The Road Rash series had previously been mostly available across the Sega line of consoles. I always looked at the 1991 Road Rash game as a rebellious cousin to Yu Suzuki's Hang-On, the arcade classic from 1985. It was also reviewed here on Retro Reboot. For three entries, Road Rash was known for its gritty soundtrack and speedy gameplay. The sequels tweaked some features, added split screen two-player, but never really took a considerable leap forward through three entries. With the fifth generation on the way and at the time a wave of consoles like the CD-I, Atari Jaguar, and the 3DO looking to box with Nintendo and Sega for a piece of that gaming pie, would Electronic Arts find a way to reinvent this racer series into something revolutionary?

Well, no, they really didn't. There's some differences, but it's essentially MORE Road Rash that you've played before, but with polygonal textures and some awesome licensed music. Not to take anything away from it, it still plays fine, just not quite that punch to progress the series further than it where it currently was.

Released in 1994 initially for the 3DO, this game would simply be called "Road Rash". As years went on and I started to catalogue games and talk about them, I just started calling it Road Rash '94 to separate it from the first. It was ported a year later to the Sega Saturn, PC, and the PlayStation, but I don't think these versions offered any significant enhancements, making it feel more dated. I'd say the 3DO is the version of choice.  

One of the changes to this game is the it now has characters that you can select. While there's no discernable feats or stats to define them, they have varying basic bikes between the roster and a few start of with certain weapons. There's also some built-in beefs between bikers, meaning they'll attack you. Some characters are also allies and will fight on your behalf. 

Like the previous entries, you race, earn money, save it up, and buy faster bikes, and hope you don't get pulled over by the heat. The controls are decent, there isn't a great deal to speak about them if. The courses in the game are in the Californian areas, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco, Napa Valley, and the Pacific Coast Highway. As you advance, the set courses become a little longer with each circuit. There's the Road Rash staple of obstacles, like cows that wander into the road, the regular occurrence of traffic, road signs, and the police. Smacking into them (or getting smacked by) will send you flying.

A lateral move, this Road Rash game doesn't feature split-screen two player, rather it's intermittent. This takes some of the competitive flair out of this game, as beating on the CPU can get a little static as you progress. The tier of bikes starts out with some basic beater cycles until you win enough races to buy a higher class bike (Rat Bikes, Sport Bikes, and Super Bikes), eventually earning the ability to snag turbo bikes that are powered by nitrous oxide. 

The difficulty does spike and the other racers get faster, are way more aggressive, and more of them will carry weapons. It's still missing a demanding quality that might keep a player coming back for more. 

Graphically, Rash '94 isn't that much of a visual leap from its predecessors. There's a little more detail in the 2D sprites, but not a lot of new animation added to them that stands out. Odd, because the character select screen has these outrageous and unique personalities, but the races start and it's just the same pixel with a different color swap. The courses are 3D rendered, and by 1994 standards it looks commendable. It's too bad that none of the courses truly differentiate themselves from each other. Generally it's the same series of turns and that's about it. No adverse weather conditions, no races at night or sundown. Even Rad Racer boasts day to night transitions. But, you know what, I'll forgive all of that, because the full motion video this game is chocked with is pretty damn cool, and I'll forever be a sucker for it.

The music is amazing, but there's a tiny bittersweet thing about it. Road Rash '94 is the first console video game to feature licensed music from alternative rock bands like Hammerbox, Soundgarden, Monster Magnet, Paw, and Screwdriver. But this music is only available in the game menus, there's no way to toggle them to play during races. In gameplay, it's mostly rock instrumentals that isn't bad, but almost deflating to not have Rusty Cage shredding it while whacking opponents with an industrial chain. 

Overall, I think this a playable Road Rash game. The music and the FMV scenes depicting your victory, arrest, or your loss are things that made me laugh at the time. The gameplay is still Road Rash, so there isn't a whole lot that's truly new here to catch the series up to other racing games at the time. Future entries would begin experimenting with nuanced ways to capitalize on the appeal of combat. But Rash '94 still has a grungy attitude that maybe clings a little too tight to the formula.