View Full Version : Random Game O' the Day: Slot Racers
digitalpress
10-24-2003, 08:14 AM
Well it was bound to happen. The DP Random Game Generator of First Generation Goodness (TDPRGGoFGG) (tm) has chosen Slot Racers, and early Atari 2600 game, for today's discussion.
I'll be honest with you. I love this game. I played it to death when it was a "new" title and my buddy Kevin and I would spend literally hours with it. It's NOT a fast game as the title suggest, nor is there any actual "racing" but the strategy elements are strong and you need to be quick to outwit your opponent's... letter T.
What's your take on the game? Write your own mini-review here.
DP Guide sez:
U.S. Game Releases
Slot Racers (Atari 2600, by Atari) $3/R1
a.k.a. Maze
Designed by Warren Robinett. c1978 Atari. #CX2606.
http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/atari2600/slotracer.gif
Oobgarm
10-24-2003, 08:24 AM
A rather fun game for me, I remember playing it at my cousin's house way back when. I was young and wasn't very good at it, but that's beside the point.
Slot Racers has always reminded me of Dodge 'Em, only slower and with the ability to shoot bullets/dots.
Was Dodge 'Em also designed by Robinett?
Slot Racers is a good example of why making judgements based on first impressions is bad. Not that I have any kind of fondness for the game now, but I realize it's not the steaming pile of Pac-Man dung I once thought it to be. How did I come to this conclusion, you ask? I discovered the "Select Switch". OK, I always knew it was there, but never thought to use it for Slot Racers. So until recently when I got the manual for the game, I only ever saw the painfully slow game 1.
bargora
10-24-2003, 01:31 PM
Slot Racers is a work of genius. I love the chunky mazes, the clunky sound effects, and the funky big "cars". Use that "select" switch and crank up the speed, and it actually does get pretty fast. Since I've always been a fan of shooting stuff (particularly if that "stuff" is controlled by, say, my little brother), Slot Racers was right up my alley, so to speak.
What I especially like about the game is how well-designed the mazes are, given the 2600's graphical constraints. Each maze has at least one "main path" that would route you around the board with varying degrees of complexity. The key is to take advantage of the main path to get where you wanted to go, yet to still be able to make a quick turn around a side path to get the drop on your opponent.
The "guided" shots were another stroke of genius. In most of the game variations your shot follows the corners and continues until it hits a car. By holding the stick right or left when firing, you can change whether the shot will go right, left, or straight when it comes to a branch in the path.
Another thing--you could only have one shot on the screen at once. Normally your first shot disappears when you fire the second one. In one of the more innovative uses of the difficulty switch, however, setting it to "a" introduced the fiendish requirement that if your shot misses, you have to grab it (by running into it) before you can fire a second one. Makes for colorful language...
So find yourself another idiot who can use a one-button joystick, crank up the speed, and get blasting!
Jorpho
10-24-2003, 04:41 PM
It sounds like Car Wars, but with shooting.
Arqueologia_Digital
10-24-2003, 07:29 PM
Very cool game!, i like very much the box artwork
Daniel Thomas
10-24-2003, 09:39 PM
It's hard to look at Slot Racers and not see Quake deathmatches. There's something wonderfully abstract about the graphics in this game; it's never really "blocky," it's just hefty.
Great fun, great game, and yes, the box illustration is terrific, like most of the early Atari 2600 games.
Sotenga
10-24-2003, 09:40 PM
Hey, if its creator is the same genius behind Adventure, I'm playing it. :D