You can perform a lean, a fast steer, and slow steer, and use three ways to attack fellow riders and cops: kick, punch, and swing. First, although it may be an arcade-style game with little realism, Road Rash offers more than a few ways to steer the bike. Now, let's talk about the good stuff, of which Road Rash has plenty. And I have already mentioned the lack of real-world physics, but that's a design choice rather than a flaw. The music is also horrible - you will most likely turn it off after the first few tunes. Very few things are drawn to scale, the background scenery looks like discarded Hollywood cardboard sets, and the riders, cars, and pedestrians are all very pixellated. It's laughably bad, and inexplicably so considering how Papyrus' NASCAR Racing series looked at that time.
The graphics, by 1996 standards, is dismal. Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. Not that it's a bad thing at all - even die-hard racing fans will have a blast driving up the wrong lane, slamming into passing cars, and beating cops around with an iron bar.
While the game may sound like a 'realistic' motorcycle racing game (Motocross comes to mind) - especially with Papyrus' name behind it, it is actually an arcade-style game that pays little attention to real-world physics. Although very dated when released, the game's simple charm attracted a small but loyal following. Road Rash is one of the rare gems that play much better than it looks.
