Trailblazer (video game)

Trailblazer is a video game that requires the player to direct a ball along a series of suspended passages. Released originally by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, Amstrad CPC, and C16/plus/4 in 1986 (there was also an enhanced version on Amstrad CPC 3" disc). It was ported to the Amiga and Atari ST.

Trailblazer
Commodore 64/128 cover art
Developer(s)Mr. Chip
Publisher(s)Gremlin Graphics
Mindscape
Designer(s)Shaun Southern
Programmer(s)Commodore 64
Shaun Southern
Ports
Shaun Hollingworth,
Peter M. Harrap
Chris Kerry
Colin Dooley
Platform(s)Commodore 64, C16 / Plus/4, Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST, MSX, ZX Spectrum
Release1986
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player

In 2005 a remake for the Gizmondo handheld console was released,[1] and it was also adapted in 2011 for the PS3, PlayStation Portable, PS Vita, and PlayStation TV as part of the Playstation Mini series.

Gameplay
The ball gets thrown out of a hole between some green speedup squares; blue jump squares lie ahead

The game can be played either in time trial or arcade mode. Races usually last between 15 and 45 seconds. Special fields on the track let the ball jump (blue), slow down (red), speed up (green) or warp speed the ball (white), invert the controls (cyan/light blue), bounce it backwards (purple) or are holes (black).

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon #158 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column, as part of the Mastertronic MEGA Pack of 10 games previously released in Europe. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars, stating "Our favorite on this disk; racing on Cosmic Causeway roads against the clock or against a robot. This one was really fun".[2]

Zzap!64's reviewers also enjoyed the game which they thought was "an excellent variation on the race game theme". The overall rating given was 93%, qualifying the C64 version for the magazine's Sizzler award.[3] Steve Panak, reviewing the Atari 8-bit version for ANALOG Computing, concluded "the game is the most original arcade action wristbuster to come down the pike in a long time, and one of the best two-player competition games I've seen."[4]

References
  1. Grannell, Craig (May 2010). "The Making Of... Trailblazer and Cosmic Causeway". Retro Gamer. No. 76. Imagine Publishing. pp. 86–89.
  2. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (June 1990). "The Role of Computers". Dragon. No. 158. TSR. pp. 47–54. ISSN 0279-6848.
  3. Eddy, Richard; Penn, Gary; Rignall, Julian (December 1986). "Zzap! Test: Trailblazer". Zzap!64. No. 20. Newsfield Publications. pp. 172–173. ISSN 0954-867X.
  4. Panak, Steve (April 1988). "Panak Strikes!". ANALOG Computing. No. 59. L.F.P. pp. 56–57. ISSN 0744-9917.
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