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Road Runner's Death Valley Rally (known in Japan as Looney Tunes: Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote and in Europe as Looney Tunes: Road Runner)[citation needed] is a 1992 video game developed by ICOM Simulations and published by Sunsoft for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the Looney Tunes characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.[1]
| Road Runner's Death Valley Rally | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developer(s) | ICOM Simulations |
| Publisher(s) | Sunsoft |
| Producer(s) | David Marsh |
| Programmer(s) | Mike Garber |
| Artist(s) | Jeff Troutman Brian Babendererde |
| Composer(s) | Nu Romantic Productions |
| Platform(s) | Super NES |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
editRoad Runner's Death Valley Rally features side-scrolling platform gameplay.[1] The player controls Road Runner, who must avoid being eaten by Wile E. Coyote.[1] The game consists of five different environments, with each one containing three levels and a boss battle.[1] Coyote has a unique method of ambush for every level, ranging from the Acme Batman outfit to explosives, and for every level there is a cutscene of the contraption failing once the player crosses the finish mark.[citation needed] After every three levels, Road Runner battles against one of Wile E. Coyote's super weapons in a boss fight.[2]
Road Runner has a series of control movements useful to beating the game, including jumping and running. Road Runner can also peck his beak to kill enemies, and can eat bird seeds that give him a burst of turbo speed, allowing him to scale walls. However, turbo speed can only be used a limited number of times, as it depletes the bird seeds; additional turbo speed is gained by consuming more bird seeds.[2] The boost also acts as an invincibility, being able to destroy enemies and resist damage from Coyote.[citation needed] The player can also make Road Runner say "meep-meep!"[2] and make him stick out his tongue, although neither serves a gameplay function.
Reception
editJonathan Davies of Super Play magazine gave the game a 42 percent rating and criticized it for its difficult gameplay, bad collision detection, and lack of a password feature, and wrote that the game is composed of "some absolutely fabulous animated sequences (they really are wonderful) linked by some truly appalling platform levels."[2] Road Runner's Death Valley Rally has an aggregate score of 65.67% based on three reviews on GameRankings.[3]
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "You, as the Road Runner, must escape the clutches of Wile E. Coyote, whose ACME-brand costumes and contraptions have been lovingly reproduced in detail from actual 1950s cartoons."[4] Nintendo Power ranked the game 10# in their Top SNES Games of 1992 writing: "The feeling of the classic cartoon is captured through great character animations, sampled sounds and hilarious defeat scenes for Wile E. Coyote."[5]
Cancelled sequel
editA sequel, titled Wile E's Revenge, was in development by Software Creations and was planned as a follow-up to Death Valley Ralley. Unlike the first game, the sequel would allow the user to control Wile E. Coyote as he chases the Road Runner. The game was cancelled because of Sunsoft's bankruptcy in 1995.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Wigmore, Glenn. "Road Runner's Death Valley Rally - Overview". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Davies, Jonathan (February 1993). "Road Runner's Death Valley Rally review". Super Play. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- ^ "Road Runner's Death Valley Rally". GameRankings. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ^ Strauss, Bob (December 4, 1992). "Holiday video game guide: 1992". EW.com. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- ^ "Top 10 SNES Games of 1992". Nintendo Power. No. 44. United States. January 1993. p. 120. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "Wile E's Revenge (Road Runner 2)". SNES Central.