Format: Sega CD
Genre: Racing
Developer: New Level Software, Inc.
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Drop the disc in the drive, power it up, and... what's this-- the 3DO intro? The 3DO menus? The 3DO licensed soundtrack? Except all scaled down to sixty-four colors of course, which gives everything a rather unappealing dithered look. Perhaps it would have been better to simply re-draw everything in a new style, specific to the hardware? The in-race, digitized aesthetic shares the most in common with Road Rash 3, and the framerate is just a pinch smoother than in the base hardware releases.

As someone who has been playing the 3DO Road Rash since 1994, it's rather surrealistic hearing that version of the soundtrack playing, not just on Sega hardware, but during the races! This is a highly personal preference, but this reviewer misses the Rob Hubbard or Don Veca in-engine music, as it seems silly to have the exact same songs playing both in the menus and on the road. Nonetheless, there are a plethora of newly-added sampled sound effects, and they sound very nice coming out of the Sega CD hardware.

The original, cartridge-delivered Road Rash was an incredible formula, but as a first attempt the framerate was rather poor, the collision detection a bit iffy, and the combat too unpredictable. This version incorporates most, if not all, of the core engine improvements made to the second and third titles, although it lacks some of the third game's extra features, such as police helicopters and bike upgrading. Still, the game plays fine, and the extra frame or two per second makes a difference. And just like its 32-bit big brothers, it also has full save support-- no more passwords!

The Sega CD hardware could have done an incredible job with the Road Rash formula, had a game been designed for it specifically. Instead, it gets this weird amalgamation of scaled-down assets from the 32-bit 3DO version, and mildly scaled up graphical tweaks from the 16-bit cartridge renditions. All-in-all, it's actually a rather solid entry into the series that more or less renders the first two cartridge-based titles obsolete. But for those who own the 3DO version, or that rendition's Saturn or PSX ports, the allure of the 16-bit racing engine is the only thing this iteration has as a differentiating factor.

Format: Cartridge
Genre: Racing
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Road Rash uses a pseudo-3d engine similar to that utilized by several earlier games, like Space Harrier and Pole Position. Except while the parallax-scrolling backgrounds are familiar, the engine supports-- and the game design makes heavy use of-- changes in vertical inclination. The aesthetic is decidely cartoonish, but is subdued enough to fit the "underground sporting culture" strongly implied by the post-race interludes.

Rob Hubbard's techno-rock soundtrack is edgy, moody, and stylish, lending a hardcore feeling to the proceedings, even if the instrumentation is clearly early-Genesis in quality. Sound effects are fairly minimal, but some digitized voice samples during crashes put some humor into the action.

A hybrid of Accolade's "Test Drive", Sega's "Super Hang-On", and Golden Axe, Road Rash involves driving motorcycles on public roads at ridiculous speeds, and using the winning proceeds to purchase better and better bikes. The collision detection is a bit bizarre, and levels 4 and 5 are so unfairly difficult that the game becomes nigh-on unplayable.

Despite the punishing late-stage course sequences, Road Rash is an irresistably addictive and multi-faceted formula, whose beck and call is "just one more stage". The formula could use a bit more polish in the areas of stage design and collision detection, but as both a single player and alternating two-player title, Road Rash is a compelling experience.