How to play Road Runner online
- Run: arrow keys (the Road Runner can move in all directions on the road)
- Jump: Space bar
- Choose one or two players: F11 (the console’s Select switch)
- Start or restart a game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch), or press Space on the title screen
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
In the two-player game, the players take turns rather than playing at the same time.
Gameplay
The screen scrolls as you run to the left, with the Coyote chasing you from behind. You start with three lives and lose one if Wile E. catches you, if he grabs you from a rocket or hits you with a cannonball, or if you are hit by a truck, step on a land mine, fall off a cliff or get crushed by a falling rock. There are eight levels, each harder than the one before. From the third level on, the Coyote can appear on rocket skates, and later he rides a rocket.
Piles of birdseed lie along the road. Some of what looks like seed is actually steel shot: it still scores, but once you have swallowed it the Coyote can use his magnet on you, and escaping gets harder for a while. The hazards work against the Coyote too, and you score big points for leading him into them.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Eating a pile of birdseed | 100 (rising, see below) |
| Eating steel shot | 100 |
| Wile E. hit by a mine, cannonball or rock | 200 |
| Wile E. hit by a truck | 1,000 |
Birdseed has a streak bonus: each pile you eat in a row is worth 100 points more than the last, up to 1,000. Miss a single pile and the value drops back to 100.
Tips
- Keep your seed streak going. A long run of piles is worth far more than anything else except a truck hit.
- Double back to surprise him. Turning around briefly can catch the Coyote off guard and give you room to escape.
- Use the trucks. Steer the Coyote into the path of traffic for 1,000 points, but make sure you are out of the lane yourself.
- Be careful with steel shot. The 100 points are rarely worth making yourself easier to catch, especially on busy stretches.
- Save your jumps. Time them for mines, cliff gaps and the Coyote’s lunges rather than jumping all the time.
The story behind Road Runner
Road Runner was first in development for the 2600 around 1984, alongside Atari’s arcade game of the same name. After the video game crash, Atari laid off most of its 2600 team and the project stopped. An early 8K prototype from June 1984 survives. When Jack Tramiel’s Atari Corporation revived the 2600 in the mid-1980s, it looked for unfinished games to release. It hired Bob Polaro, then working at his own company, to finish Road Runner and expand it to a 16K cartridge. The finished game came out in 1989. Polaro also made Desert Falcon, Rampage and the unreleased Bugs Bunny for the 2600.
Similar games to play next
- Bugs Bunny – Bob Polaro’s unreleased Looney Tunes game
- Taz – Atari’s game starring another Looney Tunes character, the Tasmanian Devil
- Desert Falcon – Polaro’s bird’s-eye flight over the desert
- Rampage – another late-era 2600 arcade conversion programmed by Polaro