Survivable Runner

My new favorite website for researching The Gamer's Quarter is The Arcade Flyer Archive. Finding accurate information about the names and dates of older games can be difficult, especially for arcade cabinets. Scanned press releases are an invaluable resource.

And then there's this, which, I think, goes nicely over the line of Engrish to poetry:

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Survivable Runner

He ran and ran.
Being a survivable runner . . .
Not a soul was to be seen in METRO.
It's a manless city.
Suddenly green tile appears on his way.
It's a slippery zone. Jump!
He made it. Obstacles are coming
One after another. He must reach
The goal within limited time by avoiding them.
He supposed to neither go backward nor stop but
Keep going always. He knows that this is a game
And he is an immortal runner.
However, unless he can make a goal,
The game is over.
It's like a death sentence for him . . .

—Namco, 1985