Indy 500 is a top-down racing video game developed and published by Atari for the Atari Video Computer System, later renamed the Atari 2600. Released in 1977 as one of the console’s original launch titles, it was inspired by the Indianapolis 500 and based partly on Atari’s earlier arcade game Indy 800.
The game was designed by Carla Meninsky and Ed Riddle, with Riddle also serving as its programmer. A Sears Tele-Games edition was released under the simpler title Race.
Despite the title, the cartridge contains considerably more than a single conventional race. Its fourteen selectable variations are divided among four main activities: Race Car, Crash n’ Score, Tag and Ice Race. Standard races allow one player to complete as many laps as possible within sixty seconds or two players to compete over twenty-five laps. Crash n’ Score replaces the finish line with a randomly appearing target, while Tag is a two-player pursuit game in which one car attempts to catch the other. Ice Race uses slippery handling that makes acceleration, braking and cornering more difficult.
The different modes are played on several compact circuits and enclosed arenas. The Grand Prix course resembles an open figure eight, while Devil’s Elbow features narrower roads and tighter bends. Other variations use barriers, obstacles and screen-wrapping passages instead of a normal racetrack. Although the graphics consist mainly of simple cars, tracks and score displays, the clear presentation allows both players to follow the action easily. The limited visuals are supported by basic but effective engine and collision sounds.
The game was originally supplied with two Atari Driving Controllers. Although these devices resemble paddle controllers, their knobs can rotate continuously in either direction and generate a two-bit Gray code that allows the car to occupy sixteen different steering positions. The red button accelerates the vehicle, while turning the knob changes its direction. This provides unusually smooth and precise control for an early console racing game, but it also makes the original cartridge incompatible with an ordinary joystick unless the emulator specifically supports the Driving Controller.
The version emulated on this website therefore does not use the original ROM. The emulator can load the original cartridge, but it does not reproduce the special Driving Controller required to steer the cars correctly. A modified ROM is used in which the control routine has been reprogrammed for a standard joystick: left and right turn the car, while the fire button accelerates. The steering speed has also been adjusted to imitate the gradual rotation of the original controller. The game modes, tracks, graphics, scoring and other gameplay elements remain unchanged, making the hack a practical adaptation rather than a redesigned version of the game.
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