Freeway (video game)

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Freeway
Publisher(s)	Activision
Designer(s)	David Crane
Platform(s)	Atari 2600
Release date	1981
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	n/a
Media	Cartridge
Input methods	Joystick

Chickens race for the top of the screen in Freeway.

Freeway is a video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 video game console. It was published by Activision in 1981.

Freeway was one of the first titles released by Activision in their bold move to publish independent games for the Atari 2600. Both players control chickens who can be made to run across a ten-lane highway filled with traffic in an effort to "get to the other side." Every time a chicken gets across, a point is earned for that player. If hit by a car, the chicken is forced back a bit, and in some modes is pushed all the way back to the bottom of the screen. The winner is the player who has scored the most points in the two minutes allotted.

The chickens are only allowed to move up or down. The chicken sprite includes a limited bit of animation and the character clucks when struck by a car.

The original prototype version for Freeway was entitled Bloody Human Freeway. A few differences to the finished product were: at start up, cars were already on the freeway instead of all being lined up on the right side; the score and Activision logo were yellow instead of pink; instead of controlling a chicken, the player controlled a man and instead of being forced down a bit when hit by a car, the character would turn into a glowing streak of blood; there were some minor differences in the sounds used; and pressing the fire button reset the game.

A version of the original Bloody Human Freeway is available to play on the GameTap online video game service.

Comparisons are often made to Frogger, since that game also features crossing a street filled with moving vehicles. But the gameplay is different and both games were developed independently at the same time. Similarities did help sales when Frogger was popular in the arcades and a home version was not yet available.

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Many early Activision games included contests. If a player scored over a certain number of points and sent in a photograph of the television screen, Activision would send the player a cloth patch for that particular game. For Freeway, the player needed to score 20 or more points on either Road 3 or Road 7 and was rewarded with a "Save The Chicken Foundation" patch featuring the Activision logo and the stylized "running chicken" image from the game package.