Ballblazer (1985)
Ballblazer is a 1985 racing video game made by Lucasfilm Games and Atari Corporation.
Two hovering craft, one glowing ball, one grid stretching to the horizon. Ballblazer is Lucasfilm Games' futuristic sport, a split-screen duel where each player pilots a Rotofoil, grabs the ball, and fires it through the opponent's goal before the clock runs down. The field is bare and fast, the view snaps between both players, and a procedurally-generated soundtrack riffs under every match. One of Lucasfilm's first two games, it strips sport to reflex and geometry: no story, no menus, just a one-on-one contest you can settle in a couple of minutes.
Quick answers
What is Ballblazer about?
Two hovering craft, one glowing ball, one grid stretching to the horizon. Ballblazer is Lucasfilm Games' futuristic sport, a split-screen duel where each player pilots a Rotofoil, grabs the ball, and fires it through the opponent's goal before the clock runs down. The field is bare and fast, the view snaps between both players, and a procedurally-generated soundtrack riffs under every match. One of Lucasfilm's first two games, it strips sport to reflex and geometry: no story, no menus, just a one-on-one contest you can settle in a couple of minutes.
When was Ballblazer released?
Ballblazer was released on 31 December 1985.
Who made Ballblazer?
Ballblazer was made by Lucasfilm Games, Atari Corporation and Epyx.
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A few thoughts on Ballblazer
Pure-reflex arcade duels do not fill Sierra and LucasArts' adventure shelves, so the closest neighbors are stablemates rather than rivals. The Secret of Monkey Island shows the other side of LucasArts, all wit and story, while Loom trades twitch for a gentler, music-driven puzzle world.
Dig into the LucasArts vault
Ballblazer was one of the first two games from Lucasfilm's fledgling game studio, the outfit that became LucasArts. To see what that same house went on to make, these are its crown jewels, from pirate comedy to the land of the dead to X-Wing dogfights in the Star Wars galaxy.
Rewind to golden-age adventure games
Ballblazer belongs to the same early-80s frontier that Sierra was mapping in parallel. If you want the era's defining adventures, the ones that taught a generation how a computer could tell a story, start with these kingdom, space, and detective quests.
Explore worlds built around a puzzle
For a change of pace from the arena, these are the puzzle-driven landmarks that defined the point-and-click and first-person mystery. Each hands you a strange, silent world and asks you to reason it open, a world away from Ballblazer's split-screen duel but every bit as engrossing.