Trailblazer (video game)

Trailblazer

Commodore 64/128 cover art
Developer(s) Mr. Chip
Publisher(s) Gremlin Graphics
Mindscape
Gizmondo
Designer(s) Shaun Hollingworth, Peter M. Harrap, Chris Kerry
Platform(s) Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, C64, Amiga, Atari ST, Gizmondo, PlayStation Portable, MSX, ZX Spectrum, C16 and plus/4
Release 1986 (original)
October 2, 2005 (Gizmondo)
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Single player
A jumping field has been hit

Trailblazer is a video game that requires the player to direct a ball along a series of suspended passages. Released originally by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, Amstrad CPC and C16/plus/4 in 1986 (there was also an enhanced version on Amstrad CPC 3" disc). It was ported to the Amiga and Atari ST.

In 2005 a port to the Gizmondo handheld games console was released.[1]

Gameplay

The game can be played either in time trial or arcade mode. The music in the background matches the gameplay with its electronica genre. Races are quite brief and usually last between 15 and 45 seconds. Special fields on the track let the ball jump, slow down, speed up or warp speed the ball, invert the controls or are holes.

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon #158 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column, as part of the Mastertronic MEGA Pack of 10 games previously released in Europe. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars, stating "Our favorite on this disk; racing on Cosmic Causeway roads against the clock or against a robot. This one was really fun".[2]

Zzap!64's reviewers also enjoyed the game which they thought was "an excellent variation on the race game theme". The overall rating given was 93%.[3]

Steve Panak, reviewing the Atari 8-bit version for ANALOG Computing, concluded "the game is the most original arcade action wristbuster to come down the pike in a long time, and one of the best two-player competition games I've seen."[4]

References

  1. ↑ Retro Gamer, issue 76. The making of Trailblazer (pages 86-89).
  2. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (June 1990). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (158): 47–54.
  3. ↑ http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaypage.pl?issue=020&page=173&magazine=zzap
  4. ↑ Panak, Steve (April 1988). "Panak Strikes". ANALOG Computing (59): 55.


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