Racer

Racer © 1982 Atari, Inc.

An unreleased prototype.

The player controls an strangely phallic shaped car which they must maneuver around the screen and avoid crashing into the walls. The screen scrolls downward, so you are constantly moving forward. As such there is no gas button, nor is there a brake button. All you can do as hang on and dodge those walls!

At the start of the game, the walls move rather slowly. In fact it is almost impossible to crash into a wall unless you're trying to do it on purpose. However after scoring ten points the game will speed up (this takes about 30 seconds), and the walls will come faster and faster until they become unavoidable to anyone who isn't a Jedi. This usually happens around the fifth speed up.

Each player starts with three lives, with extra lives being awarded every 30 points. There are ten different game variations, each one changing the number of players and the speed at which the game starts. The last two variations are a sort of 'Children's Mode' where the game starts at the slowest speed and never speeds up.

Unlike most Atari 2600 games, Racer offers two player simultaneous play. In the two player variations you and a friend square off against one another in an attempt to get the highest score. Each player can stay on their side of the screen and try to beat the other player purely based on skill, but why would you want to do that? The best part of Racer is that you can bang and crash into the other player, forcing them into the oncoming walls. Of course the other player can do the exact same thing back to you, so be careful. Careful strategy is needed when deciding what the right time is to ram you car into the other player.