Enduro
1983 · Racing · Atari 2600
Overview
Enduro (1983) is Activision's Atari 2600 endurance race, in which each in-game day brings snow, fog and nightfall and a quota of cars that must be passed to keep going.
Deep Dive
The player drives in the National Enduro, a race that runs day after day. To stay in it, the driver must pass 200 cars on the first day and 300 on each day after that. Conditions change as the hours pass: icy patches make the car hard to control, fog cuts visibility, and at night only the taillights of the cars ahead can be seen. The curving road and distant mountains were given priority within the console's tight graphical limits.
Developer Story
Larry Miller wrote Enduro in assembly language on an Apple computer in about three months of 100-hour weeks, fitting it into a four-kilobyte ROM. Released in May 1983, it was the top-selling game of the month by June.
Did You Know?
- Players who lasted five days or more saw an on-screen trophy; mailing a photo of it to Activision earned an 'Activision Roadbuster' patch.
- Enduro won Best Sports Videogame at the 5th Arkie Awards, and Retro Gamer later called it arguably the 2600's best racer.
Sources & further reading
- Enduro (video game) — Wikipedia
