Road Rash 3D

Since the early nineties, Road Rash had been synonymous with motorcycle racing where practically anything was allowed - from kicks to chains to collisions with oncoming cars. However, the entries on the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and 3DO ran on flat, pre-rendered sprites with a fixed camera, as the hardware of the time required. Road Rash 3D, released in 1998 exclusively for PlayStation, was Electronic Arts' attempt to bring that raw fun into a genuinely three-dimensional environment that the new generation of consoles finally allowed, and at the same time was the first entry in the series to ever release on PlayStation.

The change was fundamental. Tracks gained varying elevation and turns followed by a free-roaming camera, both motorcycles and riders were built from polygons instead of sprites, and combat physics changed noticeably - a collision between two riders now feels like the result of an actual collision in space, not a pre-made animation played from a set of frames. The price for this leap was blockier graphics and lower smoothness than players knew from later games built on more mature engines, but that very rawness makes Road Rash 3D a clearly readable snapshot of the series' transition into a new generation of hardware. The level design also accounts for the fact that the player now sees the track in real space, so more terrain obstacles, elevation changes, and shortcuts were added that the older 2D entries simply couldn't offer by their nature.

The core of the game stays true to the recipe of previous entries: you race against the police and rivals, use your winnings to buy faster machines, and knock opponents off the track without hesitation using a club, a chain, or a kick. It's precisely this combination of familiar, proven gameplay with a visibly new, still-emerging three-dimensional engine that makes this version an interesting milestone in the history of the whole series.

Why play it: Road Rash 3D will appeal to players who love the series' nineties rawness and want to see what it looked like the moment it first moved into real 3D - as a transitional link between the old sprite-based entries and the later, technically more mature sequels on the same console.