Road Blaster

is an interactive movie video game developed by Data East featuring animation by Toei Animation, originally released exclusively in Japan as a laserdisc-based arcade game in 1985. The player assumes the role of a vigilante who must avenge the death of his wife by pursuing the biker gang responsible for her death in a modified sports car. The game would later be ported to a variety of home formats such as the MSX and Sharp X1 ( VHD format), Sega CD (under the title of ''Road Blaster FX''), LaserActive (in Mega-LD format), PlayStation and Sega Saturn (in a compilation with ''Thunder Storm''). The Sega CD and Mega-LD versions were released outside of Japan under titles of ''Road Avenger'' and ''Road Prosecutor'' respectively.

Gameplay

As with other laserdisc-based arcade games from the same time, the gameplay consists of on-screen instructions overlaid over pre-recorded full motion video animated footage of high-speed chases and vehicular combat. The player controls the crosshair to steer their car toward the correct directions according to the green arrows flashing and beeping beside it, while controlling the gas pedal, brake and booster whenever they light up.

The game has nine stages. Upon successfully completing a level, the player is graded on the reaction time. Different difficulty levels can be selected. In Normal Mode, pop-up icons and audio tones signal when to turn left or right, brake, hit turbo, or hit other cars. In Hard Mode, there are no on-screen icons to guide the player.

Plot

The story of ''Road Blaster'' is inspired by revenge thriller films such as ''Mad Max''. In the late 1990s United States, the player assumes the role of a vigilante who drives a customized sports car in order to get revenge on a biker gang responsible for his wife's death on their honeymoon. After recovering from his own injuries, he upgrades his car and goes on a rampage through nine areas. His goal is to seek out the gang's female boss and complete his vengeance.

Development

''Road Blaster'' uses animation provided by the anime studio Toei Animation. It was animated under the guidance of Yoshinobu Inano, who also directed or key-animated such films such as '' Gundam: Char's Counter Attack'', '' Macross: Do You Remember Love?'', and '' The Transformers: The Movie''. It was animated using 15,000 hand-painted cels to produce over 30 minutes of animation. Game director Yoshihisa Kishimoto, who previously worked on ''Cobra Command'', later directed the arcade version of ''Double Dragon'', where the car from ''Road Blaster'' can be seen inside the Lee brothers' garage at the start of the game.

The chopper from '' Cobra Command/Thunder Storm'' can also be seen at the beginning of ''Road Blaster''.

Releases

''Road Blaster'' was originally released in 1985 as a laserdisc-based arcade game. Various ports were released throughout history, including versions for the MSX, X1 (both in VHD format), Mega CD/Sega CD, LaserActive (in Mega LD format), Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (prototyped as ''Turbo Blaster''). However, only the Sega CD and Mega LD versions were released outside Japan, under the titles ''Road Avenger'' and ''Road Prosecutor'', respectively. The titles were possibly changed to avoid confusion with the similarly titled arcade game ''RoadBlasters'' by Atari Games, which was ported to the Mega Drive around the same time. ''Road Blaster'' was also released for the Sharp X68000 and for Windows in 2011, exclusively in Japan. ''Cobra Command'' and ''Road Blaster'' were ported to iOS by Revolutionary Concepts in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In 2018, a port for the Amiga ( OCS and AGA) and the