1st May 1991
Road Runner
The cartoon that went to violent extremes (particularly for the Coyote) turned out to be a surprise coin-op hit of yesteryear.
In the usual Road Runner cartoon style, Wile E. Coyote is on the prowl for lunch, which just happens to take the form of a 100mph Road Runner tearing through the desert.
Taking on the persona of RR himself, you find it no problem to outrun Wile E normally, but thanks to Acme the dastardly wolf is getting hold of stuff such as a pogo stick, jet rocket and rocket-powered skateboard to even things up. Twelve tortuous maze-type levels makes up the rather repetitive challenge although cannons, rockfalls and traffic are thrown in for variety.
The game was greeted with mixed opinions way back in Issue 29 (69% tape, 74% disk). As well as liking the cartoon-style music, Steve Jarratt appreciated the sprites "which are superbly animated and have heaps of humour". Indeed, the game looks like the cartoon and a *lot* like the coin-op, a definite plus point given the simplistic gameplay. The main gripe for the reviewers then, was the appallingly long-winded tape multi-load which Steve remarked was "one of the worst I've seen, practically crippling an otherwise fun game".
The disk version is much better, and although the gameplay is still simplistic and repetitive, it's fun for a while.
Screenshots
