How to play MotoRodeo online
- Accelerate: Space bar (fire button)
- Use a nitro boost: tap the up arrow (after picking up an “N”)
- Wheelie: down arrow, on flat ground
- Control your spin in a jump / wriggle through mud: left and right arrow keys
- Menus: up and down arrows to pick player or computer, vehicle, tyres and level; Space to confirm
- Player 2: T/F/G/H to steer, A to accelerate
- Points or timing mode: F4 (the left difficulty switch)
- Start a new game: F12 (Reset)
Gameplay
The manual sets the scene at an all-day MotoRodeo where you and your rival, Trucker Tom, are neck and neck. Before each event, both controllers choose whether they are a human or the computer, then pick a truck or a blazer, fitted with either tyres or trax. Tyres get over obstacles more easily; trax make you bounce higher, which helps you fly over them.
In Competition you run the full course at Easy, Medium or Hard. The course is packed with jumps, platforms, cars to crush, walls, springs, collapsing ramps and muddy bogs. In Practice you pick a single obstacle type and drill it until you have it right. The left difficulty switch decides how a competition is won: in position A the higher score wins, and in position B it is a straight race and the first truck over the line wins.
| Stunt | Points |
|---|---|
| Landing upright and flat after a jump | 5 |
| Hitting a wall | 10 |
| Crushing a car | 20 |
| Bouncing on the truck tyres on the platform | 25 |
| Jumping onto a collapsing ramp | 25 |
| Touching a “50” on the screen | 50 |
| Finishing first | 100 |
Tips
- Pop a wheelie before obstacles. Hitting a jump with your front wheels up sends you higher and further.
- Save nitro for the ground. It only helps when you are upright and on the track, not in the air.
- Wriggle in the mud. Rocking the joystick left and right gets you out of a bog much faster than just holding the throttle.
- Land flat. Use left and right during a jump to level out; every clean landing is worth points.
- Use Practice mode. If one obstacle keeps costing you the race, practise just that one before going back to Competition.
History
MotoRodeo came out in July 1990 as model CX26171. It was made for Atari Corporation by Axlon, a company linked to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. AtariAge lists the cartridge as rare today. There is a small Easter egg: set the TV type switch (F2) to black-and-white and press Reset, and the programmer’s name appears on the title screen.
