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Trailblazer (video game)

1986 video game

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ652436 ↗
Source-derived summary

Trailblazer is a 1986 racing video game developed by Mr. Chip Software and published by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit computers, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16 and Plus/4, followed by an Atari ST port a year later.

A sequel, Cosmic Causeway: Trailblazer II, was released in 1987. A remake for the Gizmondo was released in 2005 and followed by an adaptation for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita in 2011 as part of the PlayStation mini series.

Gameplay

Trailblazer is a racing game which players control a football along a series of suspended passages. The game can be played either in time trial or arcade mode and four track. The races usually last between 15 and 45 seconds. Special fields on the track let the ball jump (blue), slow down (red), speed up (green) or warp speed the ball (white), invert the controls (cyan/light blue), bounce it backwards (purple) or are holes (black).

Development

Trailblazer was heavily inspired by the arcade video game Metrocross.

Reception

Zzap!64's reviewers thought the game was "an excellent variation on the race game theme".

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Trailblazer (video game)” as 1986 video game. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1986, 1987, 2005, 2011—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2005-10-02, 1986—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. The account is most persuasive where Trailblazer, video and game can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1986 video game. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q652436. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1987, 2005 and 2011.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Trailblazer (video game) primary sources, Trailblazer (video game) archive and Trailblazer research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Trailblazer (video game)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.