Road Rash 3D

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• MEMORY CARD 2 BLOCKS
• DOLBY SOUND
• ORIGINAL THRASHING SOUNDTRRACK

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000038ABR
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: July 20, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,059 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

The mainstream press likes to trot out EA's Road Rash series as an example of what horrible games people are playing these days whenever the subject of video game violence is brought up. Why? Because the player must often punch, kick, or drive fellow racers or, going one further, pursuing policemen, into obstacles such as oncoming traffic to win the race. It's sensational cartoon violence almost at its best, and it's been with us for so long it seems almost a given, which goes to show that people who only observe the games will never understand how fun and perhaps innocuous they are to play.

And it's the gameplay, not the violence, that's noteworthy in the latest leg of the Road Rash order. This model boasts improved 3D graphics, more realistic handling, wilder and more varied tracks, better fighting, and improved animation, which it accomplishes with varied degrees of success. While the gameplay is much the same as before (avoid oncoming cars, signs, and other objects; hit people on the head, snag their crowbars or pipes, hit them on the head again; stay on the track, get money for winning, buy better bikes; and so on), it's a formula that's difficult to grow tired of and essentially works here, too. And a few of the characteristics have been recognizably brought to the next level.

The control, for example, is much more concise than before. With the basic Sony controller, it's solid, manageable control, while with the dual analog controller, it's a dream. It's so much smoother in fact, it's almost an entirely different game. The analog really excels on some of the more twisty mountain pathways, and when you throw in a bike with a better turning radius and superior handling, you're set. The racing controls are also very responsive to split-second reactions, which are occasionally necessary as you can jump moving cars and such by popping a wheelie at exactly the right moment.

The courses are formed from connecting points, or various stretches, in a large environmental grid. In one race, you might run from point A to C and then from C to F and F to I before the race is complete. Then in another race, you might race from I to F and F to E then E to A - using different stretches within the same grid system, though sometimes in a different combination and/or direction. This reusing of track sections doesn't end up as cheap as it might sound - since it melds different courses together, with a lot of bits to meld - and provides a fair amount of value in its overall variety.

But even though the graphics, track design, and just about every aspect of the title comes out well, it's still a PlayStation game, so of course there's pop-up. But with the careful placement of some nice graphical tricks, it's not overt or overwhelming and ends up being roughly as unobtrusive as in EA's Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. And while it's sometimes a strain to distinguish the cars from the visual noise in the cityscapes, the designers had the foresight to make oncoming cars honk when you're in their lanes - a treatment that corrects this problem most of the time.

Road Rash 3D starts off fairly easy, but soon becomes quite challenging. It's a difficult game to master, but not to the point of being mind-numbingly frustrating, like, for instance, Midway's Top Gear Rally for the N64. In fact, it's a pretty forgiving racing game. You can crash once or twice and still come out in first place if you play your cards right the rest of the race. And since the tracks become very long, very quickly, it's necessary to have a margin of error on your side.

As in the first CD version of Road Rash, the musical score for 3D is composed of tunes from actual rock bands. The earlier rev included the likes of Soundgarden, Hammerbox, and Paw, and now it's the Mermen, Sugar Ray, CIV, and a few others. The soundtrack doesn't have the highs of the original, nor does it have the lows (it's hard to figure out in which category Paw's Jesse would end up). At its worst, however, it's decent music to have playing in the background, but that's about the best it gets, too.

While the glitches in RR 3D are not abundantly obvious, the title is not flawless. The weakest point in the chain would have to be the game's fighting element. What was once a fairly large part of RR gameplay has now been trimmed back to an infrequent slap in the face with a two-by-four. The competing racers spend their time beating on each other instead of taking you on, though perhaps that's for the best since as the player, your moves take so long to follow through that you'll be flat on your back before your swings or kicks even come close to connecting.

So what's really keeping Road Rash 3D from being positively incredible is the occasional graphical glitch, the lack of a two-player mode (included in some of the earlier RRs), and the reduced fighting element. In the end, Road Rash 3D's a great single-player racing game; it just turned out less Road Rash than most die-hard fans of the series would have liked. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Product Description

ULTIMATE FIGHT THE FINISH LINE...ALL NEW 3D WORLD WITH 100 MILES OF INTERCONNECTED ROADS FULL CONTACT TEETH CLENCHING BLAST ON TREACHEROUSE CANYON RIDES, HIGH SPEED REEWAYS AND CROWDED STREETS WHERE TWISTED BIKERS TEAR IT UP!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Racing Game, October 13, 2000

By 

Cardinal Fan (Scab Holler, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Road Rash 3D (Video Game)

This game was really fun. There are several levels, and you must collect money by winning races so you can purchase a better, nicer bike to race with. There's lots of cool roads and settings you can race in. There are about 15 other computer-operated bikers that you are racing against, and if you are in last, there is afew places where you can cheat and take shortcuts, and it puts you in first place! I also liked this game because there are cops in it and they try to chase you down. You can ram them and other bikers with your motorcycle to make them crash, or you can hit them with one of the many weapons you acquire over time.(Like a 2 by 4, chain, mace, stun gun, cattle prod, baseball bat....) Oh, and one more thing: I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 12 or anyone that can't interpret the difference between fake violence and real violence. But this game is really alot of fun!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is a classic to have, April 25, 2010

By 

Robinson Cruz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Road Rash 3D (Video Game)

I like motorcycles, I used to play this game back in the days, now i play it in my PS3 is a classic you should have.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome concept! awesome style! awesome music!, October 2, 2009

By 

Pedro Delgado (Aguascalientes, Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Road Rash 3D (Video Game)

This is one of the most memorable games of my old times with my PS1, and what I love of it, is the concept, the fights in the road, the open city(kind of, if you get out of track you won't win but you can explore), the cops, the music is awesome, the cut scenes, the menus and the art has an amazing style that blends perfectly, did I mention the music? It's pretty cool for just a game where you road on bike trying to win races beating your opponent with chains just to get money to buy better bikes :) If you see it someday around some store(like me) or online... take it! you won't regret it, of course have in mind that this game is almost 10 years old, but I have to say that today's PS3 or 360 doesn't have games with great and diverse concepts like this one.