Auto Racing

INTELLIVISION CARTRIDGE [Mattel Electronics #1113]

Release #9 October 3,1980

Also released by Sears

Produced by APh Technology Consultants for Mattel Electronics

Program: Larry Zwick

Package Illustration: Jerrol Richardson


Instructions Posted Here

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

Snap on your crash helmet, fire up your Formula I, and slam it into first. Power through the first turn and you're off on a Grand Prix class racing circuit.

The faster you push your race car the more alert you have to be. You may slide off the track and into a maze of grass and trees. You may find yourself skidding into a pond. Or you may find yourself halfway through a hairpin turn before you know it.

Whether you race against an opponent or against the clock, there are thrills enough for anybody.

  • Five different race cars
  • Five different race courses
  • One or two players


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

The following description was written by Keith Robinson during the creation of the IntelliviisonLives website. Looking at the instruction manuals, it is obvious that Keith had the story backwards, as the earliest manuals have what Keith refers to as the intuitive steering, and the later manuals have the realistic steering.

There were two different versions of Auto Racing released due to a running change made during manufacturing. In the original version, steering is realistic -- it is oriented to the car. For example, if your car is moving downward on-screen and you want to turn right (that is, toward the left of the screen), you press right on the hand controller disc. Mattel received complaints about how difficult this was (even the instruction book warns that it takes some getting used to), so a running change was ordered to make steering intuitive -- to orient it to the screen. In the above example, to turn toward the left of the screen, you press left on the hand controller disc, even though the car is actually making a right.

Both versions had their advocates -- intuitive steering being easier to play; realistic steering being a better simulation of driving. One programmer likened it to the difference between driving an automatic and driving a stick. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell which version is which from the package; you either have to check the instruction book, or just plug in the cartridge and play.

FUN FACT: The five courses are mapped on a globe; you can drive off one, through the trees, and onto another, or onto the hidden drag strip. Drive off at the right place and the trees are spaces so that, without touching the hand controller, your car will circle the globe forever (well, until the screen-saver times out).

OVERLAYS