Hard hitting bikers is always fun but the N64 lets the Roadrash series down on gameplay!!!
As seen as Im into bikes and also like a good rumble on the console, Road Rash has everything I need – in theory. However I’m bound to have expectations having played this game on the old Sega Megadrive, where I first played the game. Road Rash 2 was a superb game that set the standards to beat.
Unfortunately the N64 version lets RR down; surprising when you consider they pride themselves on gameplay. Within this instalment it breaks down as follows (compared to the Megadrive version):
You start off with a wad of cash to spend on a bike, from a selection of 4, each having differing abilities; the crusing bikes are so poor for handling you just don’t consider them. With the bike you need to finish in the top 3 to on every race – about 8 races per level. You’re already given a weapon (much like the Playstation/3DO version later on). The variation in bikes is limited.
Quickly giving note to the graphics, they were on par with other games of its time on the 64. The bright primary colours help keep the game on a fun level. As with many N64 games, there is no noticeable slowdown.
Sound effects are typical for its time and do a satisfactory job. Tunes are great.
Onto the important stuff, gameplay and AI – where the N64 fell down:::
The controls were slightly odd in that the throttle was with the Z button and not the usual A + B for go and stop. C buttons are used for hitting and kicking and very oddly you can wheelie with A – why?
There is a delay when hitting your opponent which makes the game harder than needs be. Fighting needs to be fast and furious. To use your weapon requires you to hold the button down a second longer, thus letting your opponent hit you. The only way to get round this is to pull the weapon out early. The selection of weapons is better than other versions of RR, but some are a little silly in my opinion – nothing better than a good old chain to wrangle around someones neck.
The handling of the bike seems fairly normal – not great and nod bad. On the plus side is that some of the physics are kinda cool and crash scenes can be spectacular. However the handling of the bikes just isn’t as real as you found on the Megadrive – whereby the bikes would act in a realistic way, making the game more challenging, whereas the N64 soon shows to be ARCADE. You can brake hard mid-corner and on the grass, there don’t seem to be oil patches on the road, nore objects like cows in the road. The Megadrive version was clever – oil patches were bad news, whereas dirt patches in the desert track were just a bit tricky.
Looking ahead up the road is essential, be it ingame or for real, so that you can foresee dangers such as cars and where the road goes. The Megadrive version did this well, whereas here we find a misty haze on the horizon only 400 yards up the road, which blocks our sight of danger. It means that coming over a hill or round a bend, or even a straight road (on the wrong side) is merely a gamble and not down to your skill. I guess its because the console coundn’t handle that much more information – I’d rather have less opponents on the level.
Crashing; it happens and is great style. But what happens next is so ARCADE that its just pointless. Instead of coming off the bike and having to run back to your machine (so if you flew an extra mile down the road while you bike stayed in a ditch, you would normally have a long walk back), instead the N64 magically puts you back on your bike, doing a reasonable speed and you ALSO find your self just behind your fellow riders – totally removing some of the challenge again. The Megardrive made you think twice about gong flat out over a hill only to find a cow in the road, as you might fall off and loose the lead. The N64 its all too easy to be a daredevil and not loose much time. A mistake on the Megadrive did not mean race over, it just meant you might finish 7th instead of 1st, as you would find that some of the riders would slow down for you – no, no, not to help, but to beat your head in, COOL.
AI, or game intelligence is key to giving you a challenge. However on this version rashers do not seem as clever as our Sega predecessors. Your rashers love a good fight which makes this game so much fun, and they seem to fight fairly well. Only problem being that only a couple punches and you’ve fallen off, without managing to hit them off. The N64 version they always ride as a pack, which means you’ve got several riders to fight at once; so you may manage to land 4 punches on different riders, but they swiftly dispose of you. Compare it to the MD, where the riders were strung out, you’d fight off the weakers riders low down in the race, then get a tougher fight on your hands near the front. The N64 does none of this !!!
A great feature of the RR series were the coppers on bikes and they are out in force here. However these guys don’t give up, so if you annoy four of them, all four follow you to the finish line. I’ve had about 8 or 10 coppers on my tale once. You’ve got to beat them off and again it’s difficult as they ride in a pack. The old MD version had the coppers dropping off if you went mentally fast, they seemed to give up or be stuck within their jurisdiction, only for you to find that another copper was up the road waiting for you – one at a time please!
A billy bonus on this version though is that you have to fend off cars too. Not really fair huh !!! This idea was dropped for the Playstion version.
The game remains a great idea and this instalment is fine for a quick thrash for some arcade fun – but you can’t get into it the same way as all the other versions I have played. The gameplay is a LETDOWN.