Rock n’ Roll Racing is a game for the SNES made in 1993 by then Silicon & Synapse (now known as Blizzard Entertainment). The game features 4 vehicles pitted against each other in a racing battle. And battle is the key. This game is best known for its violent racing gameplay. Each vehicle is equipped with various power-ups many which are capable of destroying the other vehicles (temporarily). The game is a fast-paced shoot em up racing game in which getting blown up is not only expected but happens regularly.

Graphics 8/10 – the graphics for this game are quite good. Each planet has its own design scheme for it. They are not overly unique in theme but are pretty well made. One of the best part of the levels though is the “3D” effect many of the tracks get. There are ups and downs as well as jumps littered all over the map which can result in you being launched out of the race area. You just respawn if this happens but you are almost always in fourth place afterwards.

Another great part of this game is the vehicle designs. The first couple are pretty basic but then they get more interesting and fun to use. Being able to constantly upgrade your vehicle to a new one as you progress through the game is lots of fun. Keeps the racing fresh because you have new options and play styles that result. Along with the vehicles are the weapons that you get to use and the graphics for those, while simple, are pretty sweet. Blowing up other vehicles does not get old and seeing someone else’s vehicle blow up as you speed by is a great feeling.

Another nice feature is the variation in race track obstacles. Things like oil spills, lava pools, snow drifts and slime pits all get in your way while trying to complete a race. These are nice planet specific obstacles to keep each race a bit unique. To offset these hazards there are speed boost arrows spread around the various tracks to give you an extra boost of speed. There are a handful of places where not hitting these boosts makes a certain jump nearly impossible.

Sound 9/10 – this game took the moniker of Rock n’ Roll and made it literal. Here is a list of the songs this game has “versions” of (no lyrics):

"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath
"The Peter Gunn Theme" by Henry Mancini
"Highway Star" by Deep Purple
"Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
"Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood

Now, with only 5 songs available to listen to you would think the music would get old but it does not. Every time one of these songs comes on you get pumped to go out there and blow up the other players!

And the music is not the only good part about the sound for this game. The announcer is pretty entertaining. He has things he says as the races start and he comments on things going on in the race as they happen. If you end up in last place, blow someone up, or take over 1st place he has something to say. There are more things he says I’m sure but those came to mind first. His voice is entertaining and keeps the race from feeling stale.

Addictiveness 10/10 – I love this game! I have played it so many times, like so many of the other games I have reviewed, and will likely play through it again. I think the best part about this game is that the gameplay is pretty straightforward and simple. You are in a race and everyone has weapons that can blow you up. Blow up the enemies before they blow you up and finish in the top 3 to score points/money in order to advance. However simple that sounds though the racing is so much fun that you can ignore how simple it is and really enjoy the game. The music really helps that along too.

Then combine all the great things about this game with having a friend to play with. Now instead of just blowing up the other racers you get to blow up your friends as well. You could also work together to dominate the other 2 racers in the map. It’s up to you. Having a 2 player mode definitely puts this game over in the addictiveness factor though. Otherwise I could not give it a 10.

Story n/a – it is a racing game. There is no story. I am pretty sure they could have made some sort of gladiator type story to this game but as far as I know there is not anything like that.

Depth 7/10 – there are six different characters that you can pick from to start the game. Each character has different bonus stats that affect how that character drives. The different variables that are affected are acceleration, top speed, cornering, and jumping. There are also 2 hidden characters that can only be accessed through secret means.

There are 5 different vehicles to choose from as you play the game. 2 of the initial vehicles are different looking versions of the same vehicle and the rest are upgrades as you progress through the various levels of the game. In order to be successful in later levels you need to upgrade your vehicle at least once or you will not stand a chance.

For each vehicle there are a bunch of upgrades available as well. There are multiple types of upgrades available depending on the vehicle you own. This is just a review so I won’t get into all the details of what kinds there are and how they differ. First is vehicle performance upgrades like engines, tires, shocks and armor. The other upgrades are related to the type of upgrade it is. There are front weapons, rear weapons and boosters. Each of the upgrades has a few options available for it as well depending on the vehicle chosen. I really like all the variety that the game has in this way. And each time you buy a new car you start the upgrade process over. I do suspect that the base engine of the first upgrade car is equivalent to the first upgrade of the first vehicle if that makes sense. It is not a total loss when you upgrade because the new vehicle is better in that way (I think) but it is always a tough choice to upgrade. Another advantage to upgrading is that each subsequent upgrade requires fewer vehicle performance upgrades in order to be maxed out. The hovercraft for example does not need shocks or tires but does need engine and armor upgrades. Little details like this are a nice way to keep each vehicle fresh from the others.

Another thing I like is the multiple ways to make money. There are money pickups littered on the ground of every race (5 $1,000 pickups I think). You also earn $1,000 every time you get credit for blowing up an enemy directly with a weapon. If you are able to lap another racer you can get $1,000 for that too. And placing 3rd or better earns you money as well. I like the variety of how you earn money because even if you place low you can still earn upgrades fairly quickly. You do not always have to be winning the race as long as you are doing these other things.

One place where this game falls a bit short is that each planet only has 4 different track styles. These all repeat depending on how many races take place on each planet. Some more track styles would have been nice per planet even if they were similar to other planet’s track styles later on. The different planet style would keep the tracks feeling unique because you would encounter them less often. That’s about the only depth criticism I can think of though.

Difficulty 6/10 – this is not a difficult game at all. Once I get upgraded from the first vehicle I can pretty well dominate the rest of the way as long as I play all the available races and upgrade as much as possible. It is still really easy to lose a race here and there but if you manage to upgrade smartly early on you should be able to stay ahead of the other vehicles upgrade pace in order to keep the difficulty down. However, if you do not upgrade to the next vehicle but instead upgrade one of the two starting vehicles then you are going to have a tougher time. A good challenge would be to try to beat the game with the starting vehicle fully upgraded. Still, this game is not overly challenging game.

Overall 8/10 – this is a great racing game. I put it up there with games like F-Zero as SNES racing classics. If you love Rock n’ Roll, you love racing games and you love blowing things up then this game is for you!