History VideoGame / RoadRunnersDeathValleyRally

A PlatformGame developed by Creator/ICOMSimulations and published by Creator/{{Sunsoft}} for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, ''Road Runner's Death Valley Rally'' was about the titular race, between Wile E. Coyote and the WesternAnimation/RoadRunner, with the player controlling the latter. While theoretically simply a race, Wile E. naturally cannot resist the urge to finally catch the Road Runner and turn him into dinner. The player, in control of the Road Runner, is out to complete the race and not become dinner.

* NintendoHard: Once you've gotten acquainted with the game after the first world, it stops pulling punches. Levels become very large and difficult to navigate, enemies and traps get tricky to avoid, platforming gets a lot harder, and the game becomes increasingly stingy with power-ups and checkpoint flags.

* WhenAllElseFailsGoRight: [[AvertedTrope Mostly averted.]] Despite the [[{{VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog}} Sonic]]-esque feel the stages have to them, very few abide by the rule of "go from one end of the map to the other to win". Exploration is encouraged in fact, as many checkpoint flags and power-ups are well-hidden.

* AstralFinale: The fifth and final world, "Quantum Beep", takes place in outer space. Wile E. has teamed up with Marvin the Martian to create the Solid Tin Coyote, which serves as the game's FinalBoss.

* BossFight: Given the franchise in question you'd expect the whole game to be avoiding the Coyote and leaving him to his own doom, but [[UnexpectedGameplayChange this is not the case]]. The larger boss machines actually work as intended, forcing the Road Runner to fight back and disable them itself.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The basic and common checkpoint flag is yellow, uncommon ones are green, uncommon ones are red, and the rarest are purple. Rarer flags give more points and tend to be better hidden.

** When Road Runner defeats the Solid Tin Coyote at the end of the game, Wile E. falls back to Earth. [[WesternAnimation/GeeWhizzzzzzz He pulls out a sign asking the player to end the game before he hits the Earth.]] Unfortunately, he's not so lucky, as [[HumiliationConga he falls back into the canyon, gets run over by an ACME delivery truck, bombed by the explosives it drops, has the Opera Singer fall on him]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and has Road Runner taunt him]].

* GottaCatchEmAll: Each non-boss level has a number of flags in them. If the Road Runner finds them all before ending the level, he gets an extra life, and collective enough over the course of the game earns him Continue. Flags are also the biggest source of scoring in the game which also contributes to lives and Continues, so seeking them out is encouraged, [[NintendoHard because you're going to need them]].

* ShoutOut: The game is basically one gargantuan Shout-Out to classic Road Runner cartoons, with nearly every stage filled with some device that Wile E. tried to use in the cartoon, such as the green bat-suit, the rocket skates, the exploding mini-planes, and of course, the infamous catapult. Also with the names of the levels - [[Series/QuantumLeap Quantum Beep]], anyone?

Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/DesertDemolition Starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote'', developed by Creator/BlueSkySoftware for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis in 1995, or ''Desert Speedtrap Starring Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem and UsefulNotes/GameGear in 1994.

* BombWhistle: Naturally, for every time the game shows the Coyote plummeting off a cliff. As well as the ending... except he's plummeting ''[[UpToEleven from orbit]]''.

** When Road Runner defeats the Solid Tin Coyote at the end of the game, Wile E. falls back to Earth. He pulls out a sign asking the player to end the game before he hits the Earth. Unfortunately, he's not so lucky, as [[HumiliationConga he falls back into the canyon, gets run over by an ACME delivery truck, bombed by the explosives it drops, has the Opera Singer fall on him]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and has Road Runner taunt him]].

* BreakingTheFourthWall: After losing his FinalBoss fight and falling back down to Earth, Wile. E. Coyote begs the player to end the game before he lands - a callback to the end of WesternAnimation/GeeWhiz-z-z-z-z-z-z.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: After losing his FinalBoss fight and falling back down to Earth, [[WesternAnimation/GeeWhiz-z-z-z-z-z-z Wile. E. Coyote begs the player to end the game before he lands]].

* BreakingTheFourthWall: After losing his FinalBoss fight and falling back down to Earth, Wile. E. Coyote begs the player to end the game before he lands.

** Wile E. falls into a canyon after his failed pursuit of Road Runner in Rock 'N Rivet Act 2, and after he is defeated at the end of Train Runnery Act 4.

* HumongousMecha: The giant robot from "The Solid Tin Coyote" is the final boss, complete with futuristic improvements. Somewhat fitting since this was the single one thing from the animated shorts that the Road Runner was actually ''afraid'' of, [[OhCrap and this time he has nowhere to run...]]

* RoadRunnerVsCoyote: Featuring the TropeNamer pair.

** [[SpoiledByTheManual Spoiled By The Boxart]]: Right on the back of the box is a screenshot of the FinalBoss. Granted you'll probably have forgotten about it by the time you ''get'' to the final boss, but still...

* CatharsisFactor: The main reason to power through the NintendoHard is to see just how Wile. E. gets his comeuppance at the end of each stage. There are no repeats either, the LaserGuidedKarma is different every time.

The game was reviewed by ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' in the episode, "Fear and Loathing in Vegas Stakes".

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: The Road Runner's only method of attack against Wile E. Coyote's boss machines is to peck at their weak points.

* VisualPun: The viking helmet woman who keeps trying to sing after every boss fight only for Wile. E to stop her until the final level where he's ultimately unable to. Essentially it's a play on the pun, "It's not over until the fat lady has sung".

Pretty much a love letter to the classic Road Runner shorts, with many of the original gags recycled for this game, sometimes with new twists. The game did rather well, which led to further video game reimaginings of classic WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes in the form of ''VideoGame/BugsBunnyRabbitRampage'', ''VideoGame/DaffyDuckTheMarvinMissions'', and ''VideoGame/LooneyTunesAcmeAnimationFactory''.

This game has examples of:

* BossFight: Given the franchise in question you'd expect the whole game to be avoiding the Coyote and leaving him to his own doom, but [[UnexpectedGameplayChange this is not the case]]. The larger boss machines actually work as intended, forcing the Road Runner to manually restore the status quo before becoming Coyote food.