The Sega Saturn version of Road Rash is an exhilarating and enjoyable third-person motorbike race game, with the all usual Road Rash-style violence mixed-in.

Sometimes your opponents will try to hit you, to knock you off your bike, but you can always turn the tables and try to bring them down with a well-timed punch or a kick.

Road Rash on the Saturn was developed by Electronic Arts Studios and is basically an enhanced version of Road Rash on the 3DO, which first came out in 1994.

Not hitting oncoming traffic is really your primary concern in Road Rash, as doing so will slow you down the most. You have to remember that you’re in a race and that stopping is a bad idea. You need to come first in as many early races as you can, so you can bring some money home. And with that money you’ll be able to buy new bikes and modifications, and eventually win even more races.

As I was sat playing Saturn Road Rash I was thinking to myself: “either I’m dreaming, or this is a damn good motorbike game!” The roads bob, weave and split, and the draw distance is fairly generous for a mid-Nineties game.

Traffic seems to have a life of its own at times, which is a good thing I guess. Road Rash games have generally always been fun to play, but this one defies belief. Mostly because the game’s so forgiving – allowing you to concentrate on the stuff that’s important: ie. staying on your bike, not hitting brick walls, punching other riders in the saddle, and feeling like you’re moving at two hundred miles per hour. All of that is possible in Road Rash because you’re not under immense pressure to keep your bike upright all the time because of “realism”.

Road Rash is well worth owning/playing for the Sega Saturn. It’s not perfect, but it is a “good times” racer, with the emphasis on thrills and spills, rather than on real world physics. Which equates to some fun times on a motorbike.

More: Road Rash on Wikipedia