Radar Rat Race
Radar Rat Race is a video game developed by HAL Laboratory released on cartridge in 1981 as a launch title for the VIC-20. The game is a clone of Namco's Rally-X arcade video game and was released in Japan as Rally-X (ラリーX) from Commodore Japan K.K. In 1982, ports were released for the MAX Machine and Commodore 64.
Radar Rat Race
ML5 · Public domain
- Date
- 1981
- Publisher
- Radar Rat Race was published by Commodore International.
- Genre
- maze video game
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Documentary summary
Radar Rat Race is a video game developed by HAL Laboratory released on cartridge in 1981 as a launch title for the VIC-20. The game is a clone of Namco's Rally-X arcade video game and was released in Japan as Rally-X (ラリーX) from Commodore Japan K.K. In 1982, ports were released for the MAX Machine and Commodore 64.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q289109 · wikipedia · Radar Rat Race
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Radar Rat Race • Developer — HAL Laboratory • Publisher — Commodore • Designer — HAL Laboratory • Released — 1981 • Genre — Maze • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — VIC-20, MAX Machine, Commodore 64
Gameplay
Gameplay
The player guides a mouse through a large maze. The camera follows the mouse and shows only a small portion of the maze at any given time. The player is pursued by at least three rats. The goal is to eat all of the pieces of cheese, shown for the entire maze on a radar screen, without getting caught by a rat or bumping into a stationary cat. By pressing the joystick button, the mouse can disperse a limited amount of magical dust (called "star screen") which confuses the rats for about five seconds. Once the round is complete, the game starts again, with more rats and faster play. The gameplay is accompanied by a frenetic, rhythmically altered version of a phrase from "Three Blind Mice", which cycles endlessly.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Japan
Named but not plotted · 1
Radar Rat Race is associated with Japan.
Country
Reception
Computer and Video Games, although criticizing the game's controls and repetitive sound, called the Commodore 64 version "quite exciting and amusing to play".
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Radar Rat Race”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q289109: Radar Rat Race
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Josef Weigand: VC20 Katz und Maus, Commodore 64 Radar Rat Race: ein spannendes Schießspielchen. Happy Computer, November 1983, S. 114.
- 2.Katz und Maus für Jung und Alt TeleMatch, Dezember 1982, S. 53.
- 3.Commodore: Instructions for Use - Radar Rat Race. Archive.org, abgerufen am 14. Juli 2020.
- 4.Brian Bagnall, Boris Kretzinger und Winnie Forster: Volkscomputer. Gameplan, 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-023848-2, S. 117.
- 5.Katz und Maus. TeleMatch, August/September 1983, S. 68.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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