Radar Rat Race

Radar Rat Race
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Commodore
Designer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Engine	Custom
Platform(s)	VIC-20, MAX Machine, Commodore 64
Release date(s)	1981
Genre(s)	Maze
Mode(s)	Single player

Radar Rat Race (レーダーラットレース, Rēdā Ratto Rēsu) was a 1981 game made by HAL Laboratory for the Commodore VIC-1001, later converted to the Commodore MAX Machine. It was rereleased for VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

It was among thirty game titles marketed by Commodore on cartridges. It was a clone of the Namco arcade game Rally-X. It was originally released as Rally-X (ラリーX) from Commodore Japan K.K. in Japan.

Overview

The player guides a mouse through a large maze. The camera follows the mouse and shows only a small portion of the maze at any given time. The player is pursued by at least three rats. The goal is to eat all of the pieces of cheese, shown for the entire maze on a radar screen, without getting caught by a rat or bumping into a stationary cat. By pressing the joystick button, the mouse can disperse a limited amount of magical dust (called "star screen") which confuses the rats for about five seconds.

Once the round is complete, the game starts again, with more rats and faster play.

The gameplay is accompanied by a frenetic, rhythmically altered version of a phrase from Three Blind Mice, which cycles endlessly.

Released as Cartridge number VIC-1910 for the Commodore Vic20