Overview
RoadBlasters is a 1987 rally-racing shooter by Atari. Players must collect enough fuel to make it through 50 levels.
Gameplay
The player controls an armed vehicle through 50 "worlds" (tracks). A number of enemies including vehicles, obstacles, and road-side cannons impede progress, but the player may "die" an unlimited number of times. Progression is dependent upon acquiring "fuel globes"; when the player is out of gas, gameplay ends.
Checkpoints, killing enemies, and progressing through worlds provide additional fuel. Moreover, in some versions (the original Arcade, and certain ports/remakes) allow the player to begin on a higher level with higher fuel and score multipliers.
Occasionally, a special weapon, such as a cruise missile launcher, are dropped from a friendly aircraft. If the player catches the special weapon, a limited number of uses are available.
The arcade cabinet features stereo sound, and digitized voice. Both upright and sit-down cabinets were made.
Cultural Impact
The original release of RoadBlasters included a Match Box toys tie-in. Additionally, a player getting to the end of the game (including when continuing using additional quarters) would be given a "secret code" which could be sent to Atari for a free T-Shirt. This promotion ended in 1987.
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