Road Runner

Name:	Road Runner
Company:	Atari
Model #:	CX-5242
Programmer:	Lorie Shaffer?
Year:	1983
Released?	No
Notes:	Scheduled to be released November 1983

Although the Atari 5200 library is comprised of mostly action and arcade games, Atari was apparently planning on adding a few puzzle games to the mix.  Unfortunately none of these games ever saw the light of day, and Road Runner is no exception.  Road Runner is a strategy game based on the old sliding tile game and has no relation to the 1985 Atari arcade game of the same name (which the 2600 version was based on).  If Road Runner looks familiar, it's probably because it bears a strong resemblance to the Intellivision game Loco-Motion.  In fact Road Runner may actually be a conversion of a failed port of Loco-Motion.  For you see at one point Atari was planning on producing Loco-Motion for the 5200 (a prototype box has even been found), but for some reason this idea was scrapped (Mattel may have licensed it from Centuri first).  So Atari may have remade the game into Road Runner.  An internal promotional video that included Road Runner even refers to it as 'an arcade favorite' (Atari didn't release a Road Runner arcade game until 1985 and it was a completely different game).  However without any real evidence this is all simply speculation.

At the start of each level a birdseed truck will weave its way through the maze dropping off piles of birdseed as it goes.  The goal of Road Runner is to move the tiles around so Wiley Coyote eats as much birdseed as he can before the Road Runner gets it (why would Wiley eat birdseed?).  Each tile contains a portion of the road which Wiley and the Road Runner walk on, by sliding the tiles around you can make paths leading to the piles of birdseed or to the tunnels on the side of the board.  The tunnels connect one side of the screen to the other, and can be useful for warping across the screen (just like in Pac-Man).  Unfortunately some of these tunnel entrances are really just painted on (remember when Wiley would do that in the cartoon?), so if Wiley attempts to enter one he'll knock himself out.  The only way to tell if a tunnel is real is to watch the Road Runner and see which tunnels he takes (he always was smarter than Wiley).

Wiley can die if he either runs off the end of the tile or runs into a false tunnel.  The Road Runner appears to be able to back up from dead end track pieces and tunnels so he is impossible to kill, but you can trap him on two dead end pieces and complete the level at your leisure.  Once all the birdseed is gone the game moves to the next level.  If you happen to run into the Road Runner you will score 10 points, and you the Road Runner will be transported back to your starting points.  Wiley also scores 35 points for each tile he crosses, and 50 points for each pile of birdseed he collects.

While the game is playable, it still needs some serious work before being considered a finished product.  There are several odd glitches in this prototype such as the computer getting confused as to which tile the Road Runner is supposed to be on, so he appears to be running off the path through the scenery.  Also your score (and occasionally the screen) doesn't show up for a few seconds after starting a new board, and the game will freeze on occasion.  There are absolutely no sounds or music in the game except for the sound of the sliding tiles, which can make it hard to figure out if something good or bad is happening to you.  The press kit also mentions two-player action, although as far as I can tell this prototype is one player only.  There are two score displays on the screen with a big arrow pointing to the active player's score however, so there may be a two player option hidden in the game somewhere (with the second player controlling the Road Runner perhaps?).  The choice of colors seems rather odd, with lots of pinks and purple.

While it may not be the best game for the 5200, Road Runner was an interesting attempt at a puzzle game (which the 5200's library was sorely lacking).  In the end Atari may have put the kibosh on this game due to the slower than expected sales of the 5200.  Atari decided to concentrate on action and arcade games which were usually the biggest sellers, so most of the puzzle and strategy games were quietly cancelled.  Road Runner was due to be released Fall of 1983.

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