If you're a fan of the original ROAD RASH games on the Genesis like I am, you are in for a real treat. ROAD RASH 3DO is a tremendous improvement on those games -- adding beautiful graphics, improved sound, some new twists during the races, and even more humor -- yet it manages to retain the excellent control and game mechanics which made the originals so much fun to play.
Road Rash is a no-holds-barred motorcycle racing game. The object is to place in the top three on each track to advance to the next level. There are five different tracks (each in a different setting) and five levels. As your level increases, the track lengths also increase and the other racers become faster and more vicious. After completing each race, you are awarded cash which can be used to buy better better bikes.
A significant aspect of the game is its violence. Other racers will punch and kick you -- or hit you with clubs and chains, trying to knock you for a spill. Your only defense is that you can do the same to them. All the while, you must avoid getting caught by the police and must avoid destroying your bike. Spills and wipeouts are common-place, but are not necessarily disastrous to your chances of winning a race.
The control is very responsive and easy to use. As in the Genesis games, one button is used to attack (different attacks depend on what weapon you have and the position of the D-pad), one button is for acceleration, and one is for braking. The lone addition to the control scheme is the ability to "lean". This is accomplished with the L and R buttons. Playwise, leaning is useful for following gradual curves and, when used in conjunction with regular turning, is useful for extra turning ability.
The simplicity of the controls is a big plus.
The in-game graphics are simply excellent. After getting used to the Genesis versions of the game, the sheer "amount" of graphics is mind- blowing. Buildings, traffic lights, pedestrians, traffic, telephone booths, fire hydrants, benches, newspaper vending machines, street signs, guard rails, trees -- the list goes on and on. The color and detail is superb on these objects. One can even see the "USA Today" logo on the newspaper machines! Traffic lights change if you're going slow enough to notice -- and the other traffic respects red lights (watch out, cross traffic respects the lights too). The tunnels are well-done with the appropriate "echo-effect" engine noises. The ground on the sides of the road and city buildings appear to be texture-mapped polygons but all other objects are scaled sprites.
You can go a lot further "off-road" than in the Genesis versions -- but don't be surprised if you can't get back on the road because of a guard rail!
The different track locations all have a different graphical "feel". A nice variety of scenes can be experienced. As you progress through the game, you will see new graphics as the tracks get longer.
Additionally, each track has forks -- you can go either way, and rejoin the other half of the road later.
Backgrounds (buildings in the distance, mountains, sky) during the race are similarly well-done.
Everything moves smoothly enough that frame rate does not detract from the game. It is not glass smooth -- it's about 15-20 FPS on average, dropping to 8-10 when a fork in the road begins or ends and there's a lot of other racers in the vicinity. It's adequate.
The still screens outside of the game (selection screens, before and after races, etc.) are gaudy and exaggerated artists' renderings of characters and scenes. Two words come to mind to describe them: weird and hilarious.
Bike selection is nice -- when you select a bike, your point of view rotates around the colorful, sharply-rendered bike in three dimensions.
Remember those little "cartoons" after each race in the Genesis versions? Well these are now, you guessed it, full-motion video with "real" actors and sets. Some are quite funny, some are ho-hum, and all get tiresome after you've seen them five or ten times. The introduction to the game is also full-motion video, and pre-race videos are included. The video in this game is full-screen and fairly smooth. The color seems washed out in most of the video, with lots of reds and greens, but one has to believe that is an intentional "feel" because there are certain sections of certain clips which are extremely colorful.
First, the music. During all the videos and selection screens, music from an actual band plays. The bands include Soundgarden, Paw, Swervedriver, Therapy?, Monster Magnet, and Hammerbox. All the music works nicely with the game, although the quality is a little muddy -- no doubt it was sampled at less-than-full audio CD rates to conserve bandwidth to accomodate the video. There are also three music videos which play as screen savers (a very nice touch).
The background music during races is fine, though repetetive after a while. There are five different background pieces, one for each track location. I would have preferred something with a little more bite, to better match the overall feel of the rest of the game. I rate the music as better than the music in ROAD RASH 2 but not quite as good as the music in the original ROAD RASH. Naturally I am talking music scoring quality, not music sound quality. :)
Sound effects are nothing special in general. Engine sounds are good, and the exclamations by the pedestrains are funny. The grunts during a wipeout are good but I would like more crash sound effects. I especially like the "bonk" your club makes on other riders' helmets (and the policemen's too :).
The tire squeal during swerves gets on my nerves when I'm going a consistent 160+ MPH and every adjustment of steering elicits one.
Police sirens are too loud.
It would be nice to be able to adjust the in-game music and sound effect volumes separately. With music and sound effects both on, the music can barely be heard.
I'd like the option to be able to turn off all FMV -- while good, there isn't enough variety after a while. By the time I got to the 5th level, I was pushing buttons as soon as I knew some FMV was coming (luckily button presses allow you to skip them).
Control of selections in selection screens is not responsive.
There is no rear view mirror!
There are a few bugs -- I've had the game lock up at times, there are occasional glitches in the video, I've seen pedestrians "materialize" in front of my bike and a tree floating in the sky (Pacific Coast Highway, levels 3 and up).
My main critera for a game: is it fun? Road Rash 3DO is *fun*. It is also challenging -- it has given me countless hours of enjoyment, and yet I still can't place in the top three on the Pacific Coast Highway, level 5 (came close a couple times though :).
Road Rash 3DO is a visual and audio feast, and that -- while not contributing to the gameplay -- adds to the "realism" and hence to the fun factor.
I recommend this game to anyone with a 3DO who likes racing games (and doesn't mind a bit of violence).
This review is Copyright (c) 1994 by Doug Bauer for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.