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Intro I love me some Rock 'n Roll; I love me some racing. Well whoo boy, wouldn't you know that Blizzard (yep THAT Blizzard, the WarCraft one) has combined the two in a wildly entertaining game that was originally released in 1994 for the ol' SNES and Sega Genesis systems under the guise of their Classic Arcade line (a line that also includes The Lost Vikings -- neither game ever came out in the arcade...weird). Here we are some 9 years later, and the game has earned itself a port to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. And you know what? It's still great. Gameplay: 7/10 In case you weren't around or conscious of your surroundings in 1994, let me give you a quick synopsis of Rock 'N Roll Racing. Well in the year 2833, humans finally get around to exploring the far reaches of space. Turns out, some aliens from the planet Bogmire really like to race while listening to classic Rock 'n Roll (I think these aliens attended my high school). A couple decades after in 2911, human racer Flip upset the Bogmire favorite Dangbar and won the first Indianapolis Super Cup. After the race, Dangbar threatened to eat Flip, causing Flip to subsequently retire and open a Rock 'N Roll racing school. You, the player, are a recent graduate from Flip's school and ready to take on the Rock 'N Roll Racing circuit. Racing is a mixed affair of accelerating, steering, and violently killing your opponents using an arsenal of weapons, cars, and power-ups available through a simple, yet surprisingly deep upgrade system. Once the game starts, the player must choose from 3 difficulties: Rookie, Veteran, and Warrior. In the old school game fashion, Rookie mode only allows racing on 3 planets, Veteran on 5, and the uber-hard Warrior the full 6 worlds. Once the difficulty is chosen, players must choose a character with options ranging from the standard blond, Aryan human Snake Sanders to some odd Wookie-dog looking guy named Ivanzypher, each having unique stats that help them excel in categories like cornering, acceleration, top speed, and jumping. Once a difficulty and character is chosen, then a car must be purchased from an initial sum of $20,000 space dollars. Cars in Rock 'N Roll racing are customizable -- not to the extent of, say, Gran Turismo but moreso than Mario Kart. Engines, armor, tires, and shocks each have their own upgrade options as well as the cars themselves (5 available models in 6 available colors) to provide users with a surprising amount of upgrade possibilities. In order to upgrade cars, you need money. And in order to get money, you have to win races. Racing is handled by planet. Each planet has a set number of races depending on difficulty. Place in the top 3 in a race and you will be rewarded with points for advancement to the next planet and money for upgrading your totally bitchin' car. All the races on a planet don't need to be finished in order to get the requisite amount of points for planet advancement, but most players will find themselves racing all of the races in order to get the maximum amount of money. Planets are unique in their obstacles and environments -- ice patches, lava pits, and slime pools dot the racetracks, each helping you to crash and burn with equal ability. And if the obstacles aren't enough to keep you from crashing (and you WILL crash...a lot), then the enemies will certainly help pick up the slack. In addition to being tough and aggressive, they are also outfitted with enough weapons to shock and awe. Each planet has one featured racer that will either beat you, or come in a close second on every race. In true Blizzard fashion, the rival racers are all unique and memorable, ranging from the morbid eskimo Butcher Icebone to the always lovable Grinder X19 and the game's boss, J.B. Slash. Luckily, your own car can be fitted with weapons of it's own, and through the upgrade system, can even up the amount of ammunition available to blow up funny colored aliens (ammunition that refills upon completing a lap of a race). Each car has two types of ammo, the front range weapon like missles and such, and the rear fired obstacle weapon like mines that also allow you to conveniently blow yourself up if you're careless. With all these weapons flying around, racing is a very frantic and hectic situation that is often decided in the last stretch of the race. Combine that with a Game Boy-tossing difficulty, and you have one heck of an all-around fun fest. But it's not all drum solos and hairspray for Rock 'N Roll Racing. First of all, being a game from 1994, there aren't exactly a lot of modes to explore. You can race single player, or you can race in the versus mode. And while the single player is quite a bit of fun to take a romp through, the versus mode is a bit disappointing. In order to race 2 player races using the GBA link cable, 2 cartridges are required -- I hate that. If a link cable isn't readily available, then versus mode can be used to go mano a alien with a bad guy of your choice (sans J.B. Slash) using a fully outfitted car -- useful for learning tracks and getting a taste of how a fully equipped hovercraft handles. Also,
the game is hard. I always had an inkling that games were harder back in the day,
and this game proves it. Beating the game on Warrior is an accomplishment that
rivals the creation of Mount Rushmore. Successful, and there will be songs written
about you. It's insane. To compound that difficulty is the somewhat spotty physics
(I know, it's a game about cars that shoot missiles, but still...). No matter
how much I played the game, I just couldn't quite figure out how to take a corner
with 3 cars trailing me, and come out in first. Every time I'd get railed against
the side as every single car passed me. Sure, it added to the overall zaniness,
but it's frustrating all the same.
Graphics: 7/10 But perhaps I'm being too
tough. The game was made by Blizzard, the company of artists. Even with 16-bit
sprites, it's quite obvious that love went into the cars, avatars, icons, and
tracks. At its time, the game style was a welcome change from F-Zero's
Mode 7 quirkiness, and even now, the heavily stylized look is unique and refreshing.
God, I love Blizzard. Still, the GBA has seen some very surprising graphical advancements,
and it's a bit disappointing that Rock 'N Roll Racing didn't get an upgrade.
Sound: 10/10 Control:
8/10 Overall:
7.5/10 [ top ] | |||
