Development and Reception
Slalom was developed by UK-based video game company Rare by Tim and Chris Stamper. It was originally released in 1986 in the arcades as part of the Nintendo Vs. System and was titled Vs. Slalom. The arcade version featured an upright cabinet, a joystick, one jump button, monoural sound, and standard raster graphics. The game was released by Nintendo in North America in August 1987 and in Europe on October 15, 1987. This was not only Rare's first title released for the NES as well as any video game console, but it was also Rare's very first video game developed.
The game's music was composed by Rare's video game composer David Wise, his first composing job for an NES game. In a December 2010 interview, Wise said that he found the work on the NES sound boards for Slalom to be challenging, saying that he had to code the HEX values for the notes by hand and convert them into subroutines on his computer. Looking back at his first projects, he commented: "It sounded more like a door-bell to me at the time, but people are still making remixes of those tunes. Very humbling."
Slalom received preview coverage in early 1987 in the first issue of Nintendo Fun Club News – the predecessor to the company's house organ Nintendo Power – citing the arcade conversion to the NES. It was featured in the following Summer 1987 issue, where it gave a brief overview and basic tips on the game.
Years later, UK-based magazine Retro Gamer looked back on the game, as it was Rare's first NES title. In January 2006, the magazine said that the release of Slalom "was hardly an auspicious occasion, greeted with trumpet fanfares and buxom maidens riding on golden swans". In December 2010, as part of Rare's 25th anniversary, editor Stuart Hunt said that the game is "fun but quite simplistic", noting the variety of courses and races. He said: "It showed even then how talented the studio was in getting the most out of the NES."
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