Bad Lands

Arcade Video game published 34 years ago:

BadLands (c) 1990 Atari Games Corp.

BadLands is a top-down single-screen racer for one or two players set in a post-apocalyptic future and is the last in Atari's Sprint series of racing games. It has been 50 years since nuclear disaster changed the world forever and the sport of sprint racing is now a ruthless battle between armed cars.

Races take place on tracks built in the ruins of the dangerous nuclear zone known only as the BADLANDS, with each race taking place over three laps. Cars are equipped with front-facing cannons that can be used to fire on rival racers to slow them down. Missile upgrades can also be earned or bought that will completely destroy a rival vehicle, which then takes several seconds to be replaced. Races feature three cars, so there is always at least one drone car to compete against.

Each track features play-field targets that can be shot for extra points and bonus missiles and, as with previous Sprint games, bonus wrenches appear at regular intervals that can be collected and used to upgrade the player's vehicle between races. The available upgrades are:
* Missiles
* Tires
* Turbo
* Increased speed
* Shields

BadLands features eight different circuits, each with its own unique, post-apocalyptic setting and background.

- TECHNICAL -

GAME ID: 136074

Main CPU: Motorola 68000 (@ 7.15909 Mhz), MOS Technology 6502 (@ 1.789772 Mhz)
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)

Players: 2
Control: dial
Buttons: 2

- TRIVIA -

BadLands was released in January 1990 (even if the title screen says 1989).

Only 10 dedicated units were produced in the USA and 554 in Ireland for European distribution. The selling price was $2295.

1600 conversion kits were produced in the USA and 229 in Ireland. The selling price was $1295. This was the first driving game 'kit' for the arcade.

Unlike its two more famous prequels, "Championship Sprint" and "Super Sprint", BadLands used a standard resolution monitor instead of the medium resolution monitor used in those games. This means the cars are somewhat larger and, because of this scale issue, the tracks feel smaller and more cramped than in other games in the series. As a result of this, only three cars compete, instead of the four vehicles that appeared in earlier games.

BadLands re-uses some of the sounds from "Championship Sprint" and "Super Sprint", particularly notable when bonus wrenches are collected.

Gary Hatt holds the official record for this game with 146080 points.

- SERIES -

1. Sprint 2 (1976)
2. Sprint 8 (1977)
3. Sprint 4 (1977)
4. Sprint One (1978)
5. Super Sprint (1986)
6. Championship Sprint (1986)
7. BadLands (1990)

- STAFF -

Project Leader: Kelly Turner
Programmers: Kelly Turner, Norm Avellar
Engineer: Tim Hubberstey
Animators: Kris Moser, Bridget Erdmann, Sam Comstock
Technician: Glenn McNamara
Audio: Brad Fuller, John Paul
Controls: Wade Winblad

Special thanks to: John Ray, Linda Benzler, Doug Snyder, Leon Fritts, Gary Popkin, Dave Cook, Kyoko Dougherty, Jess Melchor, Russell Dawe (as Rusty), Stevie Landaverde (as Stevie), Karen, Emmette Craver (as Emmette), Steve, Dave, Mike, Jim

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
Sony PlayStation 2 [AU] (2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures 3 [Model SLES-53666]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (sept.27, 2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures 3"
[US] Sony PS2 (sept.27, 2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures 3 [Model SLUS-21094]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (oct.14, 2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures 3"
[EU] Sony PS2 (oct.14, 2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures 3 [Model SLES-53666]"
Nintendo GameCube [US] (oct.26, 2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures 3 [Model DOL-GE3E-USA]"

* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1990)
[US] Commodore C64 [EU] (1990)
[EU] Atari ST (1990)
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1990)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1990) : Separate versions by Ocean and Domark
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (feb.17, 2006) "Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition"