Arcade systemAtari System 1

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.

Gameplay

Arcade 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. 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

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.

Music

The 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

Atari ST box cover

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

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]

Reviews

References

  1. 1 2 "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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "CVG Magazine Issue 071". September 1987.
  5. ↑ "CVG Magazine Issue 072". October 1987.
  6. ↑ "Commodore User Magazine Issue 41". February 1987.
  7. ↑ http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Generation%204/generation4_numero001/Generation4%20001%20-%20Page%20020%20(1987-Q4).jpg
  8. ↑ "ACE Magazine Issue 26". November 1989.
  9. ↑ "Zzap! 64 Issue 029 (HQ)".
  10. ↑ "Aktueller Software Markt (ASM) Magazine (October 1987)". October 1987.
  11. ↑ "Kultpower Archiv: Komplettscan Happy Computer Spielesonderheft 4 (1986)".
  12. ↑ http://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=1779
  13. ↑ "Commodore User Magazine Issue 47". August 1987.
  14. ↑ "Redirecting".
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