Route-16 Turbo



Route-16 Turbo is an updated version of an older arcade game entitled Route 16, developed jointly by Tehkan (later Tecmo) and Sunsoft (in a manner similar to the way Namco's Warpman is an updated version of Warp & Warp.) Route-16 Turbo takes the concept established in Route 16, and updates the quality of the graphics, but keeps the goal of the game the same. The game play is a near perfect combination of Rally-X and Venture. The player drives a car through several zoomed in blocks collecting money, and travels between blocks along a zoomed out view of the world.

The original arcade game was ported to the unsuccessful Emerson Arcadia console in 1983. Route-16 Turbo was originally released only for the Famicom in Japan, and allowed you to choose from between three different difficulty levels. In 2001, a reproducton of the Famicom game was packaged along with Atlantis no Nazo in Memorial Series: Sunsoft Vol. 2 for the PlayStation.

Controls

 * : Direct the car in any direction. Diagonals are possible, but the car will accomplish this by moving in a zig-zagging staircase motion.
 * : Press the A button to activate your car's Turbo function. Using Turbo makes your car speed up, but it substantially increases your fuel consumption as well.  You will consume more fuel covering the same distance with Turbo than without it.
 * : No function.
 * : Pauses the game.
 * : No function.

Player car
You control the player car. Your goal is to travel around to every block that contains a collectible item, and collect it. Once you collect every item in the stage, you will advance to the next stage. You must avoid contact with the three enemy cars that occupy the stage with you, as well as any moving obstacle that a block might contain. You can use the Turbo button to help you get away from trouble quickly, but you will use up considerably more fuel in the process. When you run out of fuel, you can continue to drive, but Turbo will no longer be available.

Enemy cars
The three enemy cars wander around the maze passively seeking out the position of your car. They attempt to hone in are your position, passing through blocks as they do. The passages in the blocks may not allow the enemy cars to approach you, but they can take a direct path towards you in the alleys between the blocks. Collecting the flag will temporarily turn the tables on the enemy cars. During this time, you can collide with them for bonus points. If you hit them, they will remain out of commission for a few moments, and then return.

Items
There are various items to collect inside many of the blocks in each stage.
 * Money bags: You are awarded points for collecting each bag. Some money bags are worth more points than others.
 * Checkered flag: By collecting the flag, you can chase after the enemy cars for a limited time, and collide with them for bonus points.
 * Oil slick: Running over oil slicks slows your car down to half speed for a small amount of time, during which you can not use Turbo. Some money bags alternate with an oil slick, so you must time your approach in order to get points instead of becoming slow.
 * ? Marks: The ? symbols are surrounded by four circles. Touching one circle will change the ? to a money bag while the other three turn it in to a bomb.  If the circle you touch turns it into a bomb, you can continue to touch circles until the bomb becomes a money bag.
 * Bombs: If you touch the bomb, you lose a life.
 * Rings: Rings do not show up on the radar and are not required to complete the stage, but they award you many bonus points if you find and collect them.
 * Monsters: Various kinds of monsters (or various things like foot steps) wander around certain blocks. Contact with them is deadly.

How to play

 * You will begin play inside one of the blocks. Each block contains at least one exit to the alleys the surround the 16 blocks.
 * Driving through the exit of a block causes the view to zoom out, and you will continue play on the radar screen.
 * On the radar screen, your position and the position of the enemy cars are indicated as small squares.
 * In addition to the position of the cars, you will also see the position of all of the items in each block that you need to collect in order to complete the stage.
 * By driving through the entrance of another block, the view zooms back in and you can see the layout of the particular block that you've entered.
 * In this view, you can see your current score, the current round, the number of lives remaining, and how much fuel you have remaining.
 * At the end of each stage, you are awarded bonus points for any remaining fuel. Then you continue on to the next stage.