Games Database
GBA
Racing
| Also for: | Sega Megadrive, SNES | ||
| Viewed: | 2D Isometric, Scrolling | Genre: | Racing |
| Arcade origin: | No | ||
| Developer: | Mass Media | Soft. Co.: | Blizzard |
| Publishers: | Vivendi
(GB) |
Released: | 15 Aug 2003
(GB) |
| Ratings: | PEGI 7+ | ||
| Connectivity: | Link Cable | ||
Summary
The second release from Blizzard's Classic Arcade range, Rock 'n Roll Racing follows suit with the brand, delivering an accurate port of the SNES original, now almost a decade old. Handled by California-based Mass Media, who were also responsible for The Lost Vikings - the first title on the retro label - Rock 'n Roll Racing features a combination of racing, combat and, you guessed it, good old rock 'n roll.
Set across a number of futuristic combat environments, the game places players in charge of their chosen vehicle and charges them with the task of finishing in the top three (or not coming last, to look at it more pessimistically). Along the way, a variety of both offensive and defensive weapons can be made use of in order to maximise your chance of success or, alternatively, you could choose to concentrate your efforts on high speed, precision driving. Both methods have their advantages and both are required at some point throughout the game.
With each victorious result and with each opponent taken out comes cash, which can subsequently be used to equip your car with all the usual weapons - armour, boosts etc., or even be saved in order to buy new and better vehicles. As well as the contents of your wallet, your score also accumulates, thus allowing you to climb the class rankings and enter new and more challenging races on other planets.
As the title suggests, one of the key elements of Rock 'n Roll Racing can be found in its soundtrack. Instead of the usual ambient/techno/dance affair - which has been synonymous with futuristic racers ever since it was first popularised by Wipeout - the music here comes courtesy of some serious 1970s hard rockers, the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Steppenwolf.
As mentioned before, Rock 'n Roll Racing is a very faithful conversion of the SNES original, which itself has long been regarded as a 16-bit classic. If there is a niggle, then it has to be the fact that the small screen size limits the view of the track, but this is more than made up for by the multiplayer mode, which allows for head-to-head link-up action.
Set across a number of futuristic combat environments, the game places players in charge of their chosen vehicle and charges them with the task of finishing in the top three (or not coming last, to look at it more pessimistically). Along the way, a variety of both offensive and defensive weapons can be made use of in order to maximise your chance of success or, alternatively, you could choose to concentrate your efforts on high speed, precision driving. Both methods have their advantages and both are required at some point throughout the game.
With each victorious result and with each opponent taken out comes cash, which can subsequently be used to equip your car with all the usual weapons - armour, boosts etc., or even be saved in order to buy new and better vehicles. As well as the contents of your wallet, your score also accumulates, thus allowing you to climb the class rankings and enter new and more challenging races on other planets.
As the title suggests, one of the key elements of Rock 'n Roll Racing can be found in its soundtrack. Instead of the usual ambient/techno/dance affair - which has been synonymous with futuristic racers ever since it was first popularised by Wipeout - the music here comes courtesy of some serious 1970s hard rockers, the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Steppenwolf.
As mentioned before, Rock 'n Roll Racing is a very faithful conversion of the SNES original, which itself has long been regarded as a 16-bit classic. If there is a niggle, then it has to be the fact that the small screen size limits the view of the track, but this is more than made up for by the multiplayer mode, which allows for head-to-head link-up action.
