Badlands is an arcade game from Atari Games that built a story of brutal survival in a desert future on the border between racing and vehicular combat. The player sits behind the wheel of an armored vehicle, and the goal isn't just to cross the finish line first, but above all to survive a track full of rivals who ram, shoot, and try to take each other out before reaching the finish. The concept draws on the tradition of games like Death Race, but with a far more action-packed, noisier take typical of the late 1980s.
Gameplay relies on a combination of acceleration, dodging obstacles, and the tactical use of weapons mounted on the vehicle. The tracks are lined with hazards of the desert terrain, and opponents behave aggressively, so a calm, collision-free ride is practically nonexistent – the game rewards players who can alternate fast driving with precisely timed attacks. The cabinet version also offered cooperative play for two players side by side, which increased both the chaos and the fun at once – both players had to coordinate their progress along the track, since colliding with your own partner cost just as much as a crash with an opponent.
Badlands never achieved the fame of the great racing titles of its era, but among cabinets themed around road violence it carved out a solid place thanks to its straightforward, uncomplicated fun. It's a typical representative of the arcade philosophy of "drop a coin, drive, and survive," with no unnecessary menus and immediate immersion in the game. The graphics and the sound effects of explosions and crashes were designed so that even a short session at the cabinet looked spectacular to onlookers and drew passersby in to watch.
Why play it: a raw mix of racing and vehicular combat the way only the late 1980s knew how to make it.
Game 86 of 258 for Arcade
