The 3DO version of "Road Rash" was the first console
videogame I had ever played since giving up the hobby in
1985, when the death of the Atari 2600/5200 killed my
interest in electronic entertainment. With the heritage of
the Genesis versions before it, EA managed to make the 3DO
look (for the first time in its existence) as a must-have
next-generation system with "Road Rash" (along with the 3DO
version of "Madden Football"), and I for once was glad I
had wasted $400 on Trip Hawkin's black box. When the PSX
and Saturn came to market in 1995, EA ported the game
almost unchanged to these machines, delighting those that
hadn't experienced the thrills of the 3DO version but
dissappointing those of us eager to move up to the next
level. Now the first truly updated version of "Road Rash",
with a "3D" added to the title to symbolize the move to the
32-bit era, has been released for the PSX and it has
managed to squander every expectation and crush every soul
that was hoping for EA to pull another "Need for Speed III"
from its bag of tricks. Rent it today for yourself to
witness the mockery of a legendary game series, or puchase
it fully aware that "Moto Racer" and the original 3DO "Road
Rash" (also available as a PSX game) are better buys for
your bike-videogaming joy. Better yet, hear what I have to
say based on a couple of hours spent on a
Blockbuster-rented copy.
GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: C+
No videogame that allows you to race against a gang of
punks hell-bent on destroying your face with chains or lead
pipes can't be that bad, and in the same way a movie like
"Godzilla" can be enjoyed if you turn-off every ounce of
smart thinking in your brain, "Road Rash 3D" will appeal to
the most basic instinct and lowest common denominator of
the average gamer. You will enjoy trying to beat the
carcass of these villains with the same delight you'll
experience avoiding the huge obstacles and devilish turns
that the programmers have programmed into the game. Gone
are the five tracks that appeared on the 3DO version,
replaced with a series of interconnecting roads that will
vary from map to map, and that get progressively harder as
the game's difficulty increases. And even though the
control of the bikes isn't exactly perfect, it is tolerable
and bearable if you stick with it long enough (and what
driving videogame feels correct after being spoiled by the
sweetness that is the control of "Gran Turismo"?). The
lack of suport for the Dual Shock controller disappoints,
but that is because the game has been in development for
quite a few years now (not that the final product reflects
it, but... :-P); besides, there are plenty of other
improvements that make the absence of D.Shock support seem
like forgetting to put a feather on the hat of a dead
corpse (what's the point?).
You'd expect two-player support for those who want to
either fight with a split-screen or a Link setup, but sadly
"Road Rash 3D" is still a one-player affair. No problem
you say, I can still have loads of fun by myself going up
against the bikers and their nasty road rage. But the
problem is, the AI of the tougher bikers in the higher
difficulty levels gets insanely oppresive and don't let you
have a moment's breath; and you thought the cops in
"NFSIII" were getting agressive as you evaded them? These
goons gang up on you sometimes in multiple groups, and you
don't have a moment to defend against all of them and next
thing you know, your ass is leaving a black line next to
the yellow line dividing the roads. Also, the controls are
not as precise as the gaming situations demand, and the lag
between hitting a punch button and the actual delivery of
that hit can be of detriment to you, meaning that sloppy
programming from the coders of the game mesed up your
chances, and that is unforgivable. Even though it has been
on development forever, "Road Rash 3D" gameplay could have
benefited from a few more weeks of control-tweaking and
testing, because it feels like improvements were about to
implemented when the call came from upstairs requesting the
gold version.
GRAPHICS / VISUALS: C+
Bad, but not anywhere near as bad as I have been reading
elsewhere. Yes, the polygons are glitchy/warpy, low-res
abominations that are nowhere near the flash of "Gran
Turismo" or the "Ridge/Rage Racer" series, but there have
been worse-looking games on PSX and, when compared to
those, "Road Rash 3D" looks pretty good. Those backgrounds
look like updated polygon-based remakes of the 3DO "R.Rash"
backgrounds with better texture-mapping, and although the
frame-rate is disappointingly low (seems like 24 per-second
to me), it chugs alone fine when there aren't too many
bikers on-scren clustered next to you (that's when slowdown
rears its ugly head briefly). Also, the resolution and
blocky look of the polygons make this "Road Rash 3D" update
look just like a slightly prettier "Manx T.T." (Saturn
version, to the gorgeous Model 2 arcade game), and it lacks
the speed and split-screen eye-candy that made "Moto Racer"
so much fun. Where the game really bites the big one,
though, is in its presentation and FMV sequences; unlike
the 3DO version which had decent compressed FMV segments
with some violent but sleek confrontations, "Road Rash 3D"
has some of the least-appealing and badly-edited video ever
compressed for a PSX game. The actors are a joke, their
lines are pathetic and the continuity in them is less than
cable-access worthy (I should know, since I'm an AVID/FAST
editor and I assemble TV programs for a living); add to
that a letteboxed-squeezed screen (nicely disguised with
the option screens on the top/bottom of the screen), and
you have yet another detraction from the game.
MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS: C
There is an inherit risk in programming a genre of music
into a videogame, because you risk alienating the gamers
that buy your game but despise the type of music you
select. What if you are a basketball fan who loves to play
the PSX b-ball games, but hate rap music? What if you love
cartoony racing games, but despise the use of bubblegum
rock'n'roll with lyrics (Saturn's "Sonic R")? "Road Rash
3D", just like its previous incarnation (I refuse to say
"3DO version of 'Road Rash'" one more time or...doh!), goes
full-tilt with alternative/thrash music from a bunch of
up-and-coming musical bands I couldn't possibly remember
even if I tried to. You will either love them or hate
them, but you will definitely won't be able to ignore their
guitar rifts and screaming lyrics. Sound effects are no
better than adequate, with the annoying engine noises
(aren't they all?) thundering over the screams, screeching
tires and rattle of chains hitting your helmet (or exposed
parts of the body.... ouch!). Unless you manage to defeat
lots of opponents and manage to earn enough money to
upgrade your bike, you won't be able to get the cool bikes
that have the thundering and booming engine noises. But is
listening to a strong bike incentive big-enough to make you
ignore how flawed many of the game's other aspects are?
OVERALL: C+
If I were to rate the (here comes that phrase again) 3DO
version of "Road Rash" today, I would give the graphics a
C+, the music/sound effects a B and the gameplay/fun factor
a B-, for an overall rating of B-. The fact that an
all-new, built-from-the-ground-up PSX version comes a tad
behind a spiritual prequel that is almost four years old
shows the main reason why "Road Rash 3D" is getting
hammered like it is: it couldn't be any more old news even
if it traveled back in time, "Sliders"-style. The same
Restroom, Showroom Floor and other features of the previous
game have been ported over to PSX almost unchanged. That
laziness in exploiting the still-cool concept of "Road
Rash" would be tolerable IF the graphics and visual aspects
lived up to the expectation AND were a dramatic improvement
over itself and the competititon. As it stands, if EA is
gonna make some money from motorcycle videogame fanatics it
will have to come from Delphine's "Moto Race", and use some
of the profits from that game to cover the losses from this
overhyped lemon of a game. "Road Rash 3D" and the new
Acclaim motorcycle game with Jeremy M. are strictly
rental-worthy, as long as you pick-up some Reeses and
Pop-corn while you're at it to counter the bitterness these
two will leave in your taste buds.
