Road Rash - The Games I Have Played

Road Rash Returns!

Motorcycles, speed, police, crashes and violence. This is Road Rash and it is one of the best games I have ever had the joy to play.

Race on your bike through the pack while avoiding all manners of hazards from other riders, traffic cars, pursuing police and other obstacles. Punch, kick and bash your way past your opponents and the motorcycle cops trying to stop you as you hurtle towards the finish line, preferably at the front of the pack, and in one piece, in the aim to become the outright champion!

Watch as your rider flips and tumbles when you collide with the static and moving dangers that litter the sides and occupy the roads you travel. Laugh (and get annoyed?) as your bike gets knocked further away from your rider by another vehicle and they have to chase after it, eager to hop back on and return to the race.

Oh yes, this game was (is?) so much fun to play and despite it looking sooooo old and blocky compared to the technical and gorgeous marvels of today, there is still something about its gameplay, even now. If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing any of this for yourself or want to revisit old bash-your-face-in-ful, then thanks to this new thing they call the internet you can go and do so, in fact you can play Road Rash and its sequels and judge if I am merely looking through rose-tinted spectacles.

No matter what platform you played this on, it was always the same simple formula: racing, fighting and crashing. And at a time when car games were flooding onto the scene it was good to be able to try something else. Throw into the mix the ability to cause some hurt, and it's no wonder these games became so popular!

And if after giving it a go you too want more and are wondering why there is no modern-day equivalent, then worry not, as there is an indie title currently in development called Road Redemption that is available for PC on Steam 'Early Access', that aims to bring the motorcycle-racing-beating-up-opponents genre back!

Gamespot recently took a look at it, and despite it being a bit rough around the edges, it's very much full of the qualities we would expect from one that wishes to emulate this icon. And until EA find the will to actually set it loose again, this is as close as we can get to a new version.