RoadBlasters is an arcade game released by Atari Games in 1987. In RoadBlasters, the player must navigate a sports car through 50 different rally races, getting to the finish line before running out of fuel. The object of the game is to complete all 50 rallies without running out of fuel. There is no limit to how many vehicles a player can receive to complete a rally, as long as they have fuel. However, the destruction of the vehicle will subtract a small amount from the player's fuel tank. In the arcade, Sega and Atari Lynx versions, players could start the game at a higher rally, with additional opportunities to jump several levels from time to time. Players can continue their game from where they left off; however, the player has only one chance to complete the 50th and final rally. For completing the final rally the player gets one million points as a bonus. Players can get fuel in four ways: green globes, red globes, a checkpoint, and the rally point. Green globes are on the road, and fill the main gas tank. Red globes are revealed by shooting enemies on the road. After completing each rally, the player is awarded extra reserve fuel determined by how many enemies were destroyed during the level. Each consecutive kill shot increases the multiplier, from 1 up to 10. A miss lowers that multiplier by 1. Whatever the multiplier is at when the finish line is crossed is multiplied by the value of the enemies slain, and that much fuel is awarded. Each rally features a midway point, denoted by a line on the road which the vehicle crosses. At this point, the amount of fuel in the main tank is restored to what it was at the beginning of the rally (the amount of fuel in the main tank given at the rally's start fluctuates throughout the game). The amount of fuel in the reserve tank, however, is not restored. When a player gets low on fuel in their main tank, a fuel light will blink on and an alarm will sound on the display. Using up the main tank will mean the vehicle then uses what reserve fuel is stored. The game's creators originally intended for a digitized version of the 1950s pop song "Mr. Sandman" to play during one of the levels. This was never implemented into the game. A promotional giveaway was accessible on the original arcade version, where players could send in their name and "personalized secret code" after completing rally 50 and receive a free "RoadBlasters" T-shirt. The promotion ended August 31, 1987. During game play, a slightly robotic-sounding female voice gives the player advice in the form of several short phrases, often related to using the Nitro Inject, or when a player destroys several enemies in a few seconds. These phrases include "What a move!" and "Eat lead, roadhog." When a player has the Nitro Inject activated when crossing the rally's finish line, the vehicle will drive off into the horizon, and the female voice will state, "Now that's cruising."

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