Road Rash II old school review

Road Rash II: A Review by James Welch, April 20, 2016, at 6:00 p.m.

Anyone who rides a motorcycle has probably had the pleasure of viewing a Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s (MSF) Safety Riding Video. You know, those awesome videos where a guy that’s an obvious Sons of Anarchy extra teaches you how to safely ride a motorcycle, you know safely. Learning how to avoid accidents is a good idea in real life. As any rider will tell you, and of this I can attest to with 100 percent certainty, it isn’t if you’ll go down, it’s when.

Crashing hurts, and “road rash” is not a pleasant experience. Unless it’s Road Rash II for Sega Genesis, and then it’s an absolutely awesome. This game, folks is a textbook example of video game escapism. Smacking someone on another bike in the head with a nightstick in real life: bad. Smacking someone on another bike in the head with a nightstick in a video game: hilarious.

Road Rash II was released for the Sega Genesis in 1993. It is the second game in the Illegal Street-Racing series by Electronic Arts (before Emperor Palpatine conscripted them to join the Empire) and was a significant step up from the previous iteration. Major improvements include: a more intuitive menu screen, new weapons, nitrous oxide boosts and the addition of local multiplayer via a split screen. On a side note: developers today need to stop excluding local multiplayer. I don’t have any friends to play online only games with me. With local multiplayer via split screen I am able to force my wife or kids to play. Couch co-op…bringing families together.

I digress.

ROAD RASH II Visuals

Road Rash II is visually impressive, especially considering it was released in 1993. It’s neat to see the little graphical nuances EA added that make this game stand out from it’s peers. The first race is the Alaskan highway, and it’s graphically impressive.

The way the verdant scenery lightly contrasts with the dark forests nestled beneath snow-covered mountains, is a perfect illustration of how video games are works of art. While the horizon is simply an unmoving backdrop, the numerous hills and turns give the illusion of it changing. You feel like you are actually getting closer to the mountains as the race goes on, which is extremely impressive for a 16-bit title.

The game makes the most of its color palette, as the multitude of objects on screen at once are each indistinguishable…and all out to wreck you. Expect to soak up the scenery regularly as you spend a good amount of time running back to your bike after being flung through the air like a Jeff George pass (and hitting the ground like one too).

The bikes don’t change much visually outside of a pallet swap or a pixel addition here or there, but considering the amount of chaotic pandemonium the game throws at you, it gets a pass. Siskel and Ebert give the graphics two thumbs up from their high rise in heaven.

ROAD RASH II Gameplay

It’s a racing game. You start, you avoid obstacles and finish before everyone else. Do I need to say anything else? Just kidding. I’m not about to sell this game short. In fact, the gameplay on Road Rash II is outstanding. To start, the controls are great.

From the starter bike, the Shuriken 400, all the way until you finally penny pinched enough in your purse to purchase the Diablo 1000; you never feel out of control of your motorcycle. Yes, there are other bikes, 15 in fact, spread across three classes, and each with it’s own strengths and weaknesses, and you will need to think carefully about which one to buy, as money doesn’t come easy in this game, and if you aren’t careful, you can actually go into the negative after the race.

Believe it or not, that’s easy to do. Each race is littered with a plethora of fun obstacles like, signs, trees, cows, potholes, cars and rocks. Hell, any road hazard you can think of and some you can’t lie in wait on the treacherous roadway. The best advice I can give you is don’t go over hills in the left lane. Trust me.

Oh, and watch out for the wannabe Poncherello’s that the game so nicely included. If you can hear that siren, do not wipe out, you’ll get busted, removed from the race and fined. All with a nice cut scene showing you getting hosed by the popo. Speaking of cutscenes, each race ends with a chuckle-inducing cinematic, of the race winner, and the race umm… not-winner. Throw all that in with a split screen multiplayer, and you have the recipe for one helluva game.

ROAD RASH II Soundtrack

The Sega Genesis sound chip has a gritty, metal-guitar inspired sound to it. It’s one of the things that made Sega’s console unique, and Road Rash II sounds right at home on Genesis. Sound effects are relatively non-existent, outside of the hum and growl of the different bikes. Which is fine, it’s a motorcycle racing game after all.

Other than that, the only other sound effects of note are car horns, that godawful cop siren, and the sound of your poor bike impacting one of the many hazards. Yeah, get used to that one, you’ll hear it a lot, usually followed by a loud “waaaa,” while your rider does his or her best Superman impersonation. Even so, the sound effects are usually drowned out by the game’s music.

The soundtrack is good. As I said before, the Genesis sound chip is tailor made for a game like this. If there is any issue with the sound, it’s that if you suck at the game like I do, and will hear the same tracks repeated over and over. To combat that, I used to throw on my No More Tears CD by Ozzy Osbourne and rocked out to that as I wrecked across America.

The subtle elegance of off-tune singing to “Desire” while using a road napping cow as a launchpad over a hill and into oncoming traffic is an experience that cannot be explained in conventional conversation. It’s a permanently ingrained tattoo of nostalgia in my post-concussively concussed brain.

I’m off base (and off my meds, if you can’t tell), but Road Rash II’s sound is good stuff, and totally fitting of a street racer.

Conclusion

Look, if you want a racing game for your Genesis, it doesn’t get any better than this. This game is not only one of the top Sega Genesis titles of all time, but one of the top video games of all time. I know EA has a poor track record as of late, but by God, did they make some solid titles for the Genesis, and this game is as solid as it gets. I loved this game so much as a kid that it made me bug my dad for a motorcycle. Art inspiring life. Now that’s what you want from your video games. That said, I think I’ve rambled on long enough. Get this game.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a Yamaha R6 that is calling my name. Nothing like a night ride on a desert road. Ciao.