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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 written for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, but was ported to several other systems. Six versions of the game were released from 1991 to 1999, and a 2004 licensed port for the Game Boy Advance was released. 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.

Overview

Presented in a third-person view similar to Hang-On, the player competes in 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 progressed. 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.

Game play

Road Rash was highly innovative in the fact that it introduced a smoothly-rendered vertical element to road racing. 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). 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 and poles, as well as animals (livestock for example) which could interact with the player's vehicle. 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. The player would initially start off with just his hands and feet, but if the gamer timed a punch right, they could grab a weapon from another rider. The weapons themselves ranged from clubs, crowbars, nunchakus, cattle prods and even police batons. 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 would cause the player to be fined and "busted" and the race would end. Players could also be "busted" by getting caught by an officer while off one's motorcycle.

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, don't 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.

In addition, later editions of Road Rash became some of the first video games to include licensed music tracks from major recording artists in gameplay. Soundgarden was one such artist included. In addition, a billboard in many of the maps has an EA logo.

Differences

In the initial versions each race locale consisted of a single road. As the player progressed through the levels the finish line would be placed farther down the road. When the technology moved to a single interlocked road network the race routes were pieced together from branching road segments. The four corners of the world had distinctly different geographic features. Once past the first level the races would be between or through different locales.

The initial 3 versions of the game were based upon individual racers against individual AI opponents. The concept of gangs in the 4th and later versions introduced alliances amongst the AI. Depending upon each gangs tolerance the opponents in the same gang would only have moderate aggressiveness towards the player whereas an opposing gang member would have a high degree of aggressiveness. Regardless of which gang, attacking an AI opponent increases their aggressiveness towards the player and each character had different tolerances and decay rates of aggression. As the series evolved combat became a more integral part of the game. It was possible to win a race without landing a blow in the early versions but the AI's persistence and latent aggressiveness in the later versions made this impossible. In most versions of the game, if knocked off the bike, it was possible for the player to run to the finish line and complete (or even win) the race.

The 32-bit versions of the game featured cut scenes professionally filmed in San Francisco and Los Altos Hills that were notable for a wry sense of humour. For example, if the player was arrested, then the game would show a brief movie clip of a motorcyclist being handcuffed to a police officer's motorcycle (which would then start moving), or a clip of the arrestee being placed in the trunk of a police cruiser. The actors were both professional stuntmen and the games designers and featured the company bike—a red Ducati which is still on display at EA headquarters. The 16-bit versions featured animations as cut scenes. Cut scenes appeared whenever a player won or lost a race, cleared a tier of races, beat the game, wrecked their bike or got busted.

Sound

The original Mega Drive/Genesis version featured a Rob Hubbard soundtrack, however later versions released on CD formats featured music tracks from bands such as The Tea Party, Soundgarden, Swervedriver, and Therapy?. 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.

Releases

Road Rash debuted on the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. 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 reengineered up for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 64 platforms or reengineered down to Sega Mega-CD and the handheld consoles.

In November 2006, Electronic Arts released EA Replay on the PlayStation Portable. This contains ports of Road Rash I, II and III, with Road Rash II featuring wireless multiplayer.

Reception

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. The Commodore Amiga release of Road Rash received moderately high ratings, including 84% from Amiga Format and 81% from CU Amiga. The release received worse reviews from Amiga Power, who rated the game 70%.

Road Rash: Jail Break for the Game Boy Advance scored mixed reviews with critics, gaining a score of 67% on Metacritic.

References

^ (1991) Road Rash Sega Game Gear Manual. U.S. Gold, 12.
^ ^a ^b Electronic Arts and BAM Magazine Announce the Road Rash Music Search (html) (English). Business Wire (1999-05-28). Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
^ Road Rash Technical Details (html) (English). Gamespot. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
^ Electronic Arts and Atlantic Records Sign Licensing Agreement for Road Rash 3D (html) (English). Business Wire (1998-03-10). Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
^ Brown, Matt. Road Rash: Review by Matt Brown (html) (English). ibiblio. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
^ Sinclair, Brendan (2006-08-31). EA confirms retro Replay (html) (English). Gamespot. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
^ Rignall, Julian (September 1991). Road Rash Review from Mean Machines. Mean Machines. EMAP. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
^ Jackson, Neil (December 1992). Road Rash Review from Amiga Format (AMR). Amiga Format. Future Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
^ Road Rash Review from CU Amiga (AMR). CU Amiga. EMAP (November 1992). Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
^ Campbell, Stuart (July 1992). Road Rash review from Amiga Power. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
^ Road Rash Jailbreak Review (html) (English). Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.

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