One of the first Looney Toons video games is also one of the best. Road Runner perfectly captures the look and sound of a Chuck Jones cartoon (as perfectly as a mid 1980s arcade game could, at least), and the never-ending battle between the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote is perfect for a video game setting, even if it does mean Wile E. actually gets the bird once in a while.
A particularly nice feature of the arcade game is the joystick. What looks like a standard 8-way joystick is actually spring-loaded analog control. The further away the stick is held from center, the faster the Road Runner will run. This gives an extra bit of control not seen in most of the home ports of the game, but for those who don't care, they can still treat it like any other joystick and be none the wiser. It's a nice balance between freedom and ease of use, and a sign of how much care Atari put into their arcade games. All around, a wonderful game.
Grade: A.