Street Racer

Street Racer

Atari 2600 - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Atari Publisher Atari, Sears, Roebuck and Co. Published 1977-09-11 Platforms Atari 2600 Genres Action, Racing, Single-screen Themes Action Multiplayer Simultaneous versus Distribution Commercial

Street Racer is a racing video game developed and published by Atari for the Atari 2600 on 1977-09-11 as one of the console's launch titles. Although the title suggests automotive racing, the game also includes modes for skiing, jet fighters, and more unusual vehicles.

In the game, two players race on individual tracks and try to reach the highest score possible before time runs out. Players use the paddle controllers to move back and forth along their respective track. Points are scored differently in each game mode, but they involve avoiding hazards, shooting enemies, and collecting objects. The box boasts 27 games, but there are really only six with each having several variations, and the six are all quite similar.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	Yes. Games 1, 7, 13, 17, and 21.
Finished	2024-07-17.

I didn't have this game growing up, and, after learning about it as an adult, I'm kind of glad I didn't. The game play is very simplistic and repetitive. While researching my list of winnable Atari 2600 games, I discovered this game has a few one-player games where you play against an AI opponent (who doesn't actually do anything), so I quickly played an beat all those modes.

Review

2	2	1	1	2

Best Version: Atari 2600

Good

• The varied game modes give the otherwise boring game a little life.

Bad

• Even with all the variety, each of the games are boring. Had the designer just chose one game mode and spent extra time making it the best it could be, I think the game would have been more interesting.

Ugly

• Although the manual says the one-player games pit the player against a "computer opponent," the game doesn't actually have an AI. Instead, the left player just holds down the accelerator or fire button and doesn't move. This is a shame because a primitive AI could have been made without much difficulty. As it is, even a child can easily defeat the CPU-controlled opponent in every game mode.
• The graphics are terrible.
• The sound effects are bad and there isn't any music.

Media

Box Art

• 

  Atari 2600 - USA - First edition. An attractive watercolor collage by Rick Guidice. Motorcycles are present on the cover, but they're not in the game (the manual says Number Cruncher uses motorcycles, but they sure don't look like them).

• 

  Atari 2600 - USA - Telegames. The alternate art puts even more focus on a dirt bike, which doesn't appear in the game.

Documents

• 

  Manual - USA - 1st edition.

• 

  Manual - USA - Revision 1.

• 

  Manual - USA - Telegames.

Videos

Game play.

Play Online

Atari 2600

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There are no women.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There are no women.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	The players don't have a clear race.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Credits

Role	Staff
Entire Game	Larry Kaplan
Box Art	Rick Guidice

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	Street Racer
English (Telegames)	Speedway II

Links