Ballblazer
Ballblazer was one of the last games Atari released for the 5200 console, offering an unusual sports game set in a futuristic arena somewhere in the future. Two players, or a player against a computer-controlled opponent named Droid, pilot anti-gravity hovercraft and try to get a glowing ball, called the rotofoil, into the opponent's goal at the opposite end of the field. The game combines elements of a racing game, where skillful maneuvering around the field and dodging the opponent are needed, with elements of a sports match based on passing, dribbling, and shooting at the goal, which has earned it the nickname "soccer of the future" to this day.
The game was developed by Lucasfilm Games and arrived on the Atari 5200 as a late port after it had already succeeded on Atari's eight-bit computers, which were hardware-wise very close to the console. Technically the game remains simple yet fluid - the field is shown in a pseudo-3D view with fast-scrolling grass that creates a sense of high speed, and the game is accompanied by unmistakable generated music, whose tempo and melody change according to the course of the match and the intensity of the struggle for the ball. The controls require mastering steering the hovercraft and the ball at the same time, which sets the game apart from classic sports titles of its era, where controlling a single character was enough.
Ballblazer is still valued today as one of the most original sports games of the early home gaming era, because it doesn't try to imitate any real sport but instead creates its own genre somewhere between racing and ball games. On the Atari 5200 it appeared only in the console's late lifespan, so for many owners it remained more of a rarity, one many recall more from the eight-bit computer version. Even after all these years it still feels fresh thanks to its imaginative concept and atmospheric music, which is among the most memorable things players take away from it, placing Ballblazer among the gems of the console's late era.
Why play it: For its imaginative concept somewhere between racing and ball games, and its unforgettable atmospheric music, which make this late gem of the console's library feel fresh even today.
Game 36 of 41 for Atari 5200
The same title elsewhere (2)
Ballblazer was designed by Lucasfilm Games specifically for Atari's 8-bit home computers, whose graphics hardware handled the smoothly scaled pseudo-3D track and the distinctive synthesized two-instrument duet that changed with the action on the field. The Atari 7800 arrived on the market years later as a console focused chiefly on fast, faithful conversions of popular titles, so its Ballblazer release aims mainly to preserve the core gameplay — the duel for the glowing ball on a split screen — without needing a computer keyboard or disk drive. Anyone wanting to try the game as the developers first designed it should reach for the 8-bit Atari version; the 7800 release is a convenient option for console owners without a computer.
