Street Racer was one of nine games available at the time of the Atari 2600’s launch. It was created by programmer Larry Kaplan, who is best known for being one of the five co-founders of Activision, and for designing and programming the 1981 hit game Kaboom! (also for the Atari 2600). Kaplan has since stated how disappointed he was with the way Street Racer turned out, suggesting it “lacks good game play” and says it would have been much better if he’d been able to make a smooth-scrolling playfield as he’d intended. So while I was excited to play a video game for the blog, I prepared my Stella emulation software for Street Racer with more than a hint of trepidation.
Larry Kaplan: Was mistaken for Stephen Spielburg at the E.T. Premiere. No, seriously!
Image Credit: An interview with Larry at Digit Press
An ad for Street Racer in an early Atari catalogue.
Image Credit: Atari Age
As with many Atari 2600 releases, Street Racer was marketed as being 27 games in 1. The truth is that the 27 listed are really just variations of 6 different games, and even those play in very similar ways. The game is controlled using the Atari paddles, and allows for up to four simultaneous players. There are quite a few strictly multiplayer Atari 2600 games (such as Combat) that I will be covering for RetroSmack.. For those I plan to coax my wonderfully understanding, non-gamer wife into playing alongside me so that I get an accurate feel for them. For games that merely offer a multiplayer option, I’ll be going solo. Street Racer fits into the latter category.
27 Video Games? That’s really stretching the truth.
Image Credit: Atari Age
Games 1-6: Street Racer
The first six games on the cartridge are variations of Street Racer. The idea is simple: gain points by passing cars on the race track. Twisting the knob on the paddle moves your car from side to side, while the button acts as an accelerator. The faster you go, the more cars you can pass, but the more likely you are to hit one, bringing your car to an abrupt stop. The six variations are One Player, Two Players, Three Players, Four Players, Two Players with Increased Traffic, and finally Four Players with Increased Traffic. I spent time playing both the One Player option and the Two Players with Increased Traffic variation.
Street Racer: Larry seems to have made the blue obstacle cars bigger than the player’s car in an attempt to make it difficult.
To my astonishment, the One Player option involves racing a computer controlled opponent that doesn’t even bother to steer (unless the Stella emulation screws the AI)! It just accelerates to maximum speed, passing cars through luck rather than any artificial intelligence (it’s the same for all the One Player variants for all games on the cartridge, so I won’t bother repeating myself). As with all the variants, the game ends when either a player reaches 99 or two minutes and 16 seconds has passed. I have no idea why two minutes and 16 seconds was the chosen time limit, but I do know that the player is alerted that there are less than 16 seconds left when the scores start flashing. I was able to reach 99 pretty easily, despite having a few collisions on the way due to cars swinging wildly towards me. The Increased Traffic variant made avoiding collisions much tougher, since there were two cars to dodge on the screen at all times, but it also meant that I reached 99 in half the time.
Street Racer: Notice there are two cars coming my way in this screenshot. That’s the only difference between games 01 and 05.
Games 7-12: Slalom
The second game has a very similar format to the first. The variations are exactly the same, with the only difference being that the player is now tasked with passing their skier through gates rather than dodging vehicles in a car. Despite very similar gameplay, I found Slalom to be much more enjoyable. It’s actually quite challenging to move the skier into the right positions to pass through the gates, and downright difficult in the Increased Traffic variant. It’s a great showcase for the Atari paddle controllers, which give the player very precise control (it would be much more difficult with a joystick or mouse). With a little bit of practice I was able to pass through all but a couple of gates on the harder variant, feeling like a champion in the process!
Slalom: At least Slalom required skill and nerve to succeed at.
Games 13-16: Dodgem
As the name suggests, Dodgem asks the player to dodge obstacles that are bouncing across the track diagonally. There are only four variants for this one, being One Player, Two Players, One Player with Increased Obstacles and Two Players with Increased Obstacles. Unlike Street Racer, where the player’s vehicle stays positioned at the base of the screen, the car in Dodgem moves up the screen vertically, eventually leaving the top and reappearing at the bottom. This aspect makes survival very difficult, as its very easy to run into obstacles just as they are appearing at the top or just as your own car is reappearing at the bottom. Unlike Slalom, the challenge on offer is not a fun one though, and I was very thankful when it was over.
Dodgem: After noticing how successful the computer opponent was when driving straight ahead, I copied the tactic with just as much success.
Games 17-20: Jet Shooter
Jet Shooter has to be one of the easiest games I’ve ever played, even when the Increased Traffic option is selected. It involves firing missiles at oncoming enemy aircraft, and has the same four variants as Dodgem. Since the oncoming aircrafts move in straight lines, not bothering to dodge or move side to side in anyway, winning the game involves nothing more than moving in front of each enemy and pressing the fire button. Repeat until you’ve hit 99. Incredibly unsatisfying, and watching the computer opponent flying straight ahead and firing missiles at nothing makes me feel very thankful for the incredible AI found in modern games.
Jet Shooter: This really shouldn’t be considered a game, since there’s no challenge at all.
Games 21-24: Number Cruncher
Number Cruncher at first appeared to be an interesting idea. Instead of dodging obstacles, the player is now asked to drive their motorcycle straight into oncoming numbers. Hitting numbers head on causing that number to be added to your total, so if you run into a 6, your score increases by 6. Unfortunately, any potential fun is dissipated when you realise reaching 99 is a piece of cake. I literally finished the One Player option in under 30 seconds on my first try, and since the other three variants merely adjust the number of players from One to Four, there’s not much on offer here.
Number Cruncher: If it wasn’t for the manual, I never would have guessed that they were motorbikes at the bottom of the screen.
Games 25-27: Scoop Ball
The final game is Scoop Ball, which is probably the most complex of the bunch. The player needs to dodge obstacles on the track while attempting to scoop up balls (represented by a +). Once a ball is collected, the player’s scoop changes visually, and the player is then required to deposit the ball(s) into a computer scooper. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing at first, since the manual makes no attempt to explain which sprites are balls, computer scoopers or obstacles. Once I figured it out, I found Scoop Ball to be one of the more enjoyable games in the Street Racer package, if for no other reason than the added complexity. Sadly, the variants of the game are once again only there to allow two, three or four players to compete.
Scoop Ball: I’m not certain what it is was I was supposed to be dodging. Are they enemy scoopers?
So how do I feel about my first Atari 2600 experience since playing at a cousin’s house as a small child? Um…well…it was a bit shit really! While I got moderate enjoyment out of Slalom and Scoop Ball, the overall experience was repetitive and extremely simplistic. The computer opponents in the single player modes were a complete joke, and while I imagine having multiple players would vastly improve the experience, I don’t think that excuses the obvious flaws. I’m sure I will find enjoyment in a bunch of Atari 2600 games, so will have to assume that Street Racer just isn’t one of the better ones on offer. Larry did warn me.
Here’s a video mash-up I made for the game to give you a better idea how it plays. The music is from Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express album, also from 1977.
The Street Racer (1977) RetroCard has now been added to the RetroCard Shop. It’s an uncommon card, so therefore costs 30 smacks and has a limited release of 60.
Featured Image Credit: Original box via Atari Age
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