Borderline (video game)

Borderline
Developer(s)Sega
Compile (SG-1000)
Publisher(s)Arcade
Home
  • WW: Sega
Platform(s)Arcade, SG-1000, Atari 2600
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: April 1981
  • NA: August 1981
  • EU: 1981
SG-1000
  • JP: March 1984
  • EU: 1984
Atari 2600
Genre(s)Scrolling shooter, maze
Mode(s)Single-player
Arcade systemDual

Borderline (ボーダーライン, Bōdārain) is a vertically scrolling shooter maze game released by Sega as an arcade video game in April 1981. The player controls a jeep and has to destroy enemy refineries. There are four stages with different gameplay. The first stage plays like a vertically scrolling shooter. In the second stage, the player maneuvers his Jeep through underbrush, and enemies can only follow on its path, a concept later found in Namco's Dig Dug (1982).

Borderline was reissued later in the year with slightly altered graphics as Star Raker. Borderline was a game for the SG-1000 in 1984. It was converted for the Atari 2600 under the name Thunderground, released by Sega's home division; it was one of the last games Sega released as a third-party developer for Atari. The SG-1000 and Atari 2600 ports received positive reviews from critics.