Simple, undemanding arcade fun
An early driving game from Konami, Roadfighter is a simple but highly addictive time-waster that is perfect for brief blasts of high octane fun. Similar in style to the classics Spy Hunter and APB, Roadfighter takes a top-down, vertically scrolling, 2D approach and requires players to drive their car at manic speeds, passing opponents and avoiding the copious obstacles which litter the course. And that really is all there is to Roadfighter. Despite the name, there is no actual combat to be found here, something which would have added to the enjoyment factor, and while there is a nice variety of tracks and backgrounds to add visual appeal, they are all essentially the same in terms of gameplay. Graphics are as you would expect from the period, basic, blocky and lacking in detail but they are perfectly serviceable and do the job well enough. Controls too are simple, requiring little more than hitting left or right to move your car, but there is a fair degree of challenge on display here and certainly enough to keep old-school arcade fans interested for a while, addictive as the game is. Those gamers used to modern racers with all their bells and whistles would be best advised to avoid this however.