The original road rash for sega's genesis system took over my world for
a good five months or so, and managed to fully own as many as 5 hours
out of every single day i was awake.  now it comes to the playstation in
grand form, with slicker graphics and musical help from soundgarden,
paw, and other metallic bands.
 
in numbers:
 
ORIGINALITY - 8 - racing, smashing, racing, smashing, racing,
smashing... except that you don't have to change CD-ROMs to experience
them both in the same day.  unfortunately, this IS pretty much the same
road rash i played a few years ago... why not add some night races, or
rain, or something?
 
RESPONSE - 8 - it depends a good deal on what bike you're using; some
bikes turn on rails, others just don't turn, period.
 
GRAPHICS - 7 - here's where the letdown starts to push its way into the
review... there's some late draw-in that distracts from the game, but
the worst of the graphics are found in the heavy-duty pixellation of
near objects on the screen.  come on, EA, you can do better than that.
 
ANIMATION - 6 - the letdown continues... as seen in games like battle
arena toshinden and rayman, the playstation's got what it takes to
handle smooth, detailed animation.  so why is it that when i fly off my
bike and try to run back to it, when i pick it up and hop back on, it
looks like a colorized film from the 30's?  very stilted animation in
some parts of the game detracts heavily from the generally smooth
animation seen while riding.
 
SOUND FX - 7 - some decent engine sounds supplemented by some pretty
good tire squeals... but ruined somewhat by lame voice samples (i.e.,
poorly sampled, not annoying source material).
 
MUSIC - 7 - well, the opening sequence is brutally clever, with
soundgarden's "rusty cage" announcing the game's beginning, but the
music that plays while you're racing sounds kind of like rejected class
projects from a drum machine programming course.
 
in practice:
on the M.A.R.C.H. scale (of IGNORE IT, RENT IT, or BUY IT)...
 
ROAD RASH
ELECTRONIC ARTS
 
BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT
 
i realize that this final rating may seem to disagree with the numbers
above it, but the fact is i think this is the greatest game of all time,
and it would take serious talent to truly ruin it.  it's the most fun
you can have at home with your clothes on, and even though i was
somewhat let down by the translation, this is still road rash, and i'm
still march.... and my playstation has had this game in it since i got
it on the 29th of december.