| Road Rash | |
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North American cover art of the Sega Mega-CD Road Rash. |
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| Developer(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Composer(s) | Rob Hubbard |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Sega Master System, Game Boy, Game Gear, 3DO, Sega Mega-CD, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, PC, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance |
| Release date(s) | from 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Arcade Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Two Player Multiplayer |
| Media/distribution | Cartridge, Optical CD |
Road Rash is the name of a motorcycle-racing video game series by Electronic Arts, in which the player participates in violent illegal street races. The game was originally released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, but was ported to several other systems. Six different games were released from 1991 to 1999, and a 2004 licensed port for the Game Boy Advance was released. Road Rash and two of its sequels later appeared on the EA Replay collection for the PSP.
The game's title is based on the slang term for the severe friction burns that can occur in a motorcycling fall where skin comes into contact with the ground at high speed.
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Presented in a third-person view similar to Hang-On, the player competes in illegal road races and must finish in the top 3 places in every race in order to proceed to the next level. As levels progress, the opponents ride faster, fight harder and the tracks are longer and more dangerous. Placing in each race gives a certain amount of money which increases considerably as levels progress. This money allows the player to buy faster bikes which are needed to stay competitive. The game is over if the player can't pay for the repairs when their motorcycle is wrecked, or can't pay the fine for being arrested.
Road Rash boasts a smoothly-rendered vertical element, which was uncommon on consoles at the time. In most traditional older racing games, the player's vehicle remained on the same horizontal plane, negotiating turns essentially by going right or left (see Pole Position (video game)). In Road Rash, players had to contend with grade changes, and the physics—though rudimentary compared to today's games—reflected the act of going up or down a hill, as well as turning while climbing, etc. This resulted in the ability to launch one's motorcycle great distances, resulting in often amusing crash animations. Road Rash also introduced an interactive race environment, with street signs, trees, poles, and livestock, which could interact with the player's vehicle.[1] This was also one of the earlier games to feature active traffic, which created a more immersive and realistic environment, as the player had to contend with slow moving station wagons and the like while racing against other bikers. Aside from high speed, big-air, and spectacular crashes, what separated Road Rash from other racing games was its combat element. The player could fight other bikers with a variety of hand weapons or kick away other racers. The player would initially start off with just his or her hands and feet, but if the gamer timed a punch right, he or she could grab a weapon from another rider. The weapons themselves ranged from clubs, crowbars, nunchaku, and cattle prods. Fights between riders to knock each other off the bike would often go on at high speeds through traffic, pedestrians and roadside obstacles, with the victor gaining place and the loser sustaining bike damage and losing time.
The motorcycle police officers have dual antagonistic roles. They fight the player as another opponent, and they also serve as game play enforcers by policing the back of the pack and culling players who fall too far behind or choose to explore the world rather than race in it. The stakes are higher for losing a fight with a police officer than for losing to another player: Losing a fight with an officer or being caught by an officer while off one's motorcycle would cause the player to be "Busted" and the race would end.
In the earlier games, each race locale consisted of a single road, and as the player progressed through the levels. The finish line would be placed farther down the road. Later games used a single interlocked road network.
The original Mega Drive/Genesis games featured a Rob Hubbard soundtrack.[2] Later Road Rash games were among the first video games to include licensed music tracks from major recording artists in gameplay.[3]
Road Rash debuted on the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. All races take place in locales in the U.S. state of California on progressively longer two-lane roads. While the game had a two-player mode, it was a take-turns system that only allowed one person to play his or her individual game at a time. There are 14 computer player and a human player.
The tracks depict California State Routes on highway shields as the player travels through the level. The levels are, from start and pressing right on the selection screen:
There are 8 bikes to choose from, and two weapons: chains and clubs. Races would be won by placing first, second, third, or fourth in each of the five tracks. After all five tracks were won, the player would advance to the next level, where the track would be longer, the opponents faster, and much more money at stake for a victory or a loss. The game was eventually ported onto the Game Gear, Sega Master System, Nintendo Game Boy and Commodore Amiga, making the debut title the only Road Rash game of the Genesis series to have been distributed onto other consoles and computers.
Road Rash II, the sequel to the first game, was released the next year in 1992, also on the Sega Genesis. Road Rash II was heavily based on the same engine and sprites as the first Road Rash game. The races took place in the U.S. states of Alaska, Hawaii, Tennessee, Arizona, and Vermont.
Road Rash II made navigation of the menu screens considerably easier, as well as gave the game a password less than half the size of the first game's passwords. Also, several game modes were introduced; alongside the two modes from the first Road Rash were a true two-player game called "Split Screen" where the 14th and 15th players are replaced by human players, and a duel mode called "Mano a Mano" where the two human players can select any bike, weapon, and length of track they wish before racing each other.
The final installment of Road Rash on the Sega Mega Drive, Road Rash 3: Tour de Force was released in 1995. All races took place in 5 of 7 countries, with the track selection varying per level: Brazil, United Kingdom (though its description pays homage to the Isle of Man), Germany, Italy, Kenya, Australia, and Japan.
Fifteen bikes are available in different classes, and four upgrades are available for each. Eight weapons are available, and the game allows the player to hold on to the weapons between races as long as the game is not reset.
Notably, this game changed its aesthetic by using digitized sprites as opposed to the "cartoony" sprites of the first two installments.
Road Rash, often called Road Rash 3D or Road Rash 3DO to distinguish it from the Genesis original of the same name, was originally released on the 3DO, and later for the Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn, and PC. A version for the Super Nintendo was planned for release, but was eventually canceled. The game featured full motion video sequences to advance the plot.
There are five levels altogether, and five courses, all California locales: The City, The Peninsula, Pacific Coast Highway, Sierra Nevada, and Napa Valley. The roads themselves are multi-lane with brief divided road sections.
The object of the game is the same as in previous installments in the series: When all courses are completed without getting "Game Over" or "Busted", in 1st, 2nd or 3rd out of 14th place, the level will increase. Differences affected on tracks are the length and the amount of traffic on the road, with the additions of heavier fines from the police if the player is caught, and a larger reward for completing the track.
The player could choose a character to play as, which came with a specific cash amount and a personal motorcycle. Some of these characters' names come from combatants from the original Genesis releases, such as "Axle" and "Rhonda". The character also had status among his or her fellow bikers, which was accessible after the race. Depending on what the NPC preferred (some liked being hit, some didn't), the other racers would dynamically react to the player depending on how he or she was treated during the races.
When Road Rash debuted on the 32-bit home game consoles, they were initially ported from the 3DO version of the game. All of these games were called "Road Rash", despite being 4th in the series. Derivative works were re-engineered up for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 64 platforms or reengineered down to Sega Mega-CD and the handheld consoles.
The 3DO game's soundtrack contained 14 music tracks from A&M Records artists Soundgarden, Paw, Hammerbox, Therapy?, Monster Magnet, and Swervedriver.[4][5] Months before Road Rash was even released for the 3DO it received 3DO's 1994 "Soundtrack of the Year" award. The last version featured garage and unsigned bands who got a chance to be in the game by sending in their tapes.[3]
Players could choose between three categories of motorcycles in each price level: Sport/GT bikes, Race replicas and Cruisers. The Sport/GT bikes were designed after European Grand Touring bikes—they handled well, were of moderate weight and had moderate power. Race Replicas were the Japanese style super bikes—very quick, very light. The cruisers are American style—a little heavy, do not turn too well, but lots of straight line power. The 32-bit versions introduced a fourth type called a Rat bike which was a stripped down Frankenstein-style bike which was nimble and had a lot of durability. Select bikes at the higher levels had N2O boosts.
Road Rash received a very favourable review in Mean Machines magazine. It received a final score of 91% and was praised for its music, graphics and gameplay.[6] The Commodore Amiga release of Road Rash received moderately high ratings, including 84% from Amiga Format[7] and 81% from CU Amiga.[8] The release received worse reviews from Amiga Power, who rated the game 70%.[9] It won several awards from Electronic Gaming Monthly in their 1994 video game awards, including Best Driving Game, Best Music in a CD-Based Game, and Best 3DO Game of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[10]
Road Rash 64 for the Nintendo 64 was released in 1999. It is noteworthy because Electronic Arts did not design or publish it. Instead, the intellectual property rights were licensed to THQ, who in turn had its own studio, Pacific Coast Power & Light (founded by former EA employee Don Traeger), develop the game.
Road Rash 64 was also designed similarly to F-Zero X in that the game used very low polygon models, low resolution textures, and few special effects so that the game could instead feature several dozen motorcycles, traffic models, and obstacles while being able to keep a high frame rate. The game was more focused on the combat aspects the earlier 16-bit games featured, and was ahead of its time in terms of customizable settings in a console game. N64 owners with a Ram Expansion Pak were able to choose from Wide Screen, Letterbox, and High Resolution settings in addition to the default graphics setting. The game also managed to feature five of the tracks (two of them 100% unedited) from Road Rash 3D through audio compression software.
Unlike the games before it, which used a single long road in independent locales, Road Rash 64's races took place on routes laid out through a single interconnected road system. The race routes were pieced together from branching road segments. The four corners of the game world had distinctly different geographic features. Once past the first level the races would be between or through different locales.
Road Rash 3-D was released in 1998 for the PlayStation.
Road Rash: Jail Break was released 1999 in EU (2000 U.S.[11]) for the PlayStation, and eventually adapted for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.[12][13] Its main gameplay elements incorporated an interconnected road system and 2 player cooperative play with a sidecar.
Road Rash: Jail Break for the Game Boy Advance scored mixed reviews with critics, gaining a score of 67% on Metacritic.[14]
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