Highway Encounter is a computer game released on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...

 48K, Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...

, MSX

MSX

MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...

, and Commodore 64

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

 by Vortex Software

Vortex Software

Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game Cosmos which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81...

 in 1985

1985 in video gaming

-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...

. It was written by Costa Panayi

Costa Panayi

Costa Panayi was a computer game programmer during the 1980s. He founded Vortex Software with Paul Canter, publishing games for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC....

 who also coded Android, Android 2

Android 2

Android 2 is a shoot 'em up maze video game written by Costa Panayi and published by Vortex Software in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and in 1985 for the Amstrad CPC.It is the sequel to Android 1: The Reactor Run, released earlier in 1983.-Gameplay:...

, TLL

Tornado Low Level

Tornado Low Level is a game for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC computers, and released by Vortex Software in 1984. It was written by Costa Panayi who also coded Android, Android 2, Highway Encounter, Cyclone and Revolution.-Summary:The player controls a Tornado fighter jet and must...

, Cyclone

Cyclone (computer game)

Cyclone is a game for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K computer, released by Vortex Software in 1985. It was written by Costa Panayi who also coded Tornado Low Level, Android, Android 2, Highway Encounter and Revolution.-Summary:...

and Revolution

Revolution (video game)

Revolution is an isometric 3D puzzle video game released by U.S. Gold in for the Sinclair Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It was programmed by Costa Panayi and is a development of the earlier 3D games Highway Encounter and Alien Highway.- Gameplay :...

.

Summary

Highway Encounter is a strategy/action game played from a 3D isometric perspective in which you must successfully chaperone a bomb along a long, straight stretch of highway and into the alien base at the end of it. There are thirty screens to pass through and most are filled with hazards that threaten to block your progress (such as barrels) or destroy you (aliens and explosive mines).

Players control a robotic "Vorton" (resembling a dalek

Dalek

The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...

 from Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

) and one of the things that provides Highway Encounter with its unique appeal is that the bomb is constantly being pushed onwards by your extra lives - four more Vortons, who accompany you along the highway. A key strategic element to the game is for the player character to travel several screens ahead of the bomb to clear a safe path for it; normally this would be done by temporarily blocking the bomb's forward motion. However, if the bomb is left in an unsafe location, it is possible for all your extra lives to be lost without the player character being destroyed once. Once all spare lives are lost, the player character must manually push the bomb.

There is also an unfinished and officially unreleased, but available to download version for Atari ST

Atari ST

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...

 made by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson

Mark Haigh-Hutchinson

Mark Haigh-Hutchinson was an English video game developer. He is most notable for working on Paperboy, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Star Wars and the Metroid Prime games.-Biography:...

 and graphics by Costa Panayi

Costa Panayi

Costa Panayi was a computer game programmer during the 1980s. He founded Vortex Software with Paul Canter, publishing games for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC....

, from 1990.

Highway Encounter was followed by a sequel, Alien Highway

Alien Highway

Alien Highway: Encounter 2 is an isometric 3D arcade adventure game released by Vortex in for the Sinclair Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It was programmed by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and is the sequel to Highway Encounter.- Gameplay :...

in 1986

1986 in video gaming

-Events:-Notable releases:*Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder....

.