MotoRace USA

Last updated
MotoRace USA
MotoraceUSA arcadeflyer.png
Arcade flyer
Developer(s) Irem
Publisher(s)
Platform(s) Arcade, NES, SG-1000
Release
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s)Two players alternating turns

MotoRace USA (also known as Traverse USA, in Japan as Zippy Race, [lower-alpha 1] and in Spain as Mototour) is a racing video game developed and released in arcades by Irem in 1983. In North America, it was released by Williams Electronics. Cabinet art was done by Larry Day and Bruce Schafernak of Advertising Posters in Chicago. The player controls a racer who must travel on a motorcycle from Los Angeles to New York City. The game was ported to the SG-1000 home console in 1983 and the Family Computer in 1985.

Contents

Gameplay

Arcade screenshot Motousa.png
Arcade screenshot

Every level has two parts:

  1. The first part uses an overhead point of view, in which overtaken cars cause the player's rank to increment by 1 per car. The current rank is shown in the bottom right hand corner of the game screen during each stage.
  2. The second part uses a third-person point of view, in which the player must try not to crash into the opposite cars while a background relative to the city they're traveling to is shown (i.e.: if the player is reaching Las Vegas, then a few casinos can be seen in the background). Oncoming cars passed do not increase the player's rank.

There are five different stages that the player encounters on their way to the final destination (NY) before the game starts back at stage one as outlined below. These stages alternate from tarmac on stages one, three and five, to unsealed (dirt) roads on stages two and four. On the tarmac stages bonus fuel can be picked up by running over the gas can icon. There is also a "wheelie" section which when run over causes the rider's bike to do a wheelstand and gain bonus points. On the dirt road stages both fuel and points can be gained by running over the gas cans or the score amounts indicated on the playfield. On the dirt road stage there are several log bridges that cross water and a "jump" section on some bridges - riding over the jump icon results in a score bonus. On all stages there are puddles of water which, if ridden through, render the bike unable to steer for a short period of time and a tire squealing sound is played briefly.

Crashing into cars, road edges, bushes/trees, rocks or missing a bridge and riding into the water on a dirt road stage results in the motorcycle stopping and restarting; costing the player an amount of fuel. Running out of fuel prevents the motorcycle from going any further and causes the game to be over, but in the arcade version, the player can continue by inserting more coins (if necessary) and pressing START. Crashing can also result (especially in later levels) in being overtaken by cars which decreases the player's rank.

As the player reaches each city the rank achieved results in a bonus amount being added to the score and extra fuel added to the player's total. The higher the position achieved, the more points and fuel is awarded.

When the player reaches NY, a sign saying "Viva NY" is shown while the Statue of Liberty waves its hand and "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played. After this, the game restarts with the player's score intact but the difficulty increases and the player has a higher capacity motorcycle (with correspondingly faster top speed). [5]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed MotoRace USA in their July 1983 issues as being the most successful new table arcade unit of the month. [6] [7]

Legacy

An updated version of the game has been announced for release exclusively for the Intellivision Amico. [8]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ジッピーレース, Hepburn: Jippī Rēsu

Related Research Articles

Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic racing simulations and more fantastical arcade-style racing games. Kart racing games emerged in the 1990s as a popular sub-genre of the latter. Racing games may also fall under the category of sports video games.

<i>10-Yard Fight</i> 1983 arcade game

10-Yard Fight is an American football sports video game that was developed and published in Japan by Irem for arcades in 1983. It was published overseas by Taito in the Americas, by Electrocoin in Europe, and by ADP Automaten GmbH in West Germany.

<i>BurgerTime</i> 1982 video game

BurgerTime, originally released as Hamburger in Japan, is a 1982 arcade video game from Data East released initially for its DECO Cassette System. The player is chef Peter Pepper, who must walk over hamburger ingredients in a maze of platforms and ladders while avoiding anthropomorphic hot dogs, fried eggs, and pickles which are in pursuit.

A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport, whilst others emphasize strategy and sport management. Some, such as Need for Speed, Arch Rivals and Punch-Out!!, satirize the sport for comic effect. This genre has been popular throughout the history of video games and is competitive, just like real-world sports. A number of game series feature the names and characteristics of real teams and players, and are updated annually to reflect real-world changes. The sports genre is one of the oldest genres in gaming history.

<i>Lode Runner</i> 1983 video game

Lode Runner is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to Space Panic from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in a level and get to the end while being chased by a number of enemies. It is one of the first games to include a level editor.

<i>Kung-Fu Master</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Kung-Fu Master, known as Spartan X in Japan, is a side-scrolling beat 'em up developed by Irem as an arcade video game in 1984, and distributed by Data East in North America. Designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the game was based on Hong Kong martial arts films. It is a loose adaptation of the Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao film Wheels on Meals (1984), called Spartan X in Japan, with the protagonist Thomas named after Jackie Chan's character in the film. The game is also heavily inspired by the Bruce Lee film Game of Death (1972), which was the basis for the game's concept. Nishiyama, who had previously designed the side-scrolling shooter Moon Patrol (1982), combined fighting elements with a shoot 'em up gameplay rhythm. Irem and Data East exported the game to the West without the Spartan X license.

<i>Congo Bongo</i> 1983 video game

Congo Bongo, also known as Tip Top, is a platform game released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1983. A message in the ROM indicates it was coded at least in part by the company Ikegami Tsushinki. The game is viewed in an isometric perspective, like Sega's earlier Zaxxon (1982), but does not scroll. Numerous home ports followed.

<i>Road Fighter</i> 1984 video game

Road Fighter is a racing arcade video game developed by Konami and released in 1984, and was the first racing game from the company. The goal is to reach the finish line within the stages without running out of time, hitting other cars or running out of fuel. The game spawned a spiritual successor, Konami GT (1986), and two sequels, Midnight Run: Road Fighter 2 (1995) and Winding Heat (1996). A Japan-only sequel was also released 14 years later, Road Fighters (2010).

<i>Hang-On</i> 1985 arcade racing game

Hang-On is an arcade racing game released by Sega in 1985 and later ported to the Master System. In the game, the player controls a motorcycle against time and other computer-controlled bikes. It was one of the first arcade games to use 16-bit graphics and uses the Super Scaler arcade system board, created with design input from Yu Suzuki, as technology to simulate 3D effects. The deluxe cabinet version also introduced a motion-controlled arcade cabinet, where the player's body movement on a large motorbike-shaped cabinet corresponds with the player character's movements on screen.

<i>Spelunker</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Spelunker is a 1983 platform video game developed by Timothy G. Martin of MicroGraphic Image. It is set in a cave, with the player starting at the cave's entrance at the top, and the objective is to get to the treasure at the bottom.

<i>Bump n Jump</i> 1982 video game

Bump 'n' Jump is an overhead-view vehicular combat game developed by Data East and originally released in Japan as Burnin' Rubber. Distributed in North America by Bally Midway, the arcade version was available as both a dedicated board and as part of Data East's DECO Cassette System. The goal is to drive to the end of a course while knocking enemy vehicles into the sides of the track and jumping over large obstacles such as bodies of water.

<i>The Battle-Road</i> 1984 video game

The Battle-Road is a vertically scrolling vehicular combat game released in arcades by Irem in 1984. The player controls a car armed with two types of guns and drives on a road full of other dangerous vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, trucks and helicopters. It has branching paths resulting in 32 possible routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorcycle racing</span> Racing sport using motorcycles

The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.

<i>Enduro Racer</i> 1986 video game

Enduro Racer (エンデューロレーサー) is an arcade racing game from Sega. It was released in 1986 with two arcade cabinet versions, a stand-up cabinet with handlebars and a full-sized dirt bike cabinet. It is often seen as a dirt racing version of Hang-On, as it uses a similar engine and PCB. The game was later released for the Master System in 1987, the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in 1988, and the Amstrad CPC and Atari ST in 1989.

<i>Turbo</i> (video game) 1981 video game

Turbo is a racing game released in arcades in 1981 by Sega. Designed and coded by Steve Hanawa, the game received positive reviews upon release, with praise for its challenging and realistic gameplay, 2.5D color graphics with changing scenery, and cockpit sit-down arcade cabinet. It topped the monthly Play Meter arcade charts in North America and ranking highly on the Game Machine arcade charts in Japan.

<i>Fonz</i> (video game) 1976 video game

Road Race is a 1976 car driving arcade racing video game developed and released by Sega in February 1976. Later the same year, Sega released two motorbike racing variants, Man T.T. and Moto-Cross, which were in turn re-branded as Fonz, in November 1976. The game was based on the character Fonzie from the 1970s TV show Happy Days, with the slogan being "TV's hottest name, Your hottest game". Sega licensed Fonz because at the time it was owned by Charles Bluhdorn's Gulf+Western Company and it was a Paramount Television intellectual property.

<i>Moto Racer DS</i> 2008 video game

Moto Racer DS is an arcade style motorcycle racing game developed by French company Artefacts Studio and published by SouthPeak Games for the Nintendo DS. It is the first game to be released in the Moto Racer series since 2002.

<i>Triple Action</i> 1981 video game

Triple Action is an action video game produced by Mattel Electronics for its Intellivision video game system in 1981. The game actually includes three separate games—racing, tank combat and flying—where two players compete against each other for the best score.

<i>Speed Race</i> 1974 video game

Speed Race is a 1974 arcade racing video game developed and manufactured by Taito and released under the titles Racer and Wheels in North America by distributor Midway Manufacturing in 1975. Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, the gameplay involves the player using the attached steering wheel to maneuver a car alongside a fast vertical scrolling road. The objective is to score points by driving past other cars without colliding with them; more points are awarded for driving faster. Players must do this under a 90-second time limit, which ends the game when it runs out. The gameplay concepts were adapted from two earlier driving electro-mechanical games: Kasco's Mini Drive (1958) and Taito's Super Road 7 (1970).

<i>Dangerous Curves</i> (video game) 1995 racing video game

Dangerous Curves is an arcade racing game developed and published by Taito. The arcade cabinet is constructed to allow players to choose between simulating either a car or a motorcycle and then race other vehicles on a variety of courses.

References

  1. ↑ "Video Game Flyers: Mototour, Comercial Electronica (Spain)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "MotoRace U S A. (Registration Number PA0000188002)". United States Copyright Office . Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Manufacturers Equipment" (PDF). Cash Box . February 2, 1985. p. 42.
  4. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 120. ISBN   978-4990251215.
  5. ↑ "8 paid iPhone apps you can download for free on September 19th". 2019-09-19.
  6. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型新製品 (New Videos-Table Type)" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 215. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 July 1983. p. 29.
  7. ↑ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 216. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 July 1983. p. 37.
  8. ↑ "Intellivision® Reveals Initial Details For The Upcoming Amico™ Home Video Game Console!". PR Newswire (Press release). Retrieved October 13, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.