It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. (Discuss) Road Rash Developer(s) Electronic Arts Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Release date(s) Genre(s) Arcade Racing Mode(s) Single player, Two Player Multiplayer Platform(s) Sega Mega Drive, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Sega Master System, GameBoy, GameGear, 3DO, Sega Mega-CD, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance Media Cartridge, Optical CD Input Game controller Screenshot of Road Rash for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis For the common abrasion injury caused by high-speed contact with rough pavement, see road rash. 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 Megadrive/Genesis, but was ported to several other systems. Six versions of the game were released from 1991 to 1999, although a 2004 licensed port for the Game Boy Advance exists. Road Rash was the first racing game to allow actual combat between racers. Contents 1 Overview 2 Game play 3 Differences 4 Trivia 5 Sound 6 Releases 7 Difficulty 8 External links 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 subsequently 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 your 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. You could also be "busted" by getting caught by an officer while off your motorcycle. Players could choose between 3 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 good but lots of straight line power. The 32-bit versions introduced a 4th 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, Road Rash was the first video game to include music tracks from artists in gameplay. Soundgarden was one artist included. 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. The possible game triggers for cut scenes in all the versions are: race win, race lose, level progression, game win, wreck and busted. Trivia 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. Even though attacking and knocking other racers and police officers from their bikes is encouraged within the game, Road Rash received little attention in the video game controversy of the 1990s. The game consistently garnered a "Teen" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, with a warning of animated violence. 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 2000 due to a restructuring at EA the key design, technical and artistic forces behind the Road Rash series left EA. At the time of its demise, Road Rash was EA's second most profitable franchise as it didn't have significant 3rd party royalty or licensing fees. EA attempted to resurrect the series with a PlayStation 2 version but was unable to complete it. In August 2006, GameSpot reported that Electronic Arts would be porting Road Rash I, II and III to the PlayStation Portable as part of a 14-game compilation, EA Replay. It is slated for release in the United States on November 7, 2006. Also, Road Rash II will feature wireless multiplayer. [1] Version History Road Rash 16-bit All Races took place in California locales on progressively longer 2 lane roads. Road Rash II 16-bit All Races took place in U.S. states (including Alaska and Hawaii). Road Rash III 16-bit All Races took place in 5 of 7 countries: Brazil, Germany, Kenya, UK, Italy, Japan and Australia (country selection varied per level.) 15 bikes, bike upgrades, night racing (in Japan), 7 Weapons including mace, taser. Road Rash 32-bit All Races took place in California locales (The City, The Peninsula, Pacific Coast Highway, Sierra Nevada, and Napa Valley) on multi-lane roads with brief divided road sections. Road Rash 3D 32-bit All Races took place on routes laid out through a single interconnected road system- hence the title 3D. Road Rash: Jail Break 32-bit An interconnected road system and 2 player cooperative play- with a sidecar. Titles and release dates Road Rash V.1 Mega Drive/Genesis, 1991 original Atari ST, 1992 (Peakstar Software) Commodore Amiga, 1992 (Peakstar Software) Sega Master System, 1994 (ported by Probe, published by US Gold) V.2 Game Boy, 1994 (The Code Monkeys, Ocean of America) Game Gear, 1994 (US Gold Ltd.) Internet- AOL Games Channel, 2001 V.4 3DO, original 1994 Sega Mega-CD, 1994 PlayStation, 1996 Sega Saturn, 1996 Microsoft Windows PC, 1996 (Papyrus Design Group) Game Boy Color, 2000 (3d6 Games) Road Rash II V.2 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, 1992 original Interesting Notes/Glitches/Etc: When you win a race you will receive a message from one of the other computer controlled players. If you wait about 20 minutes, this message will suddenly switch to a different message from a different player. When you purchase a bike with the EXACT amount needed (ie. if you have exactly $4,500 and purchase the panda 500 for $4,500), your money will become $0, and the game will mistakenly assume the game has just started and reset everything. It can be a very serious programming error in later levels. When you wreck your bike, the game will zoom out a little bit before changing to the cut scene. However, very very rarely, the cut scene doesn't kick in, and the game keeps zooming out forever, forcing you to reset the game. When you beat the entire game, you find yourself racing against all of the police officers. However whenever you cross the finish line, the game freezes. One wonders how this 'secret' second game was intended to progress by the creators. It is possible, though extremely rare for the game to be won through player error, for example very close to the finish line if another player attacks and kicks the human player off the bike, then it is possible to be be hurled with great speed past the finish line. Road Rash does not differentiate between a legitimate finish and an accidental one. In fact if the player lands very close to the finish line and there are no cops around, the player can win by running past the finish line. Rarely, about once per entire game of five levels, a car that seems to be moving about 500 miles per hour toward the player appears. If the player is hit a bizarre long crash usually ensues where the player flies backward, as opposed to forward, and usually snags on just about every obstacle in the way multiple times before continuing. These backward crashes occur at other times, especially on later levels, and seem to be glitches. Natasha seems to play an important role in the game and is the only character that has two pictures (one for when she is upset with you, and one for when she is friendly). It seems possible that the game creators made it so that if you upset natasha, especially in later levels, by attacking her, the whole game seems be more difficult (more frequent oncoming cars, etc). Often when you attack her, she becomes an expert driver gradually gaining on you, and if she passes you when angry she is usually impossible to catch. Natasha and Ikira also seem to have the ability of 'pushing' everybody ahead of them when in front of you, thus not allowing you to pass anyone at all for long periods of time. With ultra light bikes especially, it is possible and fairly easy to do a kick powerful enough to knock the other player completely off their bike. The best method is to start on the opposite side of the road from the opponent, wait for a turn that turns toward the opponent, then use the turn as 'extra space' to make your kick longer and faster. At the title screen, hold A + C + up simultaneously, then push start. You will get the 'Wild Thing', the fastest, best handling bike with infinite nitros. As with some other genesis games, the music will speed up significantly at key times, such as right before some cut scenes. Your bike will never be further than a certain fixed distance from you. For this reason, it is possible to run away from a cop that is ahead, thus 'dragging' your bike with you, so that you can continue without being arrested. Chains are arguably the best weapon (and bats are arguably a hindrance, because they decrease attack rate. They fall into a classic category of unwanted supposed 'powerups' in videogames (such as getting too many speed boosts in many shooter games, thus making your ship too difficult to navigate). After you steal a chain from an opponent for the first time, you can steal it again and again from that same opponent with much greater ease throughout the remainder of the 5 tracks in that level. Often just one punch will steal the chain after you stole it in a previous track. Road Rash 3: Tour De Force V.3 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, 1995 original Road Rash 3D V.5 PlayStation, 1998 original Road Rash 64 V.5 Nintendo 64, 1999 (THQ) Road Rash: Jailbreak V.6 PlayStation, 1999 original Game Boy Advance, 2004 (Destination Software, Inc) Difficulty The game's difficulty level increases as the player progresses through the game, and naturally the requirement for the minimum specification of motorcycle to be competitive also increases. Bikes competitive in one scenario might not be in others. The Perro is a sports bike that is naturally competitive in congested tracks like the City and Peninsula where its great handling is a natural asset and its lower top speed is not noticed. On the other hand the Kamikaze and Corsair superbikes are better attuned for relatively quiet tracks like the Sierra Nevada and Napa Valley as their higher top speed is highlighted in these tracks. The Diablo is a rare superbike that has a fabulous top speed and an equally impressive handling, making it the undisputed best bike of the game, ideally suited for all scenarios. Perro: Sports bike Kamikaze: Super bike Corsair: Super bike Diablo: Super bike External links MobyGame's entry for Road Rash Series Racing simulations by Papyrus Design Group Open wheel racing Indianapolis 500: The Simulation | IndyCar Racing | IndyCar Racing II | Grand Prix Legends NASCAR Racing series NASCAR Racing | NASCAR Racing 2 | NASCAR Racing 3 | NASCAR Racing 4 | NASCAR Racing 2002 Season | NASCAR Racing 2003 Season | NASCAR Craftsman Truck Racing | NASCAR Racing 1999 Edition | NASCAR Legends | NASCAR Grand National Series Expansion Pack Other Papyrus simulations Road Rash | SODA Off-Road Racing Search Term: "Road_Rash" Categories: Articles to be split | 1991 computer and video games | Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis games | Sega CD games | Sega Saturn games | Sega Master System games | Game Gear games | 3DO games | Amiga games | Atari ST games | Game Boy games | Game Boy Color games | PlayStation games | Vehicular combat games | Windows games

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