Platform: Atari 2600
Region: NTSC-U
Country: United States of America
Developer(s): Activision
Publishers(s): Activision
ReleaseDate: 1982-12-18
Players: 2
Co-op: No
River Raid is a 1982 Atari 2600 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and released by Activision in the USA on December 18, 1982. In River Raid the player is in a B1 StratoWing Assault Jet that is retrofitted with rapid-fire guided missiles and had the ability to both accelerate and slow down easily. The jet is going down the "River of No Return" where it is on a mission to break the enemy blockades and halt troop advances. The river in the game has no actual ending and scrolls infinitely. River Raid is played with the joystick. The player can control movement left and right on the screen and forward and backwards to accelerate and slow down respectively. Players can shoot missiles with the joy stick's button to destroy enemy tankers, helicopters, fuel depots and bridges. The goal in River Raid is to collect as many points as possible before crashing or running out of fuel. Fuel can be collected from flying over a fuel depot to fill up the gauge that is displayed at the bottom of the screen. As the river progresses, there will be less fuel tanks. The player loses one of their jets if they collide with the river bank or enemy objects. If they have remaining jets, the player restarts play at the same section of the river they crashed. If the player has managed to destroy a bridge at the end of a section, the player will restart at that bridge on losing a life.
Trailer: YouTube
ESRB Rating: E - Everyone
Genre(s): Action | Shooter