Road Runner

For the 1983 BBC Micro racing game, see Road Runner (1983).

For the 1985 Atari arcade game featuring Warner Bros. characters, see Road Runner (1985).

Road Runner (later changed to Desert Gun) is a first-person shooter arcade game that had been released by Midway Games in 1977. The reason for the name change is not like that of Datsun 280 Zzzap; when Midway merged with Bally, they had also released a game called "Road Runner" but according to Jay (now Jamie) Fenton, the real reason for the name change was to avoid legal issues with Warner Bros. who had created a cartoon character called "The Road Runner" in 1948. That character would later go on to appear in an Atari arcade title, from 1985, also titled Road Runner. MAME lists this game as Desert Gun.

Road Runner utilizes an Intel 8080 microprocessor (running at 1.9968 MHz), and the player must use a lightgun (made up to look like a hunting rifle) with a trigger to shoot various animals (including road runners), for points. As with several other early Midway games, the gameplay is time-based, as opposed to life-based - and much like in Sea Wolf, the game will be extended if you manage to reach a preset amount of points before the game timer runs out.

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  Screenshot of the game.

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  Upright arcade cabinet.

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  After the game's name was changed, the flyer was re-made.