Does anyone actually like Road Blasters?

joemagiera

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I've had my Atari System 1 cabinet on Marble Madness pretty much forever. Thought I'd give another game a try. I picked Road Blasters because the parts were the easiest to find.

It's awful! I'm not a fan of driving games to begin with, and this one is truly just bad.

Will anyone admit to honestly liking this game? Assuming you had any other System 1 daughter board and CP available, would you ever keep Road Blasters on and not change it over to another game?

Or do you think it's a horrible game (as I do)? It's without a doubt the worst of the five Atari System 1 games. Time to check VAPS for anyone with a "wanted" for this game.
 
Hmmm...let me see. Level 39 on one credit. I think I've played enough to say I like it.

I own the sit down version. Oddly it's not a system 1 on this version.

Hector
 
Hmmm...let me see. Level 39 on one credit. I think I've played enough to say I like it.

I own the sit down version. Oddly it's not a system 1 on this version.

Well there you go. That's one of the fun things about this hobby. Different people can like different games and that's all totally ok.

Not a typical System 1 boardset? Can you show us a good picture of the boardset? I'd like to see what it looks like.
 
Truthfully I still like it enough to buy it for about $200 or less. In it's time it was really cool, but it hasn't stood up against the test of time either. Unfortunately it does get pretty mundane regarding gameplay, and the replay value isn't as great as I wished it would be nowadays. I'd still buy it though, it's on my wishlist (the "B" Wishlist).
 
I wasn't a huge fan of it BITD, but I got a RB with the intention of converting to IJ. I actually was pleasantly surprised. I like the game quite a bit. But the thing is, as you get the hang of it, you gotta up the difficulty level at the start of the game. That's what makes it interesting. If you always start at the easiest level it will get mundane. I'm sure that's why I didn't like it all that much as a kid. I'm sure I always picked the easiest level to get the most out of my quarter, but all it did is cause me to quickly tire of the game. Now I alternate between putting RB in the cab and IJ. Right now it's RB. That said, I certainly wouldn't consider it a top tier game. And I might not argue your point that it's the worst of the 5, although I don't think I've played all 5 enough to definitively say that.

And while this doesn't imply anything about long term replay value for us collectors, probably the reason RB cabs are so easy to find is because the game routes the best out of all of them I bet.
 
Not sure if it's system one or not but I do know it looks like no other s1 boards I've ever seen.




Hector
 
I absolutely love Road Blasters and STUN Runner both. Those are two games I wish I had back.
 
[RANT ON] Road Blasters may not be the best Atari game out there but it beats the hell out of Kangaroo. I would buy reasonably priced Road Blasters machines all day long before buying a single Kangaroo. I would have to say that I have a strong dislike for X-in-1 multiboards and such but Kangaroo is the one dedicated game I would have a hard time feeling bad about dropping one of those into. [/RANT OFF]


I remember playing Road Blasters back in the day but never saw any other System 1 games at the time. In fact, it wasn't until about 8 or 9 years ago that I was aware that there were any other System 1 games. I enjoy it and would be happy to have one. Though, having a Road Runner would be pretty cool, too.
 
I am pretty sure I used to have a Kangaroo next to a Road Blasters! I would never play more than a game or two at a time on Kangaroo, but I could spend hours on Road Blasters.
 
I like road blasters now and I liked it BITD. Isn't my favorite game but it's fun. Of the system 1 games I would only put road blasters above peter pack rat though. Now IMO peter pack rat is a horrible game. Clearly road blasters was well received BITD because all but one system 1 I have seen in person has had or has the pedal for road blasters.
 
Yes, I like Roadblasters.

I used to play it at the arcade back in the day a lot. In fact, when I got married, the hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon had a Roadblasters in the lobby. At night, after my wife went to sleep, I would go down to the lobby in my robe and slippers and play several games of Roadblasters a night.

Is it my favorite game? no. I suppose I should have it, but is not on the grail list at this point.

Is it in my collection? no, but I do have a Hydra, which is basically the same thing, but on water. My Grandson loves it! Thinks it is his.


ArcadeMaze!
 
In same situation as you... Have Marble Madness and purchased Road Blasters just to have another System 1 game.

While I actually like it, it only spent about a week installed.
 
Back when Roadblasters was new and in the arcades, it was my favorite game for a while. I can recall playing it a lot at the Minnesota State Fair. Actually, I remember encountering one on the observation deck of the "Tower of the Americas" during a trip to San Antonio back in 1988. I also remember being disappointed that the thumb buttons for the special weapons didn't work. (In hindsight, that was a weird place to find an arcade game!)

Ten years ago, when I started collecting games, Roadblasters was on my short list. I eventually bought three of them! A complete (but dead) game and an incomplete parts game out of an operator's warehouse, and then a complete and working game at a local auction. The working one had the good (black handle) controller, so I gave it the full restoration workup - repainted, new side art, new monitor, and so on. The parts game gave up its parts, the dead game came back to life and was sold on ebay.

And, I found that the game just didn't have the same appeal now that it had when I was a teenager. After a couple years in my game room, I loaned my Roadblasters out to my father. It's in the customer waiting area of his auto repair shop.

I recall playing Temple of Doom, Roadrunner, and Marble Madness in the arcades, but never encountered a Peter Packrat.

The Roadblasters cockpit game did use a unique board set.
 

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Yes. I like the game, but only on the cockpit cabinet. Its no good to me on an upright.
 
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