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“I practice offensive driving.”
~Pearl McKurdy

Road Rash. Even if you never played those games yourself, you're sure to have heard the name. At some point, it was one of the biggest names in the racing genre, together with another EA title – Need for Speed. What was all the fuss about? Well, it was a street racing game with motorcycles that allowed us to beat the crap out of our opponents. It was as simple as that. It's not like we didn't have motorcycle racing games before. And it's not like we didn't have such games that also incorporated combat elements. Even the NES had, say, Mach Rider. But it was Road Rash that achieved that certain something everybody loved – the atmosphere of realistic street racing. And when the 3DO version (also known as Road Rash 32-Bit) came out? The world was never the same again.
While SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive games (the series started on those) were good, Road Rash 32-Bit blew everybody's minds with its gorgeous presentation. It was full of FMV scenes that featured real bikes and cops, while, despite it being only 1994, it had a licensed soundtrack from various hard rock bands. Should I say it felt like a bomb? The game was eventually ported to other systems too (PlayStation, Saturn and even Windows PCs where it had TCP/IP-based multiplayer) and is still remembered as the best in the series. So... Why isn't the series still around? I mean, Need for Speed is, and those two sure had a lot of similarities. See, the thing is – while Need for Speed managed to evolve and change with the times, Road Rash never really found a new identity. It's not like it didn't try; Road Rash 3 let us upgrade certain parts of our bikes, Road Rash 64 (naturally, it wasn't the 64th game in the series, it was just a Nintendo 64 entry) allowed us to choose between paying the gang for a membership or playing it risky and driving solo, while Road Rash: Jailbreak in its PS1 form even tried to throw in some story, but... Yeah. At the end of the day, it all felt a lot like more of exactly the same. So, after Road Rash: Jailbreak for GBA (which had exactly nothing to do with its PS1 counterpart) the series just... died.
What surprised me the most, though, is that, despite Road Rash's popularity, we never had many copycats after it was gone. When you think about it, though, it does make sense. The original fans fell in love with the series' signature 2.5D look, while the early 2000s was a time when it was either 3D or nothing. And even the official entries had a pretty hard time getting into that territory. Moreover, the whole gaming landscape changed a lot. Immersive games like Deus Ex started to appear and somehow what was considered "rad" yesterday wasn't "hip" anymore. Still, it was hard not to wonder how the series would look if it wasn't dead. Guess what? Some young fellas decided to show us.
Because yes, what we have here is good ol' Road Rash. It's one of those cases in which a young and daring team wanted to make a certain game but didn't have the right license. Everything in Road Redemption screams "Road Rash". You start by selecting a bike and a driver (naturally, different choices come with different stats) and then it's all about you and the road. And it looks like the devs tried to take the best from what we had before.
Like in Road Rash 3, we'll carry our acquired weapons through races. Extra stunts from Road Rash 3 are still there too, and so are the items / "power-ups" you can pick up on the road, similar to what we had in Road Rash 64. Moreover, if you're a good driver, you can use some sort of shortcuts to get an advantage. Keep in mind, though, it may be risky. Because even though the falling system here is close to what we had in Road Rash 64 (there's even a separate option to get back on track quickly, which means you won't need to run back to your bike), it'll still cost you a lot of time. Also, like in Road Rash 3, we've got upgrades. The more you play – the stronger you'll become. Personally, I would prefer something that revolves around the garage, but you know what? An RPG-like experience thing with unlockable perks will do too. Moreover, devs didn't shy away from taking from other games too. For example, we've got a post-apocalyptic setting, somewhat close to Mach Rider I've already mentioned, while at the end of the campaign there's a funny bonus level inspired by the famous Rainbow Road track from the Mario Kart series.
Does Road Redemption have something unique? Something we didn't see before? Well... It does have lots of minor stuff. For example, the campaign now comes with shuffled tracks and goals, thanks to which the game doesn't get boring quickly. Simply finishing in the top 3 (the number was different in different Road Rash games) isn't enough anymore either. There'll be our usual races, of course, but aside from those, there'll also be time trials (those appeared for the first time in a demo version for 3DO and later re-emerged in the Japanese version of the Saturn port), while sometimes? Sometimes you'll just need to beat the crap out of your opponents. Which I liked a lot. I mean, sure, we were able to attack our opponents in Road Rash games, but in most of those there was no real reason to do so. Road Redemption? It wants you to go wild. And it gives you the tools. Steel chains, clubs... It's all here, of course, but come on. Shotguns! That's the stuff for those who were bad to the bone since the day they were born! And you know what? Guns feel surprisingly natural in this game. It gives it that certain Mario Kart aftertaste. Which is important, since like in that Windows port of Road Rash 32-Bit, we've got online multiplayer and split-screen. Tracks are more fun than what we had in Road Rash too. Seriously, think about it. We've got a Road Rash-like game in which we can race on the roofs! How fun is that?!
Quite a lot of fun, to be honest. Mario Kart aside, I honestly don't remember the last time I had so much fun with this kind of racing game. Is Road Redemption perfect, though? Well... Not really, no. It spent quite some time in Early Access (you can actually get an early version as DLC if you like that kind of stuff and have already finished exploring all the available prototypes of Road Rash games) and it shows. The game does have some of that "cheap" aftertaste we're all familiar with. It's not overwhelming, of course (some visual bugs here, some weird physics there...), but you know how it is. It's still there. And it's hard not to notice. The experience thing feels weird too. Just because, while adding a lot to replayability, it also makes things more grindy than needed (experience is something you keep across all campaigns, not just one, and even if you do perfectly, only one campaign would not be enough to unlock everything). And guess what? Despite the new perks being unlocked only at the very end of a campaign, you can't save your campaign progress. Which is my biggest complaint. I mean, it's not like the campaign here is long (it's our usual Road Rash length, even shorter actually, especially if you're good), but come on. Two hours of free time is a luxury in our times when everything is too fast. No idea what they were thinking.
Still, Road Redemption turned out to be one heck of a surprise to me. Seriously, I totally didn't expect this game to do so well with the old Road Rash formula. Personally, I'd say it's the best Road Rash since 3DO. Moreover, it's the only Road Rash game that feels perfectly natural in a 3D environment with no "buts". It even has licensed music, even though it looks like the devs simply used Audio Network and naturally, there won't be any big names (don't expect Manowar's Return Of The Warlord here, lol). You certainly can find things to complain about if you want, but if you used to like Road Rash as a kid? Do yourself a favor and buy this game. There's a big chance you'll have a heck of a lot of fun with it. Dixi.