Arcade flyer for Rally-X.
Rally-X (ラリーX Rarī Ekkusu?) is a maze/driving arcade game that was released in November 1980 by Namco. This is one of their three arcade games whose scores didn't roll over at 1,000,000 (the other two being it's sequel, New Rally-X and Bosconian), and is the first ever video game to feature background music and a bonus stage. The game's Special Flag item would go on to appear in other Namco games, including Xevious, Libble Rabble, and Gaplus. The game had a sequel/upgrade in 1981 known as New Rally-X (which has been more popular than the original).
Gameplay[]
The player uses a joystick to control a blue car around a maze. The player must collect the yellow flags that are randomly placed on the board. A level is complete when all of the flags are collected. If the player collects a Special Flag (marked with an "S"), then any flags collected afterwards are doubled by the score. The effect will be gone if the player loses a life.
Chasing after the player are a group of red cars, which will attempt to follow the player and crash into him/her, in which the player loses a life. However, the player can press the button on the control panel to lay out a "smokescreen", which will stun the red cars. The red cars will also be stunned if two of them collide, or if one hits a rock.
The board also features rocks, that can cause the player to lose a life, and the red cars to be stunned.
On the right of the screen is a radar, and a fuel meter. The radar marks the position of the player and the red cars, as well as the remaining flags. The Special Flag will be marked as a blinking dot. The fuel meter is used when the player is on the stage, or uses a smoke screen. When the fuel meter runs out, the car starts to slow down, before stopping completely (in which the red cars will collide with him/her).
Round three and every fourth round contains a bonus level. The player still collects flags, but the red cars will not move (until the fuel runs out). However, the rocks and idle red cars CAN still kill the player, ending the bonus round.
New Rally-X[]
New Rally-X (ニューラリーX Nyū Rarī Ekkusu?) is the sequel or upgrade to Rally-X, released in 1981. The game was changed to become easier and more colorful than it's predecessor.
The game adds a Lucky Flag to the game, which will give the player a bonus score depending on how much fuel is left. The player and red cars have been changed completely, and the mazes feature different colors. The music has been changed to a more upbeat tune, and the game removes most of the dead ends from the first game, as well as reducing the amount of red cars on the stages.
Ports[]
Rally-X was ported to the MSX computer in 1984, and the MSX port was included in Disk NG 2 in 1990. It was later included in Namco Museum Volume 1 in 1995 (along with New Rally-X). The game was later included in Namco History in 1997 and Microsoft Revenge of Arcade in 1998. Both games were added in Namco Museum Battle Collection and Namco Museum 50th Anniversary in 2005, Namco Museum Virtual Arcade in 2008, and Namco Museum Megamix in 2010. The game was later added in the Pac-Man's Arcade Party arcade machines in 2010. New Rally-X was later added to the Wii Virtual Console in 2009.