For many, the highlight of the recent Blizzard collection is Rock N’ Roll Racing. It packages the original SNES version and the later released Mega Drive game together with the new ‘definitive’ edition and a version which allows four players. This shows fans right from the start that the franchise has been treated with great care.
The story goes that in 2833, intelligent life was found on
the planet of Bogmire. The inhabitants of this strange world became addicted to
the art of racing and started using souped-up cars to bomb around the planet.
Something else that caught on quickly was Earth's rock music and thus from
these strange beginnings the Rock N Roll Racing Commission was created. Set
across six planets each with a whole host of tracks, Rock N Roll Racing is good
over-the-top racing fun.
The definitive version has had the most significant upgrade
work done on it. There are more tracks, environmental effects have been added to
planets and amazingly the rock music soundtrack has been changed to include the
original songs rather than chip tune representations. Unfortunately, we have
lost Paranoid from the soundtrack but new tracks such as ‘Breaking the Law’
have been added.
The game has you racing around a host of crazy planets
against three other racers trying to win as much money as possible to upgrade
your vehicle and make it to the next season. Its great fun and you can move
from first to last in the blink of an eye as you get buffeted and blasted
around the track.
There’s also a host of cars such as tracked vehicles and
hydrofoils to buy and each vehicle can have numerous things added to it in
order to help you through - these include mines, missiles, nitros, better
tyres, and thicker armour. But the real skill comes in being able to take on
opponents with as little as possible, as when you reach a new planet one of the
opponents will have a new car meaning you need to upgrade - and rest assured
these contraptions do not come cheap.
The cars are a joy to drive and very easy to get to grips
with. After your first race you should be able to grasp the controls enough to
be able to fire well-aimed shots at your opponents while taking a ninety-degree
corner. Indeed, after a few races - as well as fighting off the other racers -
you will find yourself trying to grab all the extra money packages laid around
the courses as well. While the action can become a touch samey due to the fact
certain tracks must be raced upon more than once, nothing really takes away
from the feeling that you are having a lot of fun.
The one downside to the definitive version of the game is
that for some reason you are unable to save your progress. There are passwords
but these don’t record all your information and will see you set back to the
start of a race season when used. It’s a baffling oversight and one we can only
assume will be patched at some point. You are also restricted with regards to
display settings and other features.
Overall, it’s clear a lot of attention and care has been taken
when bringing Rock N’ Roll Racing to a new audience. That said, there are some
weird quirks in here that take some of the shine off such as not being able to
use screens settings and other options in the definitive version. Not being
able to save is also something that can’t be overlooked. That said, if you are
a fan the game (and who isn’t?), this provides an excellent way of playing it
for a reasonable price.
Overall 8/10
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