RoadBlasters

From Sega Retro

Not to be confused with Data East's Road Blaster.

n/a

RoadBlasters Title.png

RoadBlasters
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Tengen
Developer:
Licensor: Atari Games
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Atari Games
Sound driver: Lisa's Sound Driver[1]
Genre: Racing[2]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥6,800 (7,004)6,800e[3] T-48023
Sega Mega Drive
US
301032-0150
Non-Sega versions

RoadBlasters (ロードブラスターズ), alternatively titled Road Blasters, is an arcade game developed by Atari Games. It was brought to the Sega Mega Drive in 1991. It was not released in Europe.

Gameplay

RoadBlasters is a combat racing game in which the player drives a car armed with a cannon that can be used to destroy enemy vehicles and roadside gun turrets for extra points. The objective is to complete all 50 rallies without running out of fuel. Players can crash as often as they like, but this leads to a loss of fuel, so excessive crashing may make the race unfinishable. Occasionally, a jet flies overhead and drops a special item, which the player can collect by moving under it as it falls. These items have a limited number of uses.

Pressing  START  at the title screen starts the game, while pressing A, B, or C opens an options screen. There are two control schemes. In either scheme, Left and Right steer, Down slows the car, and A shoots the main weapon (and can be held for continuous fire). With control option A (the default), the car accelerates automatically and B or C uses the special weapon. With control option B, the car accelerates with Up or B and C uses the special item. There are three difficulty levels (Easy, Med, and Hard) and two modes (Normal, where the car can be destroyed by collisions, and Practice, where the car is invulnerable).

The car has two fuel tanks: a main tank and a smaller reserve. If the main tank runs empty, the car switches to the reserve tank. 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 (marked by a checkered strip on the road) resets the main tank to the level it had at the start of that rally (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 number of points scored in the rally.

Contact with any enemy, projectile, or obstacle (other than an oil slick) destroys the car, removes any acquired special item, and resets the scoring multiplier to one. Some enemies and obstacles are indestructible (such as mines and roadside turrets). The car 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 car can be destroyed and replaced, but the game ends if both the main and reserve fuel tanks are exhausted. The player can continue as many times as desired during the first 49 rallies but only has one chance to complete the 50th and final one. Completing this rally awards a bonus of one million points and ends the game.

Special items

Special items are dropped from jets that appear occasionally during a rally. Collecting another item replaces the currently equipped item. Items have limited uses and can be carried over to the next rally.

RoadBlasters MD, Special Items, UZ Cannon.png

U.Z. Cannon
A faster-firing gun. Its ammunition is limited and shown by a bar in the bottom center of the screen.

RoadBlasters MD, Special Items, Electro Shield.png

Electro Shield
A barrier that temporarily renders the car invulnerable and able to drive harmlessly through enemies and obstacles after it is activated. It can be used three times.

RoadBlasters MD, Special Items, Nitro Injector.png

Nitro Injector
A speed boost that temporarily increases the max speed of the car from 213 to 298 mph. It can be used three times.

RoadBlasters MD, Special Items, Cruise Missile.png

Cruise Missile
A missile that explodes in a large area, disabling all enemies and hazards in a stretch of road. It does not need to be aimed. It can be used three times.

Regions

Each region contains three rallies. At the beginning of the game, the player can choose to start from Bubble City (rally 1), Forest Sector (rally 4), or Desert Region (rally 11). Starting at a later rally awards bonus points. The player is again given an opportunity to skip ahead after completing rally 14 and every subsequent region until Molten Zone.

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 1.png

Bubble City 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 1.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 2.png

Bubble City 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 2.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 3.png

Bubble City 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 3.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 4.png

Forest Section 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 4.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 5.png

Forest Section 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 5.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 6.png

Forest Section 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 6.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 7.png

Forest Section 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 7.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 8.png

Forest Section 5
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 8.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 9.png

Forest Section 6
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 9.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 10.png

Forest Section 7
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 10.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 11.png

Desert Region 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 11.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 12.png

Desert Region 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 12.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 13.png

Desert Region 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 13.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 14.png

Desert Region 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 14.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 15.png

Ground Zero 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 15.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 16.png

Ground Zero 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 16.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 17.png

Ground Zero 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 17.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 18.png

Ground Zero 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 18.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 19.png

Crystal Palace 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 19.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 20.png

Crystal Palace 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 20.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 21.png

Crystal Palace 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 21.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 22.png

Crystal Palace 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 22.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 23.png

Weapons Factory 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 23.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 24.png

Weapons Factory 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 24.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 25.png

Weapons Factory 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 25.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 26.png

Weapons Factory 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 26.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 27.png

Power Plant 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 27.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 28.png

Power Plant 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 28.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 29.png

Power Plant 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 29.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 30.png

Power Plant 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 30.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 31.png

Science Complex 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 31.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 32.png

Science Complex 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 32.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 33.png

Science Complex 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 33.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 34.png

Science Complex 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 34.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 35.png

Molten Zone 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 35.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 36.png

Molten Zone 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 36.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 37.png

Molten Zone 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 37.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 38.png

Molten Zone 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 38.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 39.png

Ground Zero 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 39.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 40.png

Ground Zero 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 40.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 41.png

Ground Zero 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 41.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 42.png

Ground Zero 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 42.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 43.png

Bubble City 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 43.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 44.png

Bubble City 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 44.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 45.png

Bubble City 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 45.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 46.png

Bubble City 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 46.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 47.png

Sunset Strip 1
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 47.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 48.png

Sunset Strip 2
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 48.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 49.png

Sunset Strip 3
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 49.png

RoadBlasters MD, Stage 50.png

Sunset Strip 4
RoadBlasters MD, Stage 50.png

Versions

On the Mega Drive, RoadBlasters is very similar to its arcade counterpart; however, some palettes are different for unknown reasons, and all digitised speech is missing. The graphics were also altered for the lower resolution display of the Mega Drive console (320x224 versus the arcade's 336x240), but the core gameplay remains intact, and it is generally considered to be amongst the most accurate home conversions of the game.

'July' and 'October' builds of the final retail release exist; differences and release information are unknown.

Production credits

Source:
In-game credits
RoadBlasters MD credits.png
[5]

  • Programming: Sterling Silver Software
  • Audio: Earl Vickers
  • Thanks to: Doug Coward, Jim Hernandez, Mike Klug, Bill Hindorff
Special thanks to the original coin-op team at Atari Games.
  • Illustration, Graphic, & Package Design: Louis Saekow Design
Source:
US manual
RoadBlasters MD US manual.pdf
[6]


Magazine articles

Main article: RoadBlasters/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: RoadBlasters/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
70
[7]
ACE (UK) NTSC-U
50
[8]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
65
[9]
Cool Gamer (RU)
40
[10]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
78
[11]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
55
[12]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
40
[13]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-U
49
[14]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-U
49
[15]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
65
[16]
Mega (UK) NTSC-U
57
[17]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U
72
[18]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC
39
[19]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
70
[20]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
39
[21]
Video Games (DE)
65
[22]
Sega Mega Drive
56
Based on
16 reviews

RoadBlasters

Mega Drive, JP
RoadBlasters MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
RoadBlasters MD JP CartTop.jpg
RoadBlasters MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
RoadBlasters MD JP Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, US
RoadBlasters MD US Box.jpg
Cover
RoadBlasters MD US Made in Japan Cart.jpg
Cart
50x50px
Manual
Mega Drive, US (cardboard)
RoadBlasters MD US CB Box Back.jpgRoadBlasters MD US CB Box Spine.jpgRoadBlasters MD US CB Box Front.jpg
Cover
RoadBlasters MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
RoadBlasters MD US manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

Main article: RoadBlasters/Technical information.

References


RoadBlasters

RoadBlasters Title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Magazine articles | Reception | Promotional material | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs


Sega Mega Drive
Prototypes: 1991-06-27