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Rally-X
Promotional flyer, showcasing the arcade cabinets used for the title
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Midway
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release date(s)	1980
Genre(s)	Maze
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Input methods	4-way Joystick; 1 button
Cabinet	Upright, cabaret, and cocktail
Arcade system	Namco Pac-Man

Rally-X is a maze arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980. It runs on Namco Pac-Man hardware, and was the first Namco game to feature "Special Flags", which would become a recurring object in later games (along with the Galaxian flagship). It was the first game to ever feature a "bonus round." The object is to "capture" all of the flags scattered in the field before the other racers hit you.

Description

Gameplay screenshot

In the game, the player controls a blue car through a maze. The car will automatically move in whichever direction the joystick is pushed, but if it hits a wall, it will turn and continue.

In each stage, ten flags are scattered around the maze. The player must collect all of them to clear the stage and move on. The flags increase in value as they are collected: the first is 100 points, second is 200, third is 300, and so on. There are also special flags—if the player collects one of them, the value earned from flags doubles for the rest of the round. If the player dies, however, the next flag value is set back to 100 and the double bonus is lost.

Several red cars patrol the maze, and contact with any of them results in death. The number of these cars begins at three and increases in number throughout each normal stage to eight. The first five appear at the bottom of the screen, and the next three will appear at the top of the screen. However, the player can use a smoke screen against the red cars. If a red car runs into a cloud of smokescreen, it will be momentarily stunned. The amount of time stunned decreases with each level, but will still always cause the red car to chase the blue car using an alternate route. Using the smokescreen uses a small amount of fuel.

The car has a limited amount of fuel which is consumed with time, though it is normally sufficient to last until all flags are cleared. When fuel runs out, the car moves very slowly and the smokescreen no longer works, so it very quickly falls victim to the red cars.

There are also stationary rocks that the player must avoid. The rocks are randomly distributed throughout the maze, increasing in number as levels are advanced.

On the third stage and every fourth stage after that, a bonus stage ("CHALLENGING STAGE") will start. The player must collect flags in the normal way, but the red cars (the maximum normal number of red cars, which is eight) are unable to move. If the player runs out of fuel, the red cars will start moving. If a player hits a red car after they start to move or if they hit a rock, the challenging stage ends, and the player loses a life.

The game features a distinctive and memorable soundtrack that plays throughout.

Ports

Rally-X was ported to the MSX home computer. It was also included in Namco Museum Volume 1 series of 1995, which was released for the PlayStation, and Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection in 2005.

Jakks Pacific ported Rally-X to its Namco Collection TV game, which also includes Dig Dug, Bosconian, Galaxian, and Pac-Man.

Two unlicensed ports exist for the Nintendo Entertainment System: one by Hwang Shinwei ("迷魂車/BB Car"), and another by Sachen ("Jovial Race").

Sequels

The game's sequel, New Rally-X, offers a slightly different color scheme and easier gameplay (the special flag now flashes on the radar). Also, a feature called the "Lucky Flag" was added, which awards the player bonus points for the amount of fuel remaining when touched, after which the game continues if there are more flags. New Rally-X was manufactured in greater numbers and became more popular (at least in Japan) than the original.

Namco Classics Collection Volume 2, released in 1996, includes a version of Rally-X with enhanced graphics and gameplay, Rally-X Arrangement. Namco Museum Remix, released on October 23, 2007 for the Wii, also features a revamped version of Rally-X called Rally-X Remix.

Radar Rat Race is a Rally-X clone for the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore 64 with a different theme: cars are replaced with mice, flags with cheese, boulders with cats, smokescreens with "star screens", and the soundtrack with "Three Blind Mice".

Trivia

In 1980 Defender, Pac-Man, and Battlezone were shown alongside Rally-X at a trade show sponsored by the Amusement Machine Operators of America. It was believed that Rally-X would be the top money-earner. Defender went on to sell more than 60,000 units—more than disproving these projections—and cemented its place in video game history.^[1]

In Rally-X Remix, you can get the option to play as the red car and crash into Pac-Man. To unlock it, known as "Red mode", you must beat all 4 worlds.

References

External links

• Rally-X at the Killer List of Videogames

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

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Rally-X
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco Midway Games
Japanese title	ラリーX
Release date(s)	1980
Genre(s)	Action
System(s)	Arcade, MSX, Fujitsu FM-7, GameTap
Players	1-2

Wikipedia has an article about:

Rally-X

Rally-X is a title that is more of a footnote in Namco arcade history, having been eclipsed not only by it's own sequel New Rally-X, but also by another fellow Namco title, Pac-Man. Rally-X is quite a fun game, it just doesn't stand out as well as some of it's competition. You play the role of a driver who must navigate through a zoomed in view of a set of streets, attempting to collect all ten flags in the stage while avoiding the red enemy cars and rocks. Simple in premise, difficult in practice.

When Rally-X was shown at the 1980 Amusement Machine Operators of America (or AMOA), it appeared alongside titles such as Pac-Man and Defender. The marketting experts at the show all declared that Rally-X would be more successful than either of the other two games. They couldn't have been more wrong. As a result, Rally-X didn't gain much notoriety, especially outside of Japan. It appeared on the MSX and FM-7 home computer systems, and would not be seen again until it was included in Namco Museum Vol. 1 in 1995 for the PlayStation. In an effort to address the complaints Namco received about the game's difficulty, they released the better balanced New Rally-X, which performed much better. Rally-X's lasting legacy was the introduction of the yellow special flag, which would reappear in other Namco games such as Xevious.

Title screen.

MSX box

Controls

• Joystick: Press the joystick to direct the car in the four cardinal directions that you would like the car to go. The car will never stop moving, and will automatically turn when it hits a wall. You can hold the joystick down in a new direction in anticipation of a turn. The car will even lean in to either side to indicate that the turn will be performed.
• Smokescreen: Press the button to release three puffs of smoke behind your car. Enemy cars that run into this smoke will be stunned and unable to continue along the path that they were driving along. While this can be a life saver in close situations, using the smokescreen substantially reduces the amount of fuel you have. Using smokescreen more than once every thirty seconds will almost ensure that you will run out of gas before all ten flags are captured.
• 1-2 Players: Press to start a one or two player game.

Elements

Player car

This is your car, the one that you must drive around the stage in order to collect every flag. You are not as fast as the red enemy cars, but you can turn around corners faster. Your car also has one secret weapon against the enemy: smokescreen. But beware, using smokescreen burns fuel much faster than normal. Should your car run out of fuel, you will slow down to a point where escape from the enemy is impossible. One collision with an enemy or a rock will destroy your car and you will lose one chance.

Enemy cars

Enemy cars start out directly beneath your starting position. More get added as you reach higher levels, and eventually enemy cars are added to the stage at the very top of the map. They are faster than your car in a straightaway, and their drivers will attempt to collide by taking the quickest path that they can find. However, they're not as bright as you and they are easy to fool. They won't make a 180 degree turn unless they have absolutely no choice. Driving into your smokescreen, a rock, or another enemy car won't eliminate them from the game, but it will stun them for a second or two, giving you a chance to put some distance between you.

Flags

There are ten flags in every stage. You must collect all ten of them to advance to the next stage. The first flag is worth 100 points, the second is 200, and so on until you collect the tenth flag for 1000 points. The points awarded will reset back to 100 if you lose a life and start the stage over. One flag out of the ten is a special flag. By picking it up, the score that you receive for each flag thereafter doubles.

Rocks

Simply put, rocks are a danger to your car. If you hit them, you lose one life. If the enemy hits them, they will become stunned just as they do when they hit your smokescreen or another enemy car.

How to play

• Your only goal is to collect all ten flags as quickly as possible. You need to pay constant attention to two things: the zoomed in view of the world that occupies most of the screen, and the radar view of the world to the right.
• The radar view provides you with two key pieces of information: the relative position of the flags in the world, and the proximity of the enemy cars to your's.
• The method you use for collecting the flags is of utmost importance. It is usually best to try to hop from one flag to whichever flag is closest, but the enemies will make that quite difficult to do. As a general rule, do not reverse your direction unless it is absolutely necessary and completely safe to do.
• If you have to choose between getting close to an enemy to pick up a nearby flag, and abandoning that flag for a farther flag, go for the farther flag. The more distance you put between you and the other cars, the safer you will remain.
• In general, you will be safe off if you choose a direction to collect flags, clockwise or counter-clockwise, and stick to it throughout the duration of the stage.
• The smokescreen is an invaluable and incredibly tempting tool to use. But if you use it to excess, you will deplete your fuel supply very rapidly, making it more likely that you will run out of fuel before you collect all ten flags, which will almost ensure your demise.
• Challenge levels (spelled "CHARANGING STAGE" by the game) occur before each stage change, which occurs on every fourth stage. In these stages, you are free to collect all of the flags without being harassed by enemy cars until your fuel runs out. However, you can still crash into parked cars and rocks, so be careful.

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Rally-X is an arcade game released in 1980.

Gameplay

You guide a car through a scrolling maze, looking for ten flags to pick up while avoiding rocks and collisions with enemy cars in pursuit of you. Use the radar on the right side of the screen to find where the flags are and where your enemies are. Each flag you pick up gives you increasing points in increments of 100, though once you pick up the special flag that's marked with an S beside it, all increasing point values will be double -- until you reach the last flag or collide with a car or rock. You can activate smokescreens by which you can stun the chasing cars for a little while. You have a limited amount of fuel with which to use to complete the level; when it runs out, your car ends up moving slowly and thus can easily be overrun by the chasing cars.

On the third stage and every fourth stage after that, a bonus stage ("CHALLENGING STAGE") will start. The player must collect flags in the normal way, but the red cars (the maximum normal number of red cars, which is eight) are unable to move. If the player runs out of fuel, the red cars will start moving. If a player hits a red car after they start to move or if they hit a rock, the challenging stage ends, and the player loses a life.