Route-16 (video game)

1981 video game

1981 video game

Route-16

US arcade flyer

Developer(s)| Tehkan
Sun Electronics
Publisher(s)|

* JP: Gifu Tokki[2]
* NA: Centuri
* EU: Sun Corporation[3]

Platform(s)| Arcade, Arcadia 2001, Family Computer, PlayStation
Release|

* JP: February 1981[2]
* NA: April 1981[1]
* EU: 1981[3]

Genre(s)| Maze, racing
Mode(s)| Two players alternating turns

Route-16[a] is a driving maze video game released in arcades by Tehkan and Sun Electronics in 1981. The game was licensed to Centuri for distribution in the United States. It was ported to the Arcadia 2001 console. An enhanced version was released in Japan as Route-16 Turbo for the Famicom in 1985, and in 2001 as part of the PlayStation game Sunsoft Memorial Vol. 2.

## Gameplay

[edit]

The player controls a car and must explore a maze divided into sixteen rooms. The player must collect all the money bags while avoiding colliding with opponents' cars or running out of fuel. Every time the player goes out of a room, a large overworld map is shown, indicating the position of every car and all the money bags.[4] There are also flags that can be driven over to invert the roles, so the player can crash the opposite cars and stop them for a few seconds, while getting bonus points.

## Legacy

[edit]

Route-16 distinguished itself from other maze games with the addition of a large overworld map, showing the locations of the player, cars, maze and treasures.[4]

Route-16 Turbo box art

Route-16 Turbo,[b] an improved version of Route-16 for the Famicom, was published on October 4, 1985, by Sunsoft only in Japan. Route-16 Turbo added multiple difficulty levels and improved graphics and music.

Due to a programming bug, the Famicom version will never recognise that round 9 is completed, preventing players from going further without emulation. It is unknown whether it is present on the PlayStation version.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Japanese: ルート16, Hepburn: Rūto 16
2. ^ Japanese: ルート16ターボ, Hepburn: Rūto 16 Tābo

## See also

[edit]

* 005
* Rally-X
* Venture (video game)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Manufacturers Equipment". Cash Box. Cash Box Pub. Co. 5 February 1983. p. 35.
2. ^ a b Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 31\. ISBN 978-4990251215.
3. ^ a b "Video Game Flyers: Route 16, Sun Corporation (EU)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
4. ^ a b "Five great (but forgotten) alternatives to Pac-Man from the early '80s". Digitally Downloaded. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Route-16 at the Killer List of Videogames

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Sunsoft

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Related|

* Naoki Kodaka

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