Last updated on January 25th, 2026 at 09:19 am
Highway Encounter is a Commodore 64 isometric game released in 1986 by Vortex Software. It is a strategy/action game played from a 3D isometric perspective in which the player must successfully escort a bomb along a long, straight stretch of highway and into the alien base at the end of it.
You control a robotic “Vorton” (dalek-like) to escort a bomb along a 30-screen highway to an alien base, dodging barrels, aliens, and mines. Extra lives push the bomb forward automatically, adding strategy—scout ahead to clear paths safely. The C64 version features solid 3D isometric visuals with smooth scrolling, though colors pop less vibrantly than the ZX Spectrum original. Sound is minimal but fitting, with basic effects for collisions and movement.
It earned strong praise as a “Crash Smash” and “Mastergame,” ranking high in retro polls for clever mechanics blending action and planning. C64 players note it’s challenging yet addictive, ideal for your retro emulation setup.
#####The Remake
Vorton is a remake of the classic game Highway Encounter. It is built with Simple DirectMedia Layer libraries, portable on Windows, Linux, Dreamcast, GP32..
The latest version of Vorton is Beta-2 (ChangeLog)
| Binaries: | Dreamcast (ELF) GP32 (FXE and Data) Linux i586 (glibc 2.3) Windows (SDL Libraries included) |
(~1.8MB) (~1.9MB) (~1.5MB) (~1.8MB) |
| Source Code: | vorton-src-beta2.zip | (~1.6MB) |
Older versions can be found here.
Vorton SourceForge Project – Main project site.
CRASH 20 – Highway Encounter Review.
T.A.C.G.R. – Amstrad CPC Rom and Documentation.
SDL – A cross-platform multimedia library.
SDL for GP32 – GP32 Port.
GP32 Spain – Spanish GP32 Scene.
Talfi’s World – Spanish Dreamcast Scene.
