Road Rash II

"Look up 'Perfection', and Road Rash II will be there."

A friend of mine(Whom will remain nameless) lent me three games when I first got my Genesis, and one of them was Road Rash II. What a great gaming experience it was! I lost hours of valuable sleep playing this game to the max, but then I didn't care. Road Rash II was illegal, violent, blood thirsty biking action(It still is), and I- and other Road Rash fans- wouldn't have it any other way! Read my review...

GRAPHICS- 9/10
Awesome. Just friggin' awesome! You could see quite clearly the entrance picture(Two rashers, one with a chain, and the other punching), and that was impressive. Into the game, all the bikes look excellently colored(Even if all the bikes were simply palette swap bikes- sprites where only a few main colors change on the sprite itself. Mortal Kombat and Super Mario Bros. express this quite clearly). The stage looks- and is- very well made and detailed. The cars that interfere in the game even look great! If it wasn't for the etchy way the sprites move sometimes, this could be mistaken for a PlayStation game. And Road Rash II was made in 1993!!

MUSIC/SFX- 10/10
Another important factor in this game. The music on a stage really sets the mood for a stage, for any game really. But Road Rash II's music is absolutly perfect!! The music on the 'Hawaii' stage I enjoy listening to in paticular! The theme music is pretty catchy too. Compare it to games with lame stage music like 'Super Hang on'(God, I hate that Road Rash wannabe game), and you'll want to force a sharp object through your own mother, just to listen to the Road Rash II music tracks again.

The SFX is way over average, you can hear the 'Whoa!!' and 'Yeah! Yeah!' all through the game very clearly. If a bike crashes and starts skidding, it actually sounds like it's skidding, and not bouncing or something. You gotta love it!!!

GAMEPLAY- 9/10
The gameplay and general idea of this game is not really simple like say, Boomerang Kid(Old, old NES game), but that's what makes it good, IMO. It's a biking game- just get from one end of the course to the other. Easy. Well, it's not so simple when you have cars, mooses and dogs lying around everywhere, the coppers attempting to throw the book at your ass, and keeping in control of those sharp corners which will send you swerving into a tree way off the road. You have all that to worry about, not to mention the other rashers, who have an arsenal of bikes, chains... or not. You'll have to lie, cheat and steal like Eddie Guerreo in a candy store to get from just point A to point A.5!

Control is absolutly flawless, and is simple. Brake, accelrate, and throw a punch or two. You can also snatch weapons from the other bastards rashing around you.

OVERALL- 10/10
Road Rash II is an absolutly addicitive and fun game. You'll be tied to your telly and tapping your thumbs on a Genesis controller with Road Rash II inserted until they drop off. I mean, what is more intresting than beating your opponents senseless and running from the law- and at the same time trying to win a race??

BUY, RENT, OR BURN?
Buy. Consider yourself being ripped off if you purchase it for more than $20, but this is a classic game, you'll probably see it second hand somewhere. Buy it, or go to hell!!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/22/03