Road Rash is the name of a motorcycle illegal racing video game series by Electronic Arts, originally for the Sega MegaDrive/Genesis, and later ported for several other systems. Six games were released, the first in 1991 and the last in 1999, although a 2004 port for the Game Boy Advance exists.

Presented in a third-person view similar to Hang-On (altough all sprites are significantly smaller), the player competes in interstate road races, and must finish in the top places on every race to proceed to the next level, where the opponents ride faster and harder and the tracks are longer and more dangerous. Finishing each race gives a certain amount of money which increases considerably in each level. A player can be arrested (if caught stopped or on foot near to a police bike) or have to repair the bike if it suffers more damage than what it can take.

Although knocking out other racers and police officers from their bikes is a permissible means to achieve victory in the game, Road Rash got little to no attention in the video game controversy of the '90s.

Later versions of the game featured professionally filmed cutscenes that were notable for a wry sense of humor. For example, if the player was arrested, then the game would show a brief movie clip of a motorcyclist being handcuffed to a police officer's motorcycle (which would then start moving), or a clip of the arrestee being placed in the trunk of a police cruiser.

The game's title is based on the slang term for the severe friction burns that can occur when a motorcyclist falls off his or her bike, and then the motorcyclist's skin comes into contact with rough pavement at high speed.

The original Genesis version featured a Rob Hubbard soundtrack, however later versions released on CD formats featured music tracks from bands such as Soundgarden, Swervedriver , and Therapy?.

Releases

• Road Rash
  • Sega Genesis, 1991
  • Atari ST, 1992
  • Amiga, 1992
  • Sega Master System, 1994 (developed by Probe, published by US Gold)
  • 3DO, 1994
  • Game Boy, 1994
  • Game Gear, 1994
  • Sega Mega-CD, 1994
  • PC, 1996 (developed by Papyrus Design Group)
  • Sega Saturn, 1996
  • PlayStation, 1996
  • Game Boy Color, 2000

• Road Rash II
  • Sega Genesis, 1992

• Road Rash 3: Tour De Force
  • Sega Genesis, 1995

• Road Rash 3D
  • PlayStation, 1998

• Road Rash: Jailbreak
  • PlayStation, 1999
  • Game Boy Advance, 2004 (Destination Software, Inc )

• Road Rash 64
  • Nintendo 64, 1999 (THQ)

External links

• MobyGame's entry for Road Rash Series