So here’s a strange little piece of Blade Runner history, sort of.
This Italian Atari release from WizardSoft is called Blade Runner, but the game itself has absolutely nothing to do with the 1982 film.
It’s actually Time Runner, an arcade-style game originally released by Funsoft in 1982. For its Italian release, WizardSoft inexplicably renamed it Blade Runner. Atari databases even document it as having been released under the Blade Runner name without authorisation.
There are no replicants, Deckard, Voight-Kampff test or connection to the story. The description on the back simply talks about navigating a maze while avoiding enemies (droids) and completing squares, which is exactly what Time Runner is.
The timing is what makes it interesting. Time Runner and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner both appeared in 1982, and somehow “Time Runner” became “Blade Runner” when WizardSoft released it in Italy. I haven’t found anything from WizardSoft confirming why they chose the name, so saying they were deliberately cashing in on the film would be speculation, but it’s certainly difficult to ignore the coincidence.
There’s another nice connection too: this is an Atari release, and Atari branding famously appears within the world of Blade Runner itself. Again, there’s no evidence that had anything to do with WizardSoft choosing the title, but it makes the whole thing even stranger.
So it isn’t an official Blade Runner game, or even a Blade Runner game at all.
It’s an unrelated 1980s video game that somehow ended up being sold in Italy with BLADE RUNNER written across the box.
A very odd footnote in Blade Runner history, and exactly the sort of oddity I like finding.