Retro Revival: Road Rash '95

First Released: 1994

Original System(s): Panasonic 3D0

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Electronic Arts

First Impressions

The first time I played a Road Rash game was on New Year's Day in about '93 or '94. I was over at my cousins house for the annual family get-together featuring hungover adults and hyperactive kids, and my older cousin and I ended up playing Mega Drive. Road Rash instantly gripped me for several reasons: one, I loved motorbikes and two, the idea of hitting people about the head with a looped chain seemed somehow appealing to my warped six-year old mind (and they say violence in video games is damaging? I turned out just fine). Anyway, I had great fun for an evening and promptly forgot about the whole thing.

Fast forward a couple of years and I'm out shopping with the folks. At this moment in history the only video game console I had is a creaky old NES, but I was heavily into PC gaming. As I was looking through the games at Woolies (ahh... nostalgia), one box caught my eye: Road Rash for Windows! The box featured a huge picture of two brightly coloured superbikes, with the trailing rider getting ready to paste the leader with a photoshopped-in chain. It looked awesome, the bargain-bin price was right, and after counting out my pocket money I walked away with my new favourite game. It was the only thing I played for months.

Essentially the same as the Mega Drive game I'd had so much fun with years before, this new enhanced version souped up the graphics, speeded up the gameplay and added in some great, cheeky cutscenes before and after races. Sadly, I no longer own this game. Years passed, operating systems changed and a once-beloved game found itself relegated to the 'Windows XP hates me' pile. Eventually, Road Rash for Windows paid the ultimate sacrifice in the great PC game cull of the early 2000s. Thankfully, I picked up a PS1 copy about a year back and have been rediscovering a true gem.

Why Is It Great?

I've always had a soft spot for the more action-oriented racing games. The more arcade-y and the less realistic, the better for me. At first glance, Road Rash seems to be a simple arcade motorcycle racer in the styIe of Hang On or Super Cycle, letting the player roar across miles of open country tracks and inner-city streets in a simple sprint for the finish. But wait! There's more. Road Rash takes that premise and mixes in a mean streak a mile wide. Giving the player the ability to inflict violence on your fellow racers is an act of gaming genius.

All Road Rash games are fundamentally very similar. Starting the game as a rookie racer on a clapped-out old ride, your only goal is to win races by any means necessary in order to improve your standing amongst the biker elite. During the course of a race you can gain weapons – including baseball bats, chains or just your own fists – and use them to your strategic advantage in order to win the race. Depleting an opponent's health via beating on them, or simply using your bike to run them off the road or into the path of an oncoming juggernaut, will result in your opponent wiping out and will naturally aid your progression up the field. You also have to content with some very determined traffic cops during the course of each race. Winning a race results in prize money, better bikes and worldwide fame... wiping out, getting arrested or losing a race results in public degradation and humiliation.

Road Rash '95 was released just a short time after the third Mega Drive iteration of Road Rash hit the shelves. It is essentially an updated remake of the original Mega Drive game; in fact, the game is actually called simply Road Rash (but that would get confusing, so I'll continue to make the distinction). Notable enhancements include the addition of FMV cutscenes to advance the game between races, obviously improved graphics and a decent licensed soundtrack from A&M Records featuring artists such as Therapy?, Monster Magnet and Soundgarden.

This iteration of the game represented a real leap forward in terms of the series technical aspects. 3D for the first time, fast and frantic, the game takes advantage of the extra processing power of a new generation of games consoles. Likewise, the full motion cutscenes and CD-quality audio make full use of the extra space afforded by the optical disc media.

It never goes too far, though. In a sea of overly ambitious early CD-based gaming 'experiences', Road Rash '95 used the new technology just enough to enhance an already great series and is all the better for it while retaining the smooth controls, fun courses and wicked sense of the humour of its forbears. Road Rash '95 is the perfect introduction to the series for the uninitiated.

Best Moment

I'd like to say that smacking your opponent in the face and watching them wobble and topple off their bike just in time for you to zoom across the finish line is the most fulfilling moment of the game (it has its moments, for sure). However, I'm going to have to say that my own personal favourite moment would be forcing an opponent into the path of an oncoming truck and taking them out, Burnout-styIe What I wouldn't give for slo-mo replays at a time like that!

Best Version

Road Rash '95 was initially released for the ill-fated Panasonic 3D0 console in late 1994 and was quickly ported to other, more successful formats, namely Mega CD, PlayStation, Saturn and PC.

Barring some minor graphical, audio and control differences, the 3D0, Saturn and PlayStation releases of the game are near enough identical. They all feature the same 3D courses, level progression, opponents, weapons, bikes and soundtrack. They all have full motion video during cutscenes and the licensed A&M soundtrack. The PlayStation and Saturn versions have a slightly lower resolution during gameplay (both versions had a native output of just 240p, compared to the 3D0's 480i).

The Windows version of Road Rash '95 features much higher resolution graphics (up to 800x600), improved audio quality and multiplayer support for up to eight players over a local area network or 56k modem.

Finally, a version was released for Mega CD (in the US only) which featured vastly inferior graphics but retained the CD-quality audio and stellar gameplay of its 32-bit siblings. Interestingly, the Mega CD version is the only one to feature the licensed songs during the actual races (the other games featured the tracks only during the menus and inter-race stuff, resorting to generic Road Rash muzak while riding).

I've never played the 3D0 version of the game. I don't own the console and have no plans to acquire one at this time, so I can't really comment on that version. Ditto on the Saturn version. I wouldn't mind grabbing a Mega CD copy at some point, but for now my opinion rests with the PlayStation and Windows releases of the game – almost identical in execution, but I'm going to go for the PC release for the better graphics and increased multiplayer capabilities, perfect for wreaking havoc over a LAN. Plus, if you plug in a gamepad it's just like playing on a console!

Further Play

There have been a total of seven distinct entries in the Road Rash series over the years. The first Road Rash was released for Mega Drive in 1991 and has since appeared on a multitude of platforms. 1992 saw ports to home computers, including the Amiga and Atari ST, and a belated Master System port was released in 1994. Road Rash appeared on a couple of handhelds too; it was released for the Game Gear in 1994, Game Boy in 1996 and again for the Game Boy Color in 2000.

After the first Road Rash game came a sequel, Road Rash II, also for the Mega Drive. Unlike the first game, this was not ported to any other formats. Basic gameplay remains unchanged from the first Road Rash, but it does feature many advances and improvements over the original Road Rash as well as new courses, characters and rides. Road Rash 3: Tour de Force followed in 1995 and was also a Mega Drive exclusive. Road Rash 1, 2 and 3 were later released on the 2007 PSP collection, EA Replay.

After the release of Road Rash '95, the PlayStation quickly become the format of choice for the developers of Road Rash and the next entry in the series, Road Rash 3D, was released on the console in 1998. It was a PS1 exclusive and featured fully 3D graphics for the first time.

Next up, Road Rash: Jailbreak was released for the PlayStation in 1999, featuring gameplay similar to Road Rash 3D, albeit with a more advanced, connecting road system. It was later ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

Road Rash 64 was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. Unlike all other Road Rash games, this title was not designed or published by Electronic Arts, and while it was originally intended to be a port of Road Rash 3D, it ended up being a unique production. The designers forwent graphical splendour for increased speed and performance and as a result, Road Rash 64 is one of the fastest, most frenetic entries in the series.

Of all these, I have played perhaps half. The original Road Rash was, of course, my introduction to the series and one I am determined to reacquire. Road Rash II is a recent addition to my collection but I have played for a considerable length of time already – and I can safely say it improves greatly on the original game. I also own and have played Road Rash: Jailbreak for PlayStation. Just like Road Rash '95 before it, Jailbreak takes the great gameplay of the Mega Drive games and applies the formula successfully to a more advanced technology.

CIassic Game? You Must Be Joking!

I haven't done a Retro Revival blog in a while, but this has been a subject sitting in the back of my mind for a while now. Road Rash is one of my favourite series ever, and one that deserves another instalment some day (shall we start a petition?). Road Rash '95 is my personal pick from the franchise, but I know that many people prefer the earlier Mega Drive releases... and I know of at least one person who wouldn't touch a Road Rash game if their life depended on it! Blasphemer! Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions on the game so please, comment away.