Roadrash

RoadRash is my favourite game right now.

The game is simple. Motorcycle racing. But you can punch and kick other riders. You can use weapons - chains, clubs, crowbars. The police chase you if you’re too violent. Sometimes they catch you and the game ends. Most times you outrun them.

My favorite bike is the Diablo. Fastest in the game. But my friend Sushant always picks the Shuriken. He says handling matters more than top speed. We argue about this every evening.

The tracks are brilliant. Napa Valley with all the farms. Pacific Highway along the coast. Sierra Nevada through the mountains. Each track has shortcuts if you know where to look. Some shortcuts save you 10-15 seconds. That’s the difference between winning and losing.

But the real fun is the kicking another rider into oncoming traffic. Hitting them with a stick until they fall off their bike

Sometimes the game crashes. “Exception error” or “This program has performed an illegal operation.” Very frustrating when you’re about to win. I save the game after every race now. Takes extra time but better than losing progress.

I’ll stick with the classic RoadRash. The 1996 version still runs perfectly on Windows XP. No compatibility issues, boots up fast, runs smooth.

My mother thinks I’m wasting time playing this game. She wants me to study more. But hand-eye coordination is a skill too. Reaction time matters. This is training, in a way.

Napa Valley on repeat. Diablo bike. Chain weapon. That’s the best.