How to play Slot Racers online
Slot Racers has no computer opponent: it needs two players. The second player uses the other side of the same keyboard.
- Player 1 (left car): arrow keys to steer, up to speed up, down to brake, Space to fire
- Player 2 (right car): T/F/G/H to steer, speed up and brake, A to fire
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Choose a game (1–9): F11 (the console’s Select switch)
- Missile rules: F4 and F9 toggle the Player 1 and Player 2 difficulty switches
Gameplay
Each player drives a “Super Chasemobile” through one of four maze layouts. You cannot crash into a wall: the car takes corners by itself, and it can only turn while it is moving. Every missile hit on the other car scores one point, and the first player to reach 25 points wins.
The missiles are the clever part. Fire with the joystick pushed left or right and the missile turns that way at the next junction. Fire with the stick centred and, in most games, it follows the streets around every corner on its own. That lets you shoot around blocks at a car you cannot see.
Game variations and switches
- Games 1–4: missiles are faster than the cars; both get quicker with each game number.
- Games 5–7: the cars are faster than the missiles, so you can outrun a shot.
- Games 8 and 9: missiles no longer turn corners by themselves and can get stuck against a wall. Game 9 has the fastest cars.
- Difficulty B: you can fire again at any time, but a new shot makes your old one vanish.
- Difficulty A: only one missile at a time. It stays on screen until it hits, or until you drive into it to pick it up.
Tips
- Centre the stick after each turn. If you keep holding left or right, the car keeps taking every turn in that direction.
- Shoot around corners. A centred shot follows the road, so fire down a street your opponent is likely to come along.
- In games 5–7, keep moving. Your car is faster than the missiles, so a quick turn often escapes a shot.
The story behind Slot Racers
Robinett joined Atari in November 1977 and started the project under the working title “Traffic”. He liked the way vehicles turned in Combat but wanted them to glide smoothly around corners. He also planned police cars with flashing lights patrolling the streets, but could not fit them in. He handed in the finished code in April 1978, after about five months of work. Reviews have always been mixed: some critics liked the fast reactions it demands, others saw it as a simple maze version of Combat. Robinett himself later called it “pretty average”, a learning exercise before his next game, Adventure.
