Ludography
Race - Spin-out - Cryptogram cover

1978 · Magnavox · Arcade · Quiz

Race - Spin-out - Cryptogram

Three games are available in this compilation:

Released
1978
Platforms
Magnavox Odyssey 2Odyssey 2 / Videopac G7000
Genres
ArcadeQuizRacing
Developers
Magnavox
Publishers
Magnavox
Perspective
First person
Themes
Action
Country
United States

About

Cartridge number 1 in the official Philips line of games for the Philips Videopac contains three games: Race, Spin-out, and Cryptogram. In the United States, it was distributed as the launch title for the Magnavox Odyssey² as Speedway / Spin-out / Cryptologic.

Media

Race - Spin-out - Cryptogram screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Race is a fairly simple game where the player controls a car travelling on an infinite straight stretch of road. The player starts from a standstill, and can move the stick up to accelerate, down to decelerate, or right and left move the car sideways. Players attempt to drive as far as they can within two minutes, receiving a time penalty every time they crash into another car. If you ever slow to a stop then your car gets run over.

Spin-out is a two-player game, in which each player controls a car around a loop of racetrack. The winner is the one who completes three or fifteen laps the fastest, there are time penalties for crashing into a wall or spinning when hit by the other car. This game comes with four variations.

Reception

The cartridge was reviewed by Video magazine in its "Arcade Alley" column where it was praised as "a good showcase for the [Odyssey²]'s capabilities" whose varied gameplay is "well calculated to whet the arcade addict's appetite for more". The three constituent games were reviewed individually as well with Speedway receiving faint criticism for its overly easy slow speed setting, Spin-Out being described as "best with two players", and Crypto-logic praised as "an easy way for parents to help their school-age children with spelling." Craig Kubey called it "certainly the most diverse" launch title for any of the then available systems.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Odyssey 2 / Videopac G700031 December 1978Worldwide

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Genres

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.