Championship Sprint

During the 1970s. Later in 1986, the game was revised and re-released as Championship Sprint with different tracks; this version was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum in 1987. The 1990 game Badlands adds vehicular combat to Super Sprint-style racing.

• Title — Super Sprint • Developer — Atari Games • Publisher — ZX Spectrum, CPC, Atari ST, C64 Electric Dreams Software NES/Famicom • Designer — * Robert Weatherby • Kelly Turner • Programmer — * Robert Weatherby • Kelly Turner • Artist — * Will Noble • Kris Moser • Sam Comstock • Composer — NES/Famicom Brad Fuller • Series — Sprint • Platforms — Arcade, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System • Released — ArcadeApril 1986 ZX SpectrumSeptember 1987 Atari ST, CPC, C64 2600March 1989 NES/Famicom • Genre — Racing • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Arcade System — Atari System 2 Hardware

• Illustration — Arcade screenshot Up to three players drive simultaneously on a circuit against opponents controlled by the computer. The circuits are viewed from above and always fit on the screen, so the game never scrolls. After three laps, the winner advances to the next circuit. There are eight circuits in total, but the game only ends if the player can reach race 85, where the bonus Super Speedway circuit is played. As the player advances to higher levels, more and more obstacles appear on the track, like oil puddles and miniature tornadoes. If the car touches them, the player loses control for a short time. Driving into a wall at high speed or falling from one of the bridges destroys the car, but a helicopter will appear and replace it. The car can be customized by collecting wrenches that lie on the track. The player can exchange three of them for improved traction, better acceleration or higher top speed.

Super Sprint was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum in 1987 by British publisher Electric Dreams Software. An unlicensed port was released in 1989 by Tengen, a subsidiary of Atari, for the Nintendo Entertainment System; it was adapted by Japanese company Altron as a licensed title for the Japanese market in 1991.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Super Sprint as the second most successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of August 1986. It became Japan's eighth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game during the latter half of 1986, and the ninth highest-grossing upright/cockpit of the year. It was later Japan's tenth highest-grossing upright/cockpit of 1987. In 1996, Next Generation magazine ranked the arcade version number 59 on their list of the "Top 100 Games of All Time"; they said that while the massive understeer in the game is highly unrealistic, it adds a sense of urgency to the gameplay.

• Illustration — Championship Sprint Later in 1986, Championship Sprint was released; it is almost identical, but with different tracks, and with a standard-size two-player cabinet instead of Super Sprints wide three-player cabinet. It was ported to the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64. Badlands is a post-apocalyptic re-theming of Super Sprint released in arcades by Atari Games in 1990. It adds weapons to vehicles.