| Atari Games' operators manual for the sit-down cockpit cabinet of Road Blasters (TM-299) carries a 1987 copyright line and describes the game as an action-packed battle game in which the player drives a high-performance armored car. Atari Games designed it in cooperation with Matchbox Toys, whose new line of futuristic toy vehicles carried the same name. | image 4, copyright pageimage 40, back coverchapter 1, Game Play, Introduction (image 10)chapter 1, Introduction (image 11)chapter 1, Introduction (image 11) | Manual |
| The arcade manual calls the game "the Ultimate Race of the Future", part road race and part combat-zone survival: the road leads through a progression of countries, with checkpoints that award fuel and rally points that end each race section with a display of the player's performance. The game ends when the player runs out of fuel by driving too slowly or crashing too often; green and red fuel globes on the road give more fuel. | p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12) | Manual |
| In the arcade game the player has a return-to-center steering control with triggers and thumb buttons, and a gas pedal: the triggers fire the laser gun and the thumb buttons set off the special weapons. In the cockpit cabinet a fresnel lens over the display magnifies the picture to simulate a 25-inch monitor. | p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)chapter 1, Introduction (image 11)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Unique Features (image 12) | Manual |
| The arcade manual names four computer-controlled opponent vehicles, Stingers, Command cars, Rat Jeeps and Cycles, plus mines in the road, gun turrets beside it, and spikers thrown by opponent vehicles. A support jet drops an attribute pack carrying the special weapons: Cruise Missiles that destroy everything visible ahead, Nitro Injectors that boost speed, rapid-fire U.Z. Cannons, and Electro Shields against shots, collisions, mines and spikers. | p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12)p. 1-4, chapter 1, Play Mode (image 12) | Manual |
| The arcade game ran a player contest in the United States and Canada: a player who completed rally 50 entered a name and got a secret code which, mailed to Atari Games, earned a Road Blasters T-shirt. | chapter 1, Unique Features to Attract Players (image 11)chapter 1, Unique Features to Attract Players (image 11)chapter 1, Unique Features to Attract Players (image 11) | Manual |
| The arcade manual told operators that Matchbox Toys would advertise its Road Blasters line on television in the spring and fall of 1987. Play Meter's April 1987 product introduction said the same: the game was developed in conjunction with Matchbox Toys, which would support its Road Blasters line with a nationwide campaign. | chapter 1, Unique Features to Attract Players (image 11) | Manual |