Radar Rat Race
| Radar Rat Race | |
|---|---|
| Original title | レ ー ダ ー ラ ッ ト レ ー ス |
| transcription | Rēdā Ratto Rēsu |
| Studio | Commodore International |
| Publisher | Commodore International |
| Senior Developer | Bill Hindorff |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1981 |
| platform | Commodore VC20 , Commodore 64 , Commodore Max |
| genre | Maze (genre) |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Joystick , keyboard |
| medium | Module , floppy disk , cassette |
| language | English |
Radar Rat Race is a computer game that was published at the end of 1981 by the US home computer manufacturer Commodore International for the Commodore VIC 20 and in 1982 also for the Commodore 64 . In West Germany, the version for the Commodore VC 20 appeared under the name Katz und Maus . The Maze game is a licensed clone of the arcade game Rally-X .
Gameplay
The player takes on the role of a blue mouse, which has to find ten pieces of cheese in a maze within a given time. It is important to avoid hostile red rats and cats or to put them out of action with rat poison for a short time, otherwise there is a risk of losing a virtual life. A radar overview map in the right half of the screen, which also shows enemies further away, is used for better orientation in the labyrinth.
For every piece of cheese collected, the player receives points. If he reaches 20,000 points or a multiple thereof, a virtual life is credited. After successfully collecting all pieces of cheese, the next level follows with a higher degree of difficulty. In addition to finding all the pieces of cheese, the main focus is on achieving the highest possible score.
Development and release history
Radar Rat Race is an officially licensed version of the Rally-X slot game from Bally Midway. Because of existing licensing concerns, the home computer implementation of Commodore was graphically revised by the programmer Bill Hindorff. The cars became rats, the barrels were made into cats and the flags were made into pieces of cheese. In 1982, Commodore released the game for the Commodore 64, which was newly released in the same year .
reception
The test of the version for the Commodore VC 20 by TeleMatch in December 1982 describes the "graphically excellent" game as "entertaining and funny at the same time" - and that "without shooting". For a good success, a "very precise control ... very important", which is why the Atari joystick is preferable to that of the Commodore. TeleMatch sums up that the game would delight children and entertain adults. In August 1983 TeleMatch reported a little more critical in a comparison test with other VC-20 games and mentioned a "whistling tone" accompanying the game, which "sucks your nerves" over time. Overall, the game did relatively well with a grade of 2 (out of a possible 6). In November 1983, after the brief presentation of the game for the Commodore 64, Happy Computer came to the conclusion that it was an "exciting shooting game" for which, in addition to a "good reaction", above all, a "good apprehension" and "Some strategic planning" is needed.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Josef Weigand: VC20 Katz und Maus, Commodore 64 Radar Rat Race: an exciting shooting game. Happy Computer, Nov 1983, p. 114.
- ↑ a b Katz und Maus for young and old TeleMatch, December 1982, p. 53.
- ^ Commodore: Instructions for Use - Radar Rat Race. Archive.org, accessed July 14, 2020.
- ^ Brian Bagnall, Boris Kretzinger and Winnie Forster: Volkscomputer . Gameplan, 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-023848-2 , p. 117.
- ↑ Cat and Mouse. TeleMatch, August / September 1983, p. 68.