Road Rash 3 is the finale of the Genesis trilogy, and probably the least known
of the three. It had the same concept as the first two - race a grid of 15
other motorcyclists across windy roads while avoiding the police. You have
weapons to your disposal such as clubs and chains that you can defend yourself
with. As you progress through the game you win cash prizes after races so you
can purchase bike upgrades to compete better in higher level racing heats. If
you get busted by the police, or crash your bike by taking too much damage, you
lose money. If you lose all your money it's game over.
Unlike the first two Road Rash titles, this one used digitized sprites instead
of cartoon sprites. This was probably the games downfall, as it made the game
much harder to look at. The graphics are actually much improved and the game s
presentation is superb, but its difficult to discern objects in the road at
times. It's a shame because I feel Road Rash 3 was a much more solid title than
the first two.
In any case, Road Rash 3 is very similiar to Road Rash 2. You can check out the
other guides for Road Rash 2 to get a good idea how to play. I will be listing
most of the changes and some of the more critical aspects, but I won't get too
indepth. Just general strategies and important things to know, plus weapon and
track data.
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2. Controls
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A: Brake
B: Accelerate
C: Throw a punch / Use weapon
B twice: Nitro (nitrous bikes only)
C + D-pad Up: Swing Chain or Nunchucks / hold weapon up
C + D-pad Down: Kick
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3. Getting Started
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When you first start out you begin with $1000 and the weakest bike possible.
You can explore the bike shop to see what you can buy or just to browse. At
this point you can upgrade your bike (check Upgrade section for more
information) if you want.
The game defaults the first race to Brazil, but you can change that by going to
Select Track menu in the main menu. In the Select Track menu you get a good
idea how long each race is. Check out my Track guide to pick the easiest tracks
to beat first.
In the main menu, below your cash, it says Level 1. To get to the next level
you must qualify in all the races in the level by getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd in a
race. The higher you qualify the more you are rewarded. With each passing level
the game gets progressivly harder, riskier and more rewarding. Police fines get
raised, your opponents get more aggresive and faster, the track themselves get
harder and much longer. New parts of the world open up as you go along as well,
such as Japan and Australia.
I recommend buying the tire upgrade from the bike shop and racing a few races
with just that. You'll get the hang of how the game plays, and your bike is
powerful enough to qualify without and major upgrades. There is no need to get
a new bike until at least level 2. Money is hard to get in this game and in the
later levels if you blow your cash early it can cost you lots of time.
Whenever your bike takes too much damage or a cop busts you, the race ends and
you have to pay a fine. The fine depends on the level you're currently at.
Higher the level, the steeper the fine.
In general, you take less damage hitting stationary objects or traffic going
the same direction as you. Traffic going against you - especially fast sports
cars - will cause major damage, sometimes even halving your damage meter. Some
stuff such as the chickens in Italy or the kangaroos in Australia can be ran
over without damage, but stuff like cows and zebras will cause damage and crash
you. When you are knocked down by an opponent you take no damage.
When it comes to cops you have two types - ones that will bust you and road
blocks. Road blocks are the non-siren cop cars that just idle in the road. If
you hit them, they won't arrest you. There are three types of cops that will
arrest you if you crash near them:
Motorcycle Cops
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Easiest threat to avoid. Unlike in the other Road Rash titles they just don't
put up a fight like they use to. You see these the most, but they're easy to
smoke. They carry clubs you can steal.
Cop Car
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These cops will be driving in front of you and will try to block you in. Fairly
annoying because you typically have to go off road to avoid them sometimes, and
if you do crash into them it's an instant bust. Probably the most lethal cops.
Cop Helicopter
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Really intimidating at first but usually harmless. It'll harass other bikers,
but when it comes after you it's lights out if you don't take action fast. It
will hover above you, then smash down on you. Instant bust. Also it keeps up
way better than cop cars and motorcycle cops so it'll hang around longer than
the other cop vehicles. This is the rarest cop vehicle.
Road Rash 3 includes many new and interesting weapons. You start out
weaponless, so to get a weapon you must steal one from another biker. To steal
one, you have to punch the biker as he tries to hit you with his weapon. Be
careful when attacking guys that are using their fists because they can steal
your weapon as well. Certain bikers will have certain weapons (Sergio has the
chain, Lucky Luc has the oil). Some of the new weapons have limited amount of
charges per race. Here's the list:
Fist
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You start out with this. It's actually pretty effective, typically only taking
3 to 4 hits to take down another opponent. You need this to steal another
bikers weapon - if you already have a weapon you can't steal another.
Effectiveness: 3/5
Kick
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Will push a biker aside. Not very useful. You can get the same effect by
bumping into another biker. It's OK to use when you're in a crowd or fighting
someone who has a better weapon than you. Enemy bikers kick a lot.
Effectiveness: 2/5
Club
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More powerful than the fist. Takes about 3 hits to down somebody. Gives a
little stun when you whack someone with it.
Effectiveness: 3/5
Chain
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A classic weapon that's probably one of the most reliable. It's faster than the
club and does the same amount of damage + stun. Keyword is 'faster', you can
knock down people in 3 swift hits. I recommend stealing this one right off the
bat, it'll serve you well throughout the entire game.
Effectiveness: 4/5
Crowbar
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A 3 hit take down weapon that gives a bigger stun than most weapons. It's slow.
Effectiveness: 3/5
Oil Can
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A unique weapon that has limited amount of charges per race. It does exactly
what you think it does - it makes anyone who hits the oil slick you drop slide
around. To be blunt it's a pretty dumb weapon, and due to its limited charges
it's not effective at all. It does make opponents behind you slide around but
it's hard to use correctly because the rear view mirrors aren't detailed. When
the enemy uses this against you the AI will get just enough in front of you to
use his oil. Incredibly annoying.
Effectiveness: 1/5
Mace
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Another limited charge per race weapon, it's marginally better than the oil can
but still not useful. It'll make the opponent biker cover his eyes and freeze
up a bit. It is much more annoying when it's used against you, because a 4
second freeze can crash you. I've never understood how this item works since
everyone is wearing a helmet with a visor, but whatever.
Effectiveness: 2/5
Cattle Prod
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The ultimate of the 'limited charge per race' genre, it'll make the enemy biker
freeze up for a long time and take damage. Not only that, but the prod seems to
have a really good reach. Pretty useful compared to mace. When the enemy is
using this against you, it would be smart not to even bother fighting him
because it'll kick your ass if he gets a hit off.
Effectiveness: 3/5
Nunchucks
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The nuke of Road Rash 3. 2 hit take downs, very fast. You'll know when the
enemy uses this against you because you'll be 1/3 health the second he nails
you. There doesn't seem to be any stun effects using this weapon however,
unlike the chain.
Effectiveness: 5/5
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6. The Tracks
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Road Rash 3 has you traveling all over the place. With each new level, the
tracks get a little longer in length and more difficult. I have made a convient
list of the tracks, plus a track listing from easiest to hardest so you know
which ones to complete first:
Easiest to Hardest
1. Australia
2. U.K.
3. Brazil
4. Italy
5. Kenya
6. Tokyo
7. Germany
Australia
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In my opinion the easiest track of all of them. The wildlife can be ran over
and there isn't much traffic. There are some pretty annoying turns however, and
the terrain feels slick (although I think that's just my imagination). The
layout feels tame to me, I always seem to complete this track first.
U.K.
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Very tame. The traffic drives on the left side of the road. It's a little
harder than Australia due to the traffic - it's a little heavier.
Brazil
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In the same league as the U.K. and Australia. Tame, but the intersections seem
abundant. Police roadblocks seem more common here too.
Italy
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Italy is when the difficulty gets bumped up some. Lots blind hills and windy
roads, but the traffic doesn't seem so bad. Italy also has similiar hills to
Tokyo, the ones that drop off and give you major air. Italy is tied for Brazil
in difficulty because there aren't many obstacles in Italy, just chickens that
are easily ran over.
Kenya
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This track is insane. Constant hills that give you air, blind spots, tight
turns, heavier traffic than Tokyo and wildlife that crashes you. The hills give
you a huge advantage and allow you to jump over most crap, so the track just
isn't as hard as the hardest. It's still difficult though.
Tokyo
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Tokyo is Kenya without those constant jumps or animals. Fast traffic, MANY
intersections (they're all over the place), blind hills everywhere and the cops
have road blocks every half mile or so. Almost guaranteed to see 2 cops per
race, usually one is a helicopter.
Germany
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Tied with Tokyo for most difficult. Relatively flat, but many, many hairpin
turns. Hairpin turns everywhere - this is one of those tracks where you have to
use your brakes a lot. There are ice puddles on the turns and if you don't
brake, 90% if the time you'll go offroad and hit something. By the time you
race in Germany, one of the top 3 opponents will have an oil can to add insult
to your injuries.
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7. Bikes and Upgrades
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When you buy a new bike, there are a few things to consider. Just because the
bike is more expensive does not mean it's faster. Some bikes have the same
horse power as another, but are lighter weight, which increases acceleration
and turn ability. Be careful when you buy a new ride as to not buy the same
bike with minor weight adjustment. Also, some bikes have nitro boosts. It'll
tell you when that bike does in the purchase screen.
Buying a bike is one of the most critical aspects of the game. You typically
want to buy a new bike near the end of each level, and upgrade it if I need to
during the next level. I use this strategy often and it prevents me from having
to race abunch to get what I want. Don't bother buying bikes every time you get
cash for a new one because it's just a waste of time. Only get the bikes that
are major improvements.
Upgrading your bike is very important. I upgrade the following in order: Tires,
Engine, Suspension or Body. Suspension and Body are really optional; I wouldn't
buy them unless I was on level 4 or so.
Upgrades:
Tires
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The most important upgrade of them all. When you first get a bike it slides
around violently and will make you completely unstable. The heavier and faster
the bike the more violent the slide. When you get a tire upgrade it eliminates
nearly 75% of this trouble.
Engine
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A good improvement, boosts speed and acceleration.
Suspension
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Prevents you from bouncing when you land from a jump. Good for maps like Kenya,
or Germany where little rocks make you jump. Keeps you more stable.
Body
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Body isn't needed for the first 3 levels - once you reach level 4, however,
it's an absolute necessity. Makes your bike harder to destroy. In long races
when you crash more often it helps a lot.
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8. General Strategies
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- Always drive in the center of the lane. The only thing that is ever directly
in the center of the road are road blocks and sometimes a wandering animal.
Adjust your position according to hazards, but the center line is where you
should always be.
- Fighting dudes that have nunchucks or cattle prods isn't a smart idea. I
almost never bother because most likely they're gonna hit you and you're gonna
fall. Just kick them and avoid.
- Take into consideration how your bike works when you get knocked off by
opponent. When an enemy biker hits you off your bike, your bike keeps moving
forward but you fall off. Unlike a normal crash - where both you and the bike
have the same inertia - the trip back to your bike is twice as long because its
further ahead of you. In other words, don't ever get knocked off by another
biker. It's actually safer to crash into stuff sometimes.
- Road Rash 3 is time consuming sometimes. Don't expect to always win because
the game doesn't give you much of a boost. If you're stuck in a high level with
a weak bike, just race and try to qualify as high as you can. The AI isn't
perfect and will make mistakes, and sometimes this is all you need to gain rank
in the race and get money for your purchasing needs. The game can get really
discouraging in the higher levels because you need flawless racing skills to
get money just to become a decent competitor.
- Always buy upgrades in this order: Tires -> Engine -> Suspsension or Body
- If your bike is stuck between something and your biker can't get back on, you
can use the D-pad to move your biker around.
