5/27/2020 Road Rash 2
Road Rash (aka ロードラッシュ) is a video game published in 1996 on Windows by Electronic Arts, Inc. It's an action and racing / driving game, set in a motorcycle, street racing and combat vehicules themes. Road Rash II (ロードラッシュII) is a sequel to Road Rash and was released exclusively for the Sega Mega Drive in 1992. A Sega Game Gear version was planned.
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Road Rash is an innovative fusion of motorcycle-racing and combat racing, allowing players to participate in where drivers are fighting against each other not only with speed but also with their fists! Originally debuted on Sega Genesis in 1991, Road Rash arrived on PC in 1996 where it achieved a notable success. To make the game appealing to a modern audience, the developers from Electronic Arts have placed the game into virtual California, building five distinct levels in a number of California locales (Pacific Coast Highway, San Francisco, Sierra Nevada, and Napa).The main difference between Road Rush races and those present in other arcade or sim racers is the presence of hand-to-hand combat. When near opponent, players can with a push of the button punch them, and with another button, the combination can perform backhand punch or even a leg kick. The game also features a large selection of melee weapons such as clubs and chains. To make the races even more difficult, the tracks are set on public roads with the regular presence of car traffics, roadside animals (cows, deer) and trees. To make the game challenging and unpredictable, the player will have to constantly manage their stamina meter, who will when depleted cause the driver to fall to the ground, causing the time penalty during which driver pickups their bike and starts driving again.
Bikes also have a damage meter, which signifies the performance level of the bike. Once depleted, the bike becomes wrecked and the race is lost.The game does not have a cinematic singleplayer campaign with story, narration or characters, but instead, it promotes higher difficulties of play. The players are tasked with finishing the set of five stages, after which the game switches to ever-increasing difficulty modes which increase track length and opponent aggressiveness.After a successful release of this game, the developers at Electronic Arts threw themselves at several sequels, enabling the Road Rash franchise to live to its sixth release in 2000. The music of the game (composed by Rob Hubbard and Michael Bartlow) also received notable praise.Main Features. Motorbike racing where everything is allowed! Kick and punch your opponent’s instead of simply passing them.
Navigate exotic tracks set in California locales. Narrowly miss car traffic, wild animals and trees. Manage your stamina and bike damage levels while fighting to the victory. One of the most popular motorbike racing games of the early 1990s. Retro 3D visuals. Extremely modest system requirements.
Requires less than 5MB of HDD space!. 100% FREE!
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Road Rash is one of the rare gems that play much better than it looks.Although very dated when released, the game's simple charm attracted a small but loyal following. While the game may sound like a 'realistic' motorcycle racing game ( Motocross comes to mind) - especially with Papyrus' name behind it, it is actually an arcade-style game that pays little attention to real-world physics. Not that it's a bad thing at all - even die-hard racing fans will have a blast driving up the wrong lane, slamming into passing cars, and beating cops around with an iron bar.Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. The graphics, by 1996 standards, is dismal. It's laughably bad, and inexplicably so considering how Papyrus' NASCAR Racing series looked at that time. Very few things are drawn to scale, the background scenery looks like discarded Hollywood cardboard sets, and the riders, cars, and pedestrians are all very pixellated.
The music is also horrible - you will most likely turn it off after the first few tunes (luckily you won't have to hear it, since this CD-rip is missing the music to save space). And I have already mentioned the lack of real-world physics, but that's a design choice rather than a flaw.Now, let's talk about the good stuff, of which Road Rash has plenty. First, although it may be an arcade-style game with little realism, Road Rash offers more than a few ways to steer the bike. You can perform a lean, a fast steer, and slow steer, and use three ways to attack fellow riders and cops: kick, punch, and swing.
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And you will need to learn those attacks quickly, because things get nasty in a violent-but-so-much-fun Carmageddon kind of way.The premise of the game is that you take part in a series of illegal races on roads across the USA. This means it's a free for all once you hit the road. If you don't have a weapon, you can even grab one off the other racers if you are quick enough. Naturally, since the races are illegal, you will have to avoid or fight cops who will show up on your tail. Another feature of illegal races is that nobody cordons off the streets to block traffic for the racers, so you will have to avoid hitting pedestrians or run into cars along the way.One nice touch I really like is that if you slam into a car hard enough, the impact will launch you from your bike several feets up the road, and you will have to wait while your on-screen persona gets up and runs back to where the bike was. Your goal is to win as many races as possible (duh). In the process, you will earn prize money that can be spent on buying new, more powerful bikes.
The 'Super Bike' is my favorite, since it comes with a 'nitro' booster that can boost your speed up to 10 times in each race. Another nice touch is that all the bikes handle differently, so it takes some time to learn how to handle a new bike properly.Despite outdated graphics Road Rash excels in every other department.
It is a blast to play, and will keep even the most die-hard racing fans glued to the screen. Whether you have a passing interest in racing, street racing, or if you're just looking for a fun arcade fix, Road Rash is well worth your time. Two thumbs up!Review By HOTUD External links.
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