0:00:03.500,0:00:06.640
>>Rafael Fernandes: Motorcycles, violence, subversion.

0:00:07.125,0:00:11.355
The Road Rash series became a huge success in all the consoles which it passed through

0:00:11.356,0:00:15.920
until it was abandoned by EA, which never released a new game since 2003.

0:00:16.455,0:00:23.765
For this reason, come to remember the characters, races and especially the beatings in the classic Road Rash series.

0:00:26.485,0:00:31.510
The first game of the series was released on '91 for the Mega Drive, with a very innovative premise.

0:00:31.715,0:00:36.862
The player is put in control of a bike, running clandestinely on the roads of California.

0:00:37.180,0:00:42.145
And for clandestine you can understand it as a real illegal race on the streets, with the option to punch,

0:00:42.146,0:00:44.369
kick and run over your opponents,

0:00:44.370,0:00:47.686
and at the same time you have to fight for space with the other cars on the track,

0:00:47.687,0:00:49.895
and the police who're behind you.

0:00:49.896,0:00:53.602
This concept puts the game ahead of the other racing games of the time,

0:00:53.603,0:00:57.173
because in this manner each race is a completely different thing,

0:00:57.174,0:01:00.582
with cars appearing in other stretches, enemies knocking you down,

0:01:00.583,0:01:06.860
other obstacles, anyway, if you let it, the game will never let you tired due to the complete chaos of some stages.

0:01:18.530,0:01:24.585
For every completed race, the player accumulates a certain amount of money that allows buying a faster bike,

0:01:24.586,0:01:30.272
that will serve to compete at the following levels, which have larger tracks and, of course, even more obstacles.

0:01:30.705,0:01:33.052
And this money can be lost in two ways:

0:01:33.053,0:01:35.733
one is falling near a police officer during the race,

0:01:35.734,0:01:38.766
so the player is required to pay the bail to get out of prison;

0:01:39.028,0:01:41.922
or breaking the bike by crashing it out there on the stage,

0:01:41.923,0:01:44.383
forcing you to pay a mechanic to fix it.

0:01:44.384,0:01:48.598
The game over really occurs when the player has no money to pay any of these two,

0:01:48.599,0:01:51.534
forcing you to start all over again from the first stage;

0:01:51.535,0:01:55.286
which is not a big problem for those who noted the password properly, right.

0:01:56.162,0:02:01.292
Another nice detail of Road Rash is that each of the opponents have a name and an individual personality,

0:02:01.293,0:02:04.091
as if they had a unique artificial intelligence.

0:02:04.429,0:02:10.114
Before each race, a message showing a provocation or hint from one of such rivals appears on the screen,

0:02:10.115,0:02:14.732
which is something pretty cool because somehow it creates a story, certain personality to the game.

0:02:15.091,0:02:17.421
Road Rash also innovated with its graphics engine:

0:02:17.422,0:02:23.932
while several racing games for the Mega Drive released until then only had a largely flat surface track,

0:02:23.933,0:02:28.843
the EA game brought hills, bumps, and various other types of slope,

0:02:28.844,0:02:32.990
throwing away the player according to the physical limitations at the time, of course.

0:02:33.550,0:02:38.337
All this having a very reasonable frame rate, although sometimes not very efficient.

0:02:38.675,0:02:44.619
This helped Road Rash to be acclaimed with these innovations in relation to the scale perspective through software;

0:02:44.620,0:02:49.378
remembering that the Super Nintendo and the Mode 7 only would come a little later in '91,

0:02:49.379,0:02:55.876
where the scale effects through hardware made possible that the cars could slid as soap at 60 frames per second.

0:02:55.877,0:02:56.807
Oops, my bad.

0:02:56.808,0:02:57.808
>>Shigeru Miyamoto: Toasty!

0:02:58.210,0:03:03.764
>>Rafael Fernandes: The game's songs were produced by Rob Hubbard, considered the Commodore 64 wizard.

0:03:19.338,0:03:24.726
The rock-based arrangements are very well made and make good use of the FM sound chip of the Mega Drive,

0:03:24.727,0:03:29.215
and is easy to get out there murmuring the themes for anyone who has played for a long time.

0:03:29.216,0:03:34.321
The sound effects of crashes and voices are reasonable, and there is nothing special about this.

0:03:34.322,0:03:38.296
I believe it was quite common for the players to put the sound on mute

0:03:38.297,0:03:42.349
and listen to more interesting music, which is up to each person, right?

0:03:42.731,0:03:46.589
However, despite all these qualities, the game has its flaws.

0:03:46.590,0:03:49.091
Sometimes the controls are a little too loose,

0:03:49.092,0:03:52.079
and in the final levels is almost impossible to control the bike.

0:03:52.080,0:03:56.885
The menu interface is also a bit complicated, quite inexplicably.

0:03:57.323,0:04:00.746
The only way to access the bike shop is pressing C on this screen there,

0:04:00.747,0:04:04.476
which makes it very difficult for those without the game's manual to find out, right?

0:04:04.926,0:04:09.558
But, in short, the Road Rash series debuted as something unique and incredibly fun,

0:04:09.559,0:04:12.479
thanks to its fun and very refined gameplay,

0:04:12.480,0:04:17.192
making the game excel in relation to all others similar in the market at the time.

0:04:18.517,0:04:23.743
The success of the game has made Electronic Arts produce ports for the Amiga, which is excellent, by the way,

0:04:23.744,0:04:28.948
and the 8-bit consoles like Master System, Game Gear and Game Boy, which are reasonable.

0:04:29.655,0:04:33.604
For the Game Boy, there is the original port launched in 1996,

0:04:33.605,0:04:37.524
and then an enhanced version compatible only with the Game Boy Color,

0:04:37.525,0:04:42.167
released in 2000, which featured graphics and scale effects much better than before.

0:04:45.812,0:04:51.624
With the receptivity of the game, it is clear that Electronic Arts could not miss the opportunity to launch a sequel,

0:04:51.625,0:04:55.176
that happened in the following year with Road Rash II,

0:04:55.177,0:05:01.089
which slightly improves the graphics over the previous game, and brings a little more navigable menu.

0:05:01.090,0:05:03.834
Furthermore, the gameplay was refined,

0:05:03.835,0:05:07.559
bringing tighter controls and game physics more fun than ever.

0:05:08.006,0:05:13.940
This time, the clandestine tournament goes through the roads of the United States, and is not limited to California anymore.

0:05:13.941,0:05:20.957
In total, there are 25 tracks representing Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, Tennessee and the state of Arizona.

0:05:21.261,0:05:25.898
Another nice detail is that, at the end of each race, there is a funny small animation,

0:05:25.899,0:05:28.657
which varies according to your performance in the race.

0:05:28.658,0:05:33.038
The game also has a two player mode in split screen with two options:

0:05:33.039,0:05:37.098
or they play cooperatively, where the two can compete in the tournament,

0:05:37.099,0:05:40.009
or one on one, with the two on a single track only.

0:05:56.000,0:06:01.356
Road Rash can even be considered an addition to the first game than a true sequel,

0:06:01.357,0:06:05.676
since, apart from the improvement in controls, a greater balance in difficulty,

0:06:05.677,0:06:09.405
and a mode for two players, the other new features are more cosmetic,

0:06:09.406,0:06:11.839
and represent no big deal compared to the original.

0:06:11.840,0:06:15.569
Still, the game is as or more fun than the first,

0:06:15.570,0:06:17.906
like a new gaming experience.

0:06:19.210,0:06:25.110
The guaranteed success of the franchise could bring many opportunities for Electronic Arts to screw some money from the players

0:06:25.111,0:06:28.685
and release several sequels as they always did, right?

0:06:28.815,0:06:33.648
But in 1994, the company surprised with the release of…

0:06:33.649,0:06:34.749
SKITCHIN'!

0:06:35.895,0:06:38.075
Skitchin' is not an official game in the series,

0:06:38.076,0:06:43.265
but it is clear that uses the same graphics engine of Road Rash II – with the same rate of frames per second.

0:06:43.665,0:06:46.522
The premise is also almost the same, but far more creative:

0:06:46.523,0:06:52.100
this time the race is between skates, and the player must always be alert to passing vehicles on the street.

0:06:53.087,0:06:56.222
Thus, he can take a ride in these cars and proceed the race in this way,

0:06:56.223,0:07:00.731
and can stay there until he reaches the end, or pick up momentum to go ahead behind another car.

0:07:01.789,0:07:04.820
Another nice detail is that you can get up ramps and do some tricks,

0:07:04.821,0:07:08.338
and also has some bonus stages, in order to break the ice between the tracks.

0:07:08.960,0:07:10.468
Is also worth mentioning the sound,

0:07:10.469,0:07:16.884
whose music has real guitar sounds played by a special driver that puts the Mega Drive sound chip on the limit,

0:07:16.885,0:07:18.929
creating a pretty cool result.

0:07:19.564,0:07:23.098
And the graphics, as I said, are practically the same thing as those of Road Rash,

0:07:23.099,0:07:26.200
but with some improvements and a more expansive setting.

0:07:27.581,0:07:31.385
Also comparing with the bike game, Skitchin' is a much more difficult game,

0:07:31.386,0:07:33.902
since the player has to pay attention to passing cars,

0:07:33.903,0:07:38.045
the other runners on the track, and the ramps and obstacles that appear in the scene.

0:07:38.530,0:07:42.925
But it's still a great, let's say, spin-off of the original racing series,

0:07:42.926,0:07:46.841
bringing a good alternative of fun without escaping from the original formula.

0:07:56.037,0:08:01.931
In 1994, the 3DO was in the market as one of the first 32-bit consoles,

0:08:01.932,0:08:06.631
thus Electronic Arts decided to upgrade the franchise to the new hardware from Panasonic.

0:08:07.044,0:08:10.606
First released for this console and then ported to the Playstation,

0:08:10.607,0:08:12.968
Sega Saturn and also for Windows 95,

0:08:12.969,0:08:19.562
Road Rash benefited greatly from the increased storage capacity of the CD to put several FMVs with real actors,

0:08:19.563,0:08:22.821
which can be good or bad, depending on your point of view.

0:08:23.665,0:08:27.295
These little videos have the same function of those animations in the Mega version, and,

0:08:27.296,0:08:32.561
as well as there, it's likely that after a certain time it'll get a little boring to watch them all the time.

0:08:33.357,0:08:36.831
The game mixes digitized sprites with a 3D scenario plan,

0:08:36.832,0:08:40.389
which ensures 60 frames per second during almost all the time,

0:08:40.948,0:08:44.251
but while at the time it seemed something really cool,

0:08:44.253,0:08:48.211
this graphic style has aged badly, as we can see from the video.

0:08:48.212,0:08:51.447
Yet, it is very playable, although apparently

0:08:51.448,0:08:55.576
this union affected the physics of the game to some extent, since they are not very efficient,

0:08:55.577,0:08:59.570
as you can see in this frontal crash with a car where nothing happens,

0:09:00.899,0:09:04.854
and other a bit imbecile falls as, for example, with a mailbox.

0:09:18.842,0:09:21.282
Another innovation of Road Rash is in relation to the sound,

0:09:21.283,0:09:24.418
inaugurating a trend in the gaming industry that continues until today.

0:09:24.686,0:09:27.696
The soundtrack is full of licensed music, that is,

0:09:27.697,0:09:30.421
compositions from real bands, as Soundgarden,

0:09:30.422,0:09:33.211
Hammerbox, and other artists of A&M Records.

0:09:34.650,0:09:37.692
The game even contained video clips of some of these songs,

0:09:37.693,0:09:39.587
however, a major problem comes up:

0:09:39.588,0:09:43.212
licensed songs only play during the menus, that is,

0:09:43.213,0:09:46.292
what play during the game are just MIDI style songs,

0:09:46.293,0:09:49.572
which are not as good as the music from the Mega Drive, for example.

0:10:03.213,0:10:06.391
This probably occurred due to a technical limitation of the time,

0:10:06.392,0:10:10.909
since the scenarios were loaded directly from the CD and constructed during the race,

0:10:10.910,0:10:13.029
which would be a problem if, in addition,

0:10:13.030,0:10:16.007
the console also had to read the sound tracks of the media,

0:10:16.008,0:10:20.335
further with the super slow CD reader that most video games had at the time.

0:10:20.581,0:10:21.836
But, anyway.

0:10:22.292,0:10:23.225
Anyhow,

0:10:23.226,0:10:28.335
the 32-bit Road Rash serves as a sort of series reboot for the latest consoles,

0:10:28.336,0:10:31.804
and it is really fun, mainly due to these innovations.

0:10:32.179,0:10:35.446
Unfortunately, the game does not excite as much as the versions of the Mega Drive,

0:10:35.447,0:10:38.793
but it is a good alternative for those who did not have the video game console from Sega.

0:10:38.794,0:10:42.246
>>Chris Cornell: …mother says that's the only life

0:10:42.247,0:10:44.086
♪ So do it right

0:10:45.381,0:10:46.582
♪ Do it right

0:10:47.240,0:10:49.729
>>Rafael Fernandes: Still, the Mega Drive was not forgotten,

0:10:49.730,0:10:54.846
with the launch of Road Rash 3: Tour De Force in 1995.

0:10:55.074,0:10:57.832
This time, the races run throughout the planet,

0:10:57.833,0:11:00.139
having also included Brazil as one of the tracks,

0:11:00.140,0:11:04.333
with a very interesting scenery and a song mixing rock with carnival percussion.

0:11:12.875,0:11:16.333
Moreover, the soundtrack of the game, composed by Don Veca,

0:11:16.334,0:11:19.854
does not have such a remarkable instrumentation as the previous games,

0:11:19.855,0:11:26.216
but does a great job in mixing supposed sounds of the country where the race takes place with rock and metal arrangements.

0:11:26.839,0:11:30.042
Check out this version of the Tarantella, which plays in the stage of Italy.

0:11:42.226,0:11:43.072
Cool, eh?

0:11:43.636,0:11:46.706
The big problem of Road Rash 3 is in the graphics.

0:11:47.047,0:11:51.939
Digitized sprites from the 32-bit Road Rash were recycled, and as we know well,

0:11:51.940,0:11:57.118
the use of this graphic style on the Mega Drive can bring some consequences, which are very present in this game,

0:11:57.119,0:12:00.828
as excessive granulation and fully sparse and strange colors,

0:12:00.829,0:12:05.190
which repeled a lot of people from the game and made the critics of the time

0:12:05.191,0:12:09.044
consider the graphics of this game worse than previous versions!

0:12:09.598,0:12:12.614
But, as the focus of Road Rash never was the graphics,

0:12:12.615,0:12:17.167
the third game in the series proves to be a lot of fun, with more exaggerated physics,

0:12:17.168,0:12:21.567
a more insistent police, which also has a helicopter to take down the bikers,

0:12:21.568,0:12:27.892
and more speed than the previous ones, which can sometimes be something uncontrollable, as in the first game of the series.

0:12:32.726,0:12:38.039
The surprise is up to this release for the Sega CD, in 1995 too,

0:12:38.040,0:12:40.558
which at that time was already an abandoned console.

0:12:40.958,0:12:43.992
Road Rash CD is like a hybrid game, that is,

0:12:43.993,0:12:49.037
it takes the very best in all previous incarnations of the series and try to mix everything up,

0:12:49.038,0:12:53.791
including the little videos (at a much lower quality, of course), the menus and,

0:12:53.792,0:12:57.084
as you can see, the graphics from the Mega Drive ports,

0:12:57.085,0:13:01.262
which is quite disappointing considering the power of the Sega CD video processor,

0:13:01.263,0:13:03.708
that would allow better scale effects.

0:13:04.355,0:13:07.101
But the differential is really in the licensed soundtrack,

0:13:07.102,0:13:09.616
that this time plays during the race,

0:13:09.617,0:13:12.917
although the sound quality of the songs is not a big deal.

0:13:30.655,0:13:34.558
>>Chris Cornell: ♪ I got up feeling so down

0:13:35.185,0:13:39.087
♪ I got off being sold out

0:13:39.711,0:13:41.694
>>Rafael Fernandes: Although it doesn't take much advantage from the add-on

0:13:41.695,0:13:46.257
in addition to the more than 500 MB of multimedia content that the game's cover itself discloses,

0:13:46.258,0:13:50.956
Road Rash CD is another option for those who're tired of playing the first three games for the Mega Drive,

0:13:50.957,0:13:54.706
offering new tracks and a good soundtrack that plays during the menus,

0:13:54.707,0:13:58.217
while not adding much in relation to these previous games.

0:13:58.218,0:14:02.904
>>Carrie Akre: …now[br]♪ We've only got this moment

0:14:02.905,0:14:04.104
♪ And some would say about it

0:14:06.079,0:14:10.750
CLICK TO WATCH PART 2