Street Racer (1977 video game)

Street Racer is a racing video game developed for the Atari Video Computer System, later known as the Atari 2600. It was programmed by Larry Kaplan^[1] and released by Atari, Inc. in September 1977 as one of the nine Atari VCS launch titles.^[2][3] The game was also published by Sears for their Tele-Games product line as Speedway II.^[4]

Street Racer
Developer(s)	Atari, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Atari, Inc.
Designer(s)	Larry Kaplan[1]
Platform(s)	Atari 2600
Release	NA: September 11, 1977
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

Street Racer was one of the two launch titles programmed by Kaplan; Air-Sea Battle was the other. Street Racer offered 27 game variations, grouped into the following sub-games:^[4]

• 1–6: Street racer
• 7–12: Slalom
• 13–16: Dodgem
• 17–20: Jet shooter
• 21–24: Number cruncher
• 25–27: Scoop ball

Each of the sub-games has roughly the same gameplay: the player controls a vehicle that must avoid or collect certain objects as they scroll down the screen. Between one and four players can compete simultaneously by using the paddle controllers,^[5] which allow the vehicle to move left and right along the bottom of the screen. If a one-player game is selected, the player competes with a static computer opponent that allows objects to collide with it or pass by.^{[citation needed]}

Development

As one of the earliest games written for the platform, Street Racer suffered from unattractive, blocky graphics.^{[citation needed]} According to Kaplan himself, later racing games released for the Atari, such as Activision's 1982 games Barnstorming and Grand Prix, were able to offer improved graphics and gameplay.^[6] In a 2007 interview with Digital Press, Kaplan was asked what he would change about any of the games he had written:

Street Racer is the game that lacks good game play. I took out the moving playfield because it didn't flow right (it tended to flicker). If I could change the game to have a smooth-scrolling playfield, it would make the game play better^[7]

Kaplan went on to become one of the founders of Activision where he developed Kaboom!, one of the 10 top-selling games for the Atari 2600.^[8]

Reception

Street Racer was reviewed in Video magazine as part of a general review of the Atari VCS where it was given a review score of 5.5 out of 10.^[9]: 33 The game did not age well and modern critics have given it poor reviews as well. Gamasutra have described the "Number cruncher" sub-game as a highlight of the game.^[10]