Road Fighter

Road Fighter (ロードファイター, Rōdo Faitā) is a racing arcade game developed by Konami and released in December 1984.^[1] It also was the first racing game from Konami. The goal is to reach the finish line within the stages without running out of time, hitting other cars or running out of fuel (fuel is refilled by hitting a special type of car). The game also spawned two sequels in its time, Midnight Run: Road Fighter 2 in 1995 and Winding Heat in 1996, respectively. A Japan-only rebooted sequel was also released in 2010, 14 years after Winding Heat.

Ports and related releases

UK cover of the NES version of Road Fighter.

The game was later released for the MSX home computer system (1985), and Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan 1985 and Europe 1991, and followed the same format as the original. The game was included on Konami Arcade Classics in 1999 and on Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits for the Nintendo DS. The arcade game was released for i-mode phones in Japan in 2005.

Road Fighter was made available on Microsoft's Game Room service for its Xbox 360 console and for Windows-based PCs on March 24, 2010.

Gameplay

The first and second levels contain 4 courses, ranging from grassy plains to an over water bridge to a seashore, mountains and finally a forest area. In the arcade version, 6 stages were contained. Pressing the 'B' button raises the player's speed to around 196 km/h while pressing the 'A' button skyrockets the speed to 400. The player has a limited amount of fuel and can earn more by touching special multi-colored cars. If the player crashes into any other car or slips on occasionally appearing patches of oil, the car will begin to spin out and if not corrected may crash into the side barriers, causing a loss of 5-6 fuel units. The NES and Famicom version have a total of 6 types of cars, 1 yellow and red, three blue and one truck. Yellow cars will travel along a straight line and occur in large numbers. Red cars are a little less likely to appear, but they will change the lane they are travelling in once to get in the way of the player. Blue cars vary in the way they change their lane. Trucks go on a straight way, but colliding with them will blow up the player's car. Konami Man will make a cameo appearance, flying by the side of the road if the player progresses to a certain point in the level without crashing (not included on course 2 in NES and Famicom versions).

Konami GT

Midnight Run: Road Fighter 2

Midnight Run: Road Fighter 2 is the sequel to Road Fighter, released in arcades in 1995, and on the PlayStation in 1997. Although different from the 2-D Road Fighter, the scenery is similar to other racing games set in Japan such as Initial D Arcade Stage and Wangan Midnight, except the cars are not licensed. The player also has a unique selection of normal cars and tuned cars.

Car List

• Honda NSX
• Toyota Supra
• Mazda RX-7
• Nissan Skyline GT-R
• Porsche 911 (non-playable)
• Mercedes-Benz SL500 (non-playable)

Winding Heat

Winding Heat is the sequel to Road Fighter and Midnight Run, released in arcades in 1996. It is an improved version of Midnight Run: Road Fighter 2, though it gives you more of the normal or tuned cars, and the rules remain the same. Unlike Midnight Run, it takes place on touge roads.

Road Fighters (2010)

Road Fighters is the Japan-only sequel to the original Road Fighter, released in arcades in 2010. The game features 3D-enhanced graphics, with a mounted pair of goggles used to view the effect. Tracks are set in real-life locations and are all based on race courses from previous Konami racing titles, including Enthusia Professional Racing and the GTI Club series. The game includes numerous licensed vehicles, which can be saved using Konami's e-AMUSEMENT Pass containing tuning and customization data. This game is Konami's answer to Sega's Initial D Arcade Stage 4 and Namco's Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune in terms of card-based games, or Taito's Chase H.Q. 2 in terms of rebooted sequels.

Its opening theme "Take Me Higher" was composed (together with the system music) by Sota Fujimori and it was included on beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem as a playable song. In addition, the game includes music from beatmania IIDX and Dance Dance Revolution series, as a form to promote another Konami arcade games.

Game Modes

• Road Fighter Challenge - Basic Chase HQ-esque mode which offers the players visual upgrades and tuning points for cars.
• National Online Match - Online multiplayer against a single opponent. Losers can request a rematch. Winners earn "game points," which accumulate toward a ranking. If the player reach the top rank, it earns a medal. If it defeats another top-ranked player, you take their medal. More medals earn special ranks. However, if the player loses all of its medals, it gets demoted to a lower rank.
• Versus - Local multiplayer against up to three opponents (4-player). Players can use any of the cars on their e-Amusement Pass.
• Time Attack - Basic time attack mode. Due to online connectivity, there are national leaderboards, visible in-game.
• Event Mode - Special events held over a limited time period, updated through the internet. The events requires specific cars and areas in order to race, otherwise the player will not be eligible for the event.

Adaptation

• Road Fighter was one of the videogames based for Manga titled Famicom Rocky published by Coro Coro Comics from 1985 to 1987.

References

External links

• Road Fighter at the Killer List of Videogames
• Midnight Run at the Killer List of Videogames
• Winding Heat at the Killer List of Videogames
• Road Fighters 2010 official site