| Freeway | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Designer(s) | David Crane |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release | July 1981 |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | 1-2 player simultaneous |
Freeway is an action video game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1981. In the game, one or two players control chickens who cross a ten-lane highway filled with traffic. The goal is to set a high score in an allotted time. Every time a chicken gets across a point is earned for that player. Depending on the difficulty mode, a chicken is forced back a lane or sent back to the bottom of the screen when hit by a vehicle.
Freeway was a new game developed by Crane for Activision, which had begun releasing games independently in 1980. Crane stated the game was inspired by an incident involving Activision staff witnessing someone crossing Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Crane's game initially involved a human being crossing the game, and was changed shortly before release to being a chicken.
Critics from Electronic Games praised the game on its release, with the publication giving the game an Honorable Mention for "Most Innovative Game" in 1982 at the Third Annual Arcade Awards. Other reviews compared it to the arcade game Frogger (1981) which was released around the same time.