Get ready!! Time Warp Review hits the track with Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing!!

Ah, fast cars and hot guitars. Two extremes that go together so well. Before Activision made air guitaring popular with Guitar Hero and Harmonix brought people as close as possible to being on stage with Rock Band, a small game developing company set the stage for featuring rock music in a video game. Devildrier1313 is here to set you behind the wheel of one of the coolest games to grace the Super Nintendo. Strap yourself in for a wild ride with a Time Warp Review of Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing.

Originally developed to be a sequel to Silicon and Synapse’s previous SNES title RPM Racing, Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing received the name change after Interplay Entertainment put licensed rock music into the title. It is a combat racing game that pitted one or two players against AI controlled racers where you used various weapons to attack the other competitors. Since the cars reappear with full health, the only real “harm” done is losing the race. Each race consisted of four laps viewed from an isometric perspective. This allowed players to recognized frequent slopes spread throughout the track. Along with the other drivers, the track itself is just at threatening with drop offs, landmines, and oil slicks that wreaked havoc on competitors. Not worry, health power-ups were laid across the raceway to ensure your survival but you had to fight for it. Money is awarded after each race which can be used to purchase upgrades for your vehicle such as engines, tires and shocks. You can even increase the capacity for your rear and frontal weapons, and turbo boost so you can cause more carnage. Racers can also buy other vehicles like a monster truck or a tank.

The race was commentated by the eccentric Larry “Supermouth” Huffman” (“Loudmouth Larry”) who made comments such as “Let the carnage begin!” and “Rip: is about to blow!” in an enthusiastic tone. Think about Beyblade Metal Fusion’s announcer Blader DJ and you get the idea. Rock “N” Roll Racing’s high octane soundtrack featured instrumental versions of well-known rock songs including George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone”, Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild”.

Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing was released in 1993 by Silicon & Synapse, who is now known as Blizzard Entertainment. Yes, the same company behind the popular Overwatch title and the mega hit MMORPG World of Warcraft created this awesome racing game! Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing was incredibly fun to play and can be viewed as a precursor to another car carnage game, “Twisted Metal.” While the Sega Genesis version received mixed reviews, the Super Nintendo port was praised for its rocking soundtrack and Vs. mode. Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing was awarded Best Driving Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.