Rock & Roll Racing
1. The wiki page on the history of the 1950s genre 'rock and roll'
2. The Rock n Roll hall of fame museum
3. These two:
What pops into YOUR head when you hear the words? ok ok probably led zeppelins opening drums to the song rock n' roll, but next up HAS to be ROCK N ROLL RACING FOR THE SUPER NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM.
And a sincere apology to all the sega lovers: the snes version is much much better, i'm sorry but i have to say this because it is true. so as braddock would say: "sit down, strap in and shut up." (ah 1993 Kids-Adult ratings, if my mother ever knew these games were telling me to 'shut up'...)
This game has definitely earned a special place in my heart as one of the best games for the SNES. The amount of nostalgia I feel sitting back and hearing those old chiptune versions of some of my favorite rocknroll bands puts me back into the feeling of staying up all night playing this game at the kind of parties my friends threw back in the day: pop n' chips. Mysteriously, I have never owned it myself and now in my adult life i have found it quite elusive to track down. As of yet I of course have tried my best to stay away from ordering any Super Nintendo game online but I am starting to feel pressured to do so as that I've been searching the shops of Calgary and Victoria for two years for this game and either just miss it being sold out or get a 'what are you talking about' type look by the employees of said shops. It is this elusiveness which fuels my belief that this was indeed as good of a game as I remember, for all collectors and gamers want it for their own collections.
If you are wondering what Rock n' Roll Racing is all about well, its basically a battle-racing game in an isometric view thats music consisted of memorable 16-bit renditions of such titles as "Paranoid - Black Sabbath", "Highway Star - Deep Purple", "Bad to the bone - George Thorogood", and "Peter Gunn - Henry Mancini" to name a few.
This soundtrack was backed by one of the most excited announcers in video game history who would yell at you if you were about to blow or if you just restocked your weapons, although i sound sarcastic about this i assure you that his excitement rubs off on you and by the end of a few races you find yourself repeating every word coming out of your speakers. ex: "Rip is about to blow!!!"
If you are wondering why the game is called "Rock n Roll Racing" and curious to know if there is anything remotely rocknroll related beyond the awesomely cheesy music and excellent title screen, the answer is no. You do however get to consult the highly rockin' captain braddock, who's lines do everything possible to inspire young racers to continue on.
Character List:
A notable character in this game is Olaf, a character from another interplay game: "The lost vikings" (fantastic!) whose appearance left me astonished the first time i saw it. simply hold L+R and SELECT at the character select screen then D-Pad Left -> Right to access him. I've been told theres another guy to unlock but I've personally never seen him. Normally I would hate on anyone using a cheat in a game, because these older games demonstrate a certain perfection required to beat with the resources originally given to the player but i can overlook this simply on the thought that Olaf is Olaf.
My personal favorite character though has to be Ivanzypher, probably on the sole reason that when i was a kid he looked the coolest, in retrospect...+1 jumping is really quite useless....
One of the first video games i ever programmed was a clone fan-game of this one, i had dubbed it "Rock n Roll Pacing" and it featured the song Hot for Teacher by Van Halen. Of course it was an awful rendition that i truly wish i still had around today so i could share it here, but that computer now lays destroyed screw for screw because it had a meltdown at a very low point in my life.
My suggestions would be: if you haven't played this game yet, pick it up ( i suggest for the SNES) if you can't find it, d/l it on an emulator, get a fork out and pop open a can of viking cola to play this game straight through, this is pretty much the only other GREAT racing game in the world next to Top Gear 2