Road Runner (video game)

Road Runner

Arcade flyer of Road Runner.
Developer(s) Atari Games
Publisher(s) Atari Games
Composer(s) Hal Canon & Earl Vickers (Arcade version), Gavan Anderson & Tania Smith (NES version)
Platform(s) Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, NES
Release date(s) 1985
Genre(s) Platform game
Mode(s) Up to 2 Players
Distribution Cartridge
Arcade system Atari System 1
CPU 68010
Sound 6502A (main sound)
YM2151 (FM stereo sound)
Display Raster, 336 x 240, horizontal orientation

Road Runner is a variant of the platformer genre, based on the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts. It was developed and released by Atari Games in 1985.

Gameplay

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 the 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.

Screenshot of Road Runner (arcade version).

Ports

Front cover of Atari ST version.

Road Runner was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and NES. Like other NES games released by Tengen, the NES version of Road Runner was released in an unlicensed cartridge.

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.[1] The game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Exolon.[2]

References

  1. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (December 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (140): 74–79.
  2. http://ysrnry.co.uk/ys23.htm

External links

Arcade

Ports