“In the distant future, the Ultimate Race will occur. Half road race and half battle, this will be the final contest between good and evil; a combat zone survival exercise. It will be called . . . Roadblasters”
This combat road racing game was released in arcades by Atari Games in 1987.
In RoadBlasters, the player must navigate an armed sports car through 50 different rally races, getting to the finish line before running out of fuel. The car is equipped with a cannon that can be used to destroy enemy vehicles and roadside gun turrets for extra points.
A helicopter occasionally flies overhead and drops a power-up item, which the player can pick up.
The player also encounters indestructible obstacles consisting of mines, boulders, floating “spiker” balls, and oil slicks, the last of which will cause the player to lose control for a moment if hit.
The player’s car has two fuel tanks, a main tank and a smaller reserve. If the main tank runs empty at any time, the car begins to use its reserve. Red (dropped by enemies destroyed from a distance) and green (appearing at specific milestones) globes on the road add small amounts of fuel to the main tank when picked up.
Reaching the halfway point of a rally resets the main tank to the level it had at the start of that stage, but does not affect the reserve.
At the end of each rally, the main tank is refilled, and fuel is added to the reserve based on the points scored in that stage.
Contact with any enemy, projectile, or obstacle other than an oil slick destroys the player’s car. The player loses a small amount of fuel while a replacement car is put on the road. There is no limit to the number of times that the player’s car can be destroyed and replaced – the game only ends when both the main and reserve fuel tanks are exhausted.
The player may continue as many times as desired during the first 49 rallies but is given only one chance to play the 50th and final one.
Completing this rally awards a bonus of one million points and ends the game.
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A helicopter occasionally flies overhead and drops a power-up item, which the player can pick up.
