Grid Runner

Grid Runner
PlayStation cover art
Developer(s)	Radical Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Virgin Interactive
Producer(s)	Brian Thalken Stacy Allyn Hendrickson
Designer(s)	Ryan Slemko
Programmer(s)	Stephen Lyons Michael Gyori Johan Thornton
Artist(s)	Ryan Slemko Cliff Garbutt Ken Brown
Composer(s)	Paul Ruskay
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows
Release date(s)	PlayStation NA: October 31, 1996 PAL: June 1997 Windows NA: October 31, 1996 Saturn NA: November 30, 1996 PAL: 1996
Genre(s)	Action game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Grid Runner (known as Grid Run in Europe) is an action game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Virgin Interactive for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1996.

Gameplay

Grid Runner is a top-down game similar to tag. The object of the game is to change a set amount of flags scattered around the playfield to the colour of your player. Upon starting the game, two players must race to find the first flag. The first player to get to this flag will change the flag's color to blue or red (player 1 or Player 2's color, respectively). The loser will then be marked as "it" and must then hunt down the other player "tagging" them and making them "it" instead. Only the player not marked as "it" may change the colours of the flags, and as soon as the desired number of flags have been changed, that player will win.

The map takes a grid-like form, featuring numerous types of tiles allowing the player to speed up in one direction, teleport or allow further pathways to appear. Each player is armed with a laser gun that can slow the opponent down, and each player may build "bridges" to overcome gaps. The players may also use magic found on the map to slow down your opponent, teleport or speed up. Shields and time for the bonus stages are also collectible.

Each level is split into three rounds against an opponent, which the player must win in order to succeed. Opponents often come with certain abilities, giving them better control on ice for example, or being able to build two "bridges" at once. After each level there is a bonus level in which more magic can be obtained.^[1]

Plot

The protagonist Axxel and his partner Tara, a pair of freelance space adventurers, are sent on a mission to the Gridonion Asteroid Field, a path between Earth and the Nether-Planets, to find out why ships have been mysteriously disappearing. While investigating a seemingly deserted alien ship in the asteroid field, Axxel is captured by an evil witch, Empress Vorga, who then forces Axxel to play a deadly game competing against her demonic minions. If the player manages to beat all of the 14 monsters, Axxel fights Vorga herself. If he wins, the witch is destroyed and Axxel escapes just before the ship explodes.

Development

According to Virgin Interactive producer Stacy Hendrickson, the developer Radical Entertainment thought of Grid Runner as a "fun, original alternative two-player game" that would be neither a fighting or a sports title about a decade before the game was finally made, and that they also put "a lot of work on the AI" of single-player enemies. All of the game's cast of characters have been first sketched on paper, then turned into scupultures, before finally being rendered in 3D to limit the use of "work-intensive, expensive rendering workstations".^[2]

Reception

The game's console versions received positive reviews, earning it an averaged GameRankings score 76.20% from six reviews of the PlayStation version^[10] and 81% from four reviews of the Sega Saturn version.^[11] The PC version has a lower GameRankings score of 68% from three reviews.^[12]

References

External links

• Grid Runner at MobyGames
• Grid Runner at The Official PlayStation Museum