| Road Rash | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Racing |
| Developers | |
| Publishers |
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| First release | Road Rash September 1991 |
| Latest release | Road Rash (Java) 2009 |
Road Rash is amotorcycleracing video game series byElectronic Arts in which the player participates in violent, illegalstreet races. The series started on theSega Genesis/Mega Drive and was released on various other systems over the years. The game's title is based on the slang term for thesevere abrasive injuries that can occur in a motorcycle fall where skin comes into contact with the ground at high speed.
Six different games were released from 1991 to 2000, and an alternate version of one game was developed for theGame Boy Advance. The Sega Genesis trilogy was re-released inEA Replay for thePlayStation Portable. The series sold 3 million units by 1998.[1]
Road Rash debuted on the Sega Genesis in 1991. The game takes place inCalifornia on progressively longertwo-lane roads and two-player mode allows two people to play alternating. There are 14 other opponents in a race. A port of the game was released for theAmiga, and various scaled-down versions were made forMaster System,Game Gear, andGame Boy. The Game Boy version is one of two licensed games that is incompatible with theGame Boy Color and newer consoles in theGame Boy line.[2] ASNES version was planned and then canceled.[citation needed]
Road Rash II was released in 1992 for theSega Genesis. The sequel took the engine and sprites from the first game and added more content. The largest addition was proper two-player modes: "Split Screen" versus the other computer opponents, and the duel mode "Mano A Mano". The races take place all across theUnited States:Alaska,Hawaii,Tennessee,Arizona, andVermont. The list of bikes has been increased to fifteen (separated into three classes, with the later ones featuringnitro boosts), and a chain was added to supplement the club. Other details include the navigation of the menu screens being considerably easier; and more manageable passwords, being less than half the size of the first game.
Road Rash was released in 1994 for CD-based platforms such as3DO,Sega CD,PlayStation,Sega Saturn, andMicrosoft Windows. It features a number of changes such as the ability to choose characters (with various starting cashpiles and bikes, some with starting weapons) before playing, fleshed-out reputation and gossip systems andfull-motion video sequences to advance a plot. The game features all-California locales: The City, The Peninsula, Pacific Coast Highway, Sierra Nevada, and Napa Valley. The roads themselves feature brief divided road sections.
Road Rash 3 was released in 1995 for theSega Genesis. Races take place across the world, each level featuring five of seven total locales:Brazil, theUnited Kingdom,Germany,Italy,Kenya,Australia, andJapan. In addition to the standard fifteen bikes, four part upgrades are available for each. Eight weapons are available, andRoad Rash 3 introduces the player's ability to hold on to weapons between races and the ability to accumulate multiple weapons.
Road Rash 3D was released in 1998 for the PlayStation. Mostly, the game is not based onsprites. The race courses were pieced together from an interconnected series of roads. The game has less emphasis on combat and more on racing.
Road Rash 64 was released in 1999 for theNintendo 64. Electronic Arts did not design or publish it; the intellectual property rights were licensed toTHQ, which in turn had its ownPacific Coast Power & Light (founded by former EA employee Don Traeger) develop the game.
Road Rash: Jailbreak was released in 2000 for the PlayStation, with a handheld port released in 2003 for theGame Boy Advance with the same title.[3] New features include an interconnected road system and two-player cooperative play with a sidecar.
Road Rash was released in 2009 forJ2ME. It was sold on EA Mobile site only.[4]
Aspiritual successor,Road Redemption was released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One[5] and later Road Redemption Mobile on Android & iOS in 2022. Another spiritual successor,Road Rage was released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.[6]
The Sega Genesis trilogy features music by EA composersRob Hubbard (1 and II), Michael Bartlow (1), Tony Berkeley (II), and Don Veca (II and 3).[7] Later entries were among the first video games to include licensed music tracks from major recording artists in gameplay.[8] The rock radio station in EA's 2004 gameThe Urbz is called "Road Rash FM".
Criterion Games considered developing a newRoad Rash game multiple times, potentially aBurnout Versus Road Rash,[9][10] but nothing came of it; they have expressed a desire to move away from racing games in particular.[11] Dan Geisler, main programmer and co-designer of the Sega Genesis trilogy, was working on a new title along with a number of the originalRoad Rash staff members (the game was then namedHard Rider: Back in the Saddle). He first announced it via aReddit thread[12] and frequently mentioned progress on hisTwitter account,[13] but was unable to find funding for it and dropped the idea.[14]
