Rally-X

Rally-X is a maze chase game where the player controls a blue Formula One racecar. The objective is to collect yellow flags that are scattered around an enclosed maze while avoiding collision with red-colored cars that pursue the player. Each level contains ten flags that increase their point value when collected in succession. The player can temporarily stun the red cars with smoke screens, which depletes a portion of their fuel meter at the right of the screen. The third level and every fourth thereafter is a bonus round (called a "Charanging Stage"), where the objective is to collect the flags in a certain amount of time. In these bonus rounds, the red cars remain idle and will not chase the player unless their fuel is empty. ==Development and release==

Rally-X was created by Namco and designed by Hirohito Ito, with hardware developed by Kouichi Tashiro. It was produced as a successor to Head On (1979), an older arcade game from Sega that similarly involved collecting items in a maze while avoiding enemy cars that pursued the player. before receiving a wide release on October 3, 1980. When preparing to release the game overseas, Namco believed Rally-X had more foreign appeal than Pac-Man with its audiovisual presentation and challenge, which it believed American audiences would prefer to the simplicity and "cuteness" present in Pac-Man. Namco presented Rally-X at the 1980 Amusement & Music Operators Union (AMOA) tradeshow in Chicago, Illinois, alongside Pac-Man, King & Balloon, and Tank Battalion. An often-repeated story is that out of the games presented, specifically Pac-Man, the attending industry analysts believed Rally-X was the stand-out and the one destined to be successful. Midway Manufacturing, the video game division of Bally Manufacturing, agreed to distribute Rally-X and Pac-Man in North America. Dave Marofske, the president of Midway, believed the two had the most potential out of the four Namco games presented. Midway released Rally-X in North America in February 1981 in upright, tabletop, and cabaret cabinet variations. Conversions A home conversion of Rally-X was released for the VIC-20 in Japan in 1981. The port was developed by HAL Laboratory and published by the Japanese division of Commodore International. Due to licensing restrictions, HAL changed the game's characters to mice and cats and released it in North America as Radar Rat Race. which was released in Europe by Argus Press Software under the Bug-Byte name. Dempa Shinbun developed versions for the Fujitsu FM-7, MZ-1500, and Sharp X1 computers in Japan the same year. Rally-X remained relatively obscure for many years until 1995, when it was included in the PlayStation compilation Namco Museum Vol. 1 along with six other Namco arcade games. Rally-X has been included in several Namco compilations including Namco History Vol. 2 (1997), Microsoft Revenge of Arcade (1998), Namco Museum Battle Collection (2005), Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (2005), Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (2008), and Namco Museum Megamix (2010). In 1996, Rally-X was re-released for arcades as part of Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2. It has also appeared in several Namco "plug'n play" game controllers from Jakks Pacific. Rally-X is also included in both Pac-Man’s Arcade Party (2010) and Pac-Man’s Pixel Bash (2019). In 2021, Rally-X saw a digital release under the Arcade Archives label for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. ==Reception==

The game was a commercial success in Japan, where it became the sixth highest-grossing arcade game of 1980, and Namco's third highest that year below Pac-Man and Galaxian. In contrast, the game was not as successful in North America. By July 1981, Midway had sold 2,500 Rally-X arcade machines, significantly less than the company's other releases at the time. Dick Pearson of RePlay highlighted its colorful visuals and sound effects in a preview from the tradeshow, comparing its gameplay favorably to Pac-Man and writing that it "shows promise as an entertaining maze video game". A writer for Cash Box provided similar comments, further applauding its scoring system and layer of strategy. In his review of Namco Museum Vol. 1, Computer and Video Games Ed Lomas said Rally-X was fun at first, but quickly became repetitive and suffered from poor movement controls. Brett Alan Weiss of AllGame was similarly mixed in his review from 1998, where he claimed its only noteworthy aspects were the "merciless" difficulty and smoke screen weapon. Weiss found its visuals and sounds to only be "merely functional", and secondary to the difficult level. It was listed among the greatest arcade games by Gamest readers in 1998, being selected for its innovation and evolution on the traditional gameplay of maze chase action games. Rally-X has continued to earn praise in retrospective commentary. ==Legacy==

Rally-X is credited as being one of the first games to feature continuous background music and a bonus round, predating Sega's Carnival, which was released in June 1980. In response to player feedback from the original, Namco released a sequel named New Rally-X in 1981, which was designed to improve on the original's flaws and make it easier for newcomers. New Rally-X has been seen as an improvement over the original and has been ported to several consoles and compilations, such as mobile phones and the Xbox 360. Rally-X Arrangement, included in Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 (1996), is a remake of the original that implements power-ups and new enemy types. The Special Flag has become a symbol for Namco and has made frequent appearances in games, usually as an item that awards an extra life. It has appeared in games such as Xevious (1983), Gaplus (1984), Tinkle Pit (1994), Tales of Phantasia (1995), Xevious Resurrection (2009), Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U (2014), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018). Namco Bandai's "game consulting" service, which provides insight on the company's design philosophies to clients, is named Special Flag, as are its indoor restaurants located in its VR Zone amusement centers. Merchandise such as enamel pins and keychains featuring the Special Flag have also been produced. ==Notes==