Road Rash

Moby ID: 17194
3DO Specs
Buy on 3DO
$73.42 used on eBay
Buy on PlayStation
$23.80 used on eBay
Buy on Windows
$15.00 used on eBay
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Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

Road Rash is a remake of the original from the early nineties. For those who've not played the original, you're competing against thirteen other "Road Rashers" who will stop at nothing to win. During the race, you have two options available: you can either do your best to cross the finish line or use your weapon to bring the Rashers to the ground if they give you trouble. Do the latter, and your opponents will do the same to you during the next race.

There are five circuits to race: The City, The Peninsula, Pacific Highway, Sierra Nevada, and Napa Valley. Some of these circuits are dangerous. In addition to the obstacles and traffic you encounter along the way, there are also police motorcycle units that will arrest you if you happen to crash or stop near them. Get caught, and you'll have to pay a fine to get in any more races. If you crash too often, your bike will be wrecked, forcing you to pay for damages. The amount you have to pay depends on the bike you are riding. Once you have completed the first five circuits, you have to race them again another four times - but at a much higher difficulty. Manage to win all five circuits on all levels, and you win the Road Rash cup!

There are about five bikes to choose from, divided into three groups; Rat, Sport, and Super. You start the first level with a Rat bike. As you progress through the levels it will become increasingly important to pick bikes from different classes.

If you have no plans to win the Road Rash cup, you can choose the game's Thrash mode. The difference between this and the other mode is that there is no money involved (i.e., you are not allowed to buy bikes), and you're competing against fourteen opponents. And if you wreck your bike or get busted, you have to start all over again. Regardless of the mode you pick, you will always start in the last place.

The remake also contains FMV movies that usually depict the outcome of the races, as well as limited songs performed by various recording artists, including Soundgarden, Therapy?, Monster Magnet, and Swervedriver. These songs can be changed on-the-fly via the game's options menu.

Spellings

  • ロードラッシュ - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (3DO version)

82 People · View all

Programmers
Additional Programmers
Graphics
3D Graphics
Photography
  • Robert Fujioka Studios Inc.
Package Design
  • E.J. Saraille Design Group
Game Music
Game Sound Effects
Track Editor
Track Layout and Design
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 45 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 60 ratings with 3 reviews)

A healthy mixture of fast bikes and brutal violence.

The Good
This game is a lot of fun. It looked horribly dated when released, but it had a certain simple charm. The music in the menus is excellent, as are the cartoony graphics and the general attitude of the game. There's also a certain sick sense of satisfaction in beating cops around the head with an iron bar.

The Bad
The in game graphics are pretty lousy, even for 1996. You pretty much sit still while the world rolls by - like being on a treadmill (anyone remember the 1982 coin-op Turbo game?). Nothing appears quite to scale, and the other traffic is laughably poorly drawn.

While the menu music is pretty cool, the in-game music is truly awful. Really feeble Ad-Lib type music which screams out to you "Oh... please turn me off." Also the controls are a bit of a handful, with various ways to actually steer - lean, fast steer, slow steer, plus three ways to attack - kick, punch and swing.

The Bottom Line
Do not take this game seriously and whatever you do do NOT waste good money on it. However, if you can get it for a bargain price it may be worth it. It is a lot of fun in a simplistic sort of way, and can easily dispose of any spare half hours you have knocking around the place.

Windows · by Steve Hall (329) · 2005

Hardcore racing where boys become men!

The Good
Oooh mama! Now , I don't usually do racing simulation games...and under normal circumstances I avoid them like the plague. But this little beauty is my little secret. It's not just another simulation racing...I really hate those kinds of games where it's just racing. Well Road Rash has a bonus. It has acceptable levels of violence in it...

This is not a race for boys. This is the mean streets! Rules? There are no rules. You all pump up your engines in the start line but what happens on the streets stay on the streets. It takes pure skill when racing at 160 RPM and still have the time to knock the living daylights out of your fellow competitors. Give them a kick and watch'em fly! Birdwatchers, eat 'yer heart out!

This would be the motor version of Grand Theft Auto. This game simply has no morals. Sometimes you intentionally hit that slow moving granny crossing the street. Real-time melee with the local cops is always a must, may it be with chains, kicks or good ol' fashion punching...when playing multiplayer, the melee combat is so much more important than the race itself. It's a matter of pride. Pure male ego.

When not comparing macho levels playing against fellow human wannabe's, I spend most of my time playing the campaign mode. This game kinda introduced me to some hardcore metal music that was still understandable enough for my age (high school was it?). The corny cartoon graphics still appeals to me come to think of it but you can never forget the sound of those engines running.

The campaign mode has a fairly simple concept. Enter races, win cash, buy faster bikes. The ending cutscenes are always a bonus...

The Bad
Well sometimes you race to fast...next thing you know, your the target of the birdwatchers. Boy, when you fly your really fly. Sometimes it's a long walk back to your bike (or what's left of it)...and when your having a bad day...there'll be a cop waiting just for you on the crash site.

The Bottom Line
Hardcore racing...a must for boyz growing up to be men.

PlayStation · by Indra was here (20756) · 2005

Arcade-style Bikes and Bashing

The Good
This is a simple game of racing while beating your opponents senseless. There no frills, no complex story lines, no cheesy voice acting, just upgradeable bikes and lots of tracks to beat the other bikers on. The quirky art style on the between race screens lends a cartoony yet gritty feel and the Grunge Metal soundtrack fits the game nicely. It's also fun and a bit of welcomed realism that you must beware the cops while doing 90 in a 25 mile per hour zone and being caught results in humorous quips on the "Busted" screen.

The Bad
The tracks are too short to hear all of each song so often you end up listening to only the first minute or two of a three to five minute song. The backgrounds during races can get a little repetitive, but that's expected on a game of this age. The handling on the bikes can be a little wonky sometimes, but it's forgivable.

The Bottom Line
Are you looking for a simple arcade-style race and bash 'em up game with nothing to bog you down? Then this is your game! If you are looking for something with plot, characters and maybe full motion video sequences, you should look into another more recent racing game.

Windows · by lamoxlamae (3) · 2008

Discussion

Subject By Date
Sound Devices Supported : Sound Blaster AWE32 Oddbrother (18) Oct 11, 2014
I think Sega CD game should be split from here GTramp (81965) Feb 17, 2011

Trivia

Music

The 3DO version was one of the first games to license music from real bands. That was of course only possible since the introduction of CD-ROMs for games. Electronic Arts struck gold when they signed the college band Soundgarden for the game. By the time of the release in 1994, the group released the breakthrough album Superunknown that debuted at number one on the US Billboard charts and yielded two Grammy Award-winning singles.

Awards

  • EGM
    • 1995 Buyer's Guide - 3DO Game of the Year
    • 1995 Buyer's Guide - Best Driving Game
    • 1995 Buyer's Guide - Best Music (CD Format)
  • FLUX Magazine
    • Issue #4 - ranked 22 of the Top 100 Video Games of All-Time
  • GameFan
    • (Vol 3, Iss. 1) - Overall Driving/Racing Game of the Year
    • (Vol 3, Iss. 1) - Best 3DO Driving/Racing Game of the Year

Analytics

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Road Rash II
Released 1992 on Genesis, Game Boy Color
Road Rash: Jailbreak
Released 2003 on Game Boy Advance
Road Rash 3
Released 1995 on Genesis
Road Rash 64
Released 1999 on Nintendo 64
Road Rash: Jailbreak
Released 2000 on PlayStation
Road Rash 3-D
Released 1998 on PlayStation
Killer Instinct: Rash
Released 2016 on Windows Apps, Xbox One
Road Race
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Identifiers +

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Katakis | カタキス.

Additional contributors: Sciere, Alaka, ケヴィン, Big John WV, Cantillon.

Game added April 6, 2005. Last modified March 19, 2024.