Rock n' Roll Racing

Rock n' Roll Racing
North American SNES cover art
Developer(s)	Silicon & Synapse
Publisher(s)	Interplay Productions JP:Namco Blizzard Entertainment(GBA, Definitive Edition)
Designer(s)	Alan Pavlish
Programmer(s)	Bob Fitch Patrick Wyatt Ayman Adham
Artist(s)	Samwise Didier Ronald Millar Sr. Joeyray Hall
Composer(s)	Tim Follin Geoff Follin Matthew Cannon
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System,Mega Drive/Genesis,Game Boy Advance Definitive Edition Windows,Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4,Xbox One
Release	SNES NA:June 4, 1993 EU:March 31, 1994 Mega Drive/Genesis NA:1994 EU:1994 GBA NA:June 23, 2003 EU:August 15, 2003 Definitive Edition February 19, 2021
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player,multiplayer

Rock n' Roll Racingis avehicular combat-basedracing video gamedeveloped bySilicon & Synapseand published byInterplay Productionsfor theSuper Nintendo Entertainment Systemin 1993 and theMega Drive/Genesisin 1994. The game prominently features a number of popularheavy metalandrocksongs in itssoundtrack,hence the game's title. After Silicon & Synapse rebranded intoBlizzard Entertainment,a port to theGame Boy Advancewas released in 2003. In celebration of the company's 30th anniversary, a new version titledDefinitive Editionalongside emulated re-releases of the original game were re-released forMicrosoft Windows,Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4andXbox Oneas part of theBlizzard Arcade Collectionin February 2021.

Rock n' Roll Racingwas initially developed asRPMII,a sequel to the company's previous gameRPM Racing.At the end of the project, Interplay marketing added licensed music and changed the name toRock n' Roll Racing.It is also similar in gameplay toRacing Destruction Setwhere it got its logic/AI engine andRare's 1988NESgameR.C. Pro-Am.

Gameplay

The game pits four racers against each other, with up to two of them beingplayer-controlledfrom a colourful collection ofcomic-book-inspired humans and aliens, and the rest beingAI opponents;"Rip" and "Shred", who appear in all races, plus a third character unique to each planet/level inone-player mode.Each race consists of four laps around tracks viewed from anisometricperspective, which enables players to discern the presence of frequent sloping sections spread throughout the game's various tracks. In addition to navigating the turns, racers must also maneuver hills and dips without falling or jumping over the guard rail at the track's edge.

A race on the SNES version

While it is a racing game, there is heavy emphasis on attacking competitor's vehicles; since the cars always reappear with fullhealthjust a few seconds after blowing up, the only "harm" done is falling behind in the race. Players are rewarded with a monetary "attack bonus" each time they provide the finishing blow against another car using their forward or rear weapons (and a similar "lapping bonus" when they gain a full one-lap lead on an opponent during the race). In accordance with the continual destruction and restoration of the racing vehicles, the tracks are littered with mines and healthpower-ups,as well as money power-ups. Other hazards include oil slicks, snow drifts, and lava, depending on the planet hosting the race.

Players are updated on the race by commentator "Loudmouth Larry" (Larry "Supermouth" Huffman), who makes enthusiastic comments like "The stage is set, the green flag drops!" (or "Let the carnagebegin!"), and" [player name] is about to blow! "at appropriate moments during the race.

Between races, players can spend the money they have earned on more advanced equipment for their vehicle (engines, tires, shocks, and shielding) or on increasing their capacity for the frontal weapon (energy blasts or missiles), rear weapon (slip sauce or mines), andturboboost (jump jets ornitroboosts), each of which can max out at seven. Despite their limited capacity, every vehicle will have its weapon and boost charges replenished at the completion of each lap in a race. Racers can also buy more advanced vehicle models; however, all equipment and weapons upgrades are lost when a new vehicle is purchased.

The first three drivers to complete a race are awarded both money and points according to the final standings. Points are required for advancement to the next racing division or the next planet, with two divisions on each planet. A player who has not obtained enough points during a division's racing season must repeat the division, again starting with zero points, but all changes to the player's money and car remain in effect. In two-player mode, when only one player has sufficient points, the character in charge of advancement asks "Leave your loser friend behind?", allowing the leading player to continue alone by removing the other player from the game. The dropped player can continue from that point later by using their most recentpassword,once the game isreset.

Music

Rock n' Roll Racingis widely known for its soundtrack. Originally, Silicon & Synapse wanted to use songs byZZ Topbut the fee was too high. They instead enlisted a company that provided low-cost licensed music in public settings.

The songs were uncredited but included:

• Bad to the BonebyGeorge Thorogood and the Destroyers
• Highway StarbyDeep Purple
• ParanoidbyBlack Sabbath
• Peter GunnbyHenry Mancini
• Born to Be WildbySteppenwolf
• Radar LovebyGolden Earring(Sega Genesis and Definitive Edition only)
• Breaking the LawbyJudas Priest(Definitive Edition only)
• Red BarchettabyRush(Definitive Edition only)
• Power of the Hordeby Elite Tauren Chieftain (Definitive Edition only)

Passwords

Passwordsare given out at the beginning of each new "racing season" (each planet has its own definition of how many races make up a season, but early advancement will automatically start a new season), and they are located at the bottom of the F/X screen (accessible from the menu between races). These passwords are a complex code, consisting of three 4-digit sections, and they dictate everything about the players' progress: the character used, the vehicle type and color, weapons and parts upgrades, racing planet and division, difficulty setting, and money. TheGame Boy Advanceversion of the game uses anEEPROMchip tosavethe player's progress instead of the password system.

The password codes only allow the player to save a maximum of $999,990 (six digits); if there are more than six figures in the bank account, the password truncates the leftmost digits over six (e.g. if there's $1,002,000 when the player quits, there will be only $2,000 when using the password to continue later). Due to the two-player password function, it's possible to "cheat" by entering the same password for both players or by entering passwords for players who were at entirely different points in the game. The password with the lowest difficulty setting and on the earliest planet and racing division will be used as the basis for play from then on, which allows a Warrior-skill character with a maxed-out vehicle to race against Rookie-classAIsin the Rookie skill mode.

Though a password-generatorQBASICprogram exists, the passwords it creates often result in a glitch, causing the player to race on glitchy planets—that exist only as a bug and can crash the game—after racing on Inferno. In the Rookie skill mode, however, they work perfectly, as long as one doesn't try to take the character beyond the third planet using the password.

A second password generator has been written inJavaScriptand limits the available planets to reflect the chosen skill mode while retaining the ability to customize any other aspect of the data stored in the password.

Release

A3DO Interactive Multiplayerversion ofRock n' Roll Racingwas announced to be in development and slated to be published by Interplay duringE3 1995,but this version was never released for unknown reasons.

In 2003, Blizzard released anAdobe Shockwave-based demo version of the Game Boy Advance port featuring one track on its website.

In 2014, a demo version of the game featuring three tracks was added toBattle.net,emulated throughZSNES.This version has all rock music tracks changed to simple MIDI music, because the music license expired.

Blizzard Arcade Collection

In celebration of the company's 30th anniversary, Blizzard Entertainment andDigital Eclipsereleased a compilation calledBlizzard Arcade Collectionin February 2021, forMicrosoft Windows,Xbox One,PlayStation 4,andNintendo Switch.The collection includes three Blizzard's classic video games:The Lost Vikings,BlackthorneandRock n' Roll Racing,with two additional games:The Lost Vikings 2andRPM Racing.Some of the modern features for the Definitive Edition include 16:9 resolution, 4-player split-screen, rewinding and saving of game progress, watching replays, and adding graphic filters to change the look of player's game in the SNES and Genesis versions, as well as a togglable option between the SNES soundtrack and the master recordings of the soundtrack in CD quality.Larry "Supermouth" Huffman re-recorded lines from the original game, as well as recording brand new lines, for this release in the Definitive Edition.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	82.67% (SNES) 82.29 (GBA)

Review scores

Publication	Score
Nintendo Power	3.775/5
Official Nintendo Magazine	SNES: 88/100

GameProgave the Genesis version a mixed review. They praised the Vs. mode and "rockin'" soundtrack with driving-appropriate tunes, but criticized the weak sound effects and remarked that the graphics and digitized voice are noticeably worse than in the Super NES version.

Super Gamer reviewed the SNES version and gave an overall score of 90% writing: "Awesome rock soundtracks, plus plenty of vehicles, firepower, tracks and planets. A bit repetitive in one-player though."

Accolades

Rock N' Roll Racingwas awarded Best Driving Game of 1993 byElectronic Gaming Monthly.

GameSpotnamedRock n' Roll Racingthe best Game Boy Advance game of July 2003.

IGNplacedRock n' Roll Racing72nd on their Top 100 SNES Games of All Time.In 2018,ComplexplacedRock n' Roll Racing84th on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time".In 1996,GamesMasterrated the SNES version #96 in its "Top 100 Games of All Time".

Sequels

Rock & Roll Racing 2: Red Asphalt

Main article:Rock & Roll Racing 2: Red Asphalt

A sequel to the originalRock n' Roll Racingwas made for the 32-bitPlayStationconsole byInterplayin 1997. The game was sold in Europe asRock & Roll Racing 2: Red Asphaltand in the United States as justRed Asphalt.It features a comic book art style in the character's profiles and ending videos, and a system to upgrade each character's driving/combat skills like RPGs.

Motor Rock

In December 2013, a game titledMotor Rock(development titleRock n' Roll Racing 3D) was released onSteamby Yard Team. It's an unauthorized3Dremake ofRock n' Roll Racing.It was in development since 2009.A week after release, the game was removed from Steam.

External links

• Rock n' Roll RacingatBlizzard Entertainment
• Rock n' Roll RacingatMobyGames
• Red AsphaltArchived2014-11-16 at theWayback MachineatAllgame