Rock'N Racing Off Road review

Stuck in the mud

Review written by
daveoneal

February 16th, 2015

Rock'N Racing Off Road is marketed as a tribute to the classic racing game "Ivan Ironman Stewart's Super Off Road". Both games feature an overhead view of a track in which you must navigate your truck to the head of the pack. Both games are relatively simple: steer left and right using the D-pad, pull off a few jumps here and there, and do your best not to run into other trucks and/or walls. Sadly, that's about where the similarities end.

This game is a missed opportunity. The original Super Off Road was and still is a great experience. In addition to racing, it was one of the first games in which you could upgrade your vehicle: Collect money and nitro shots on the track, then upgrade between races. Tires allowed for better turning. Engine upgrades increased speed. Shocks reduced slowdown from jumps. Nitro boosts allowed for quick wins and a way to get an edge on other challengers, but over-relying on these could often lead you to being underpowered later in the game. The shop feature added variety and strategy to what may be an otherwise standard racing game. Sadly, there is no shop feature in Rock'N Racing Off Road. The lack of depth after playing Super Off Road is noticeable almost from the start.

In addition, the game lacks the variety of tracks contained in its spiritual predecessor. Whereas Super Off Road had a good variety of tracks (this varies depending on which version you play), this game recycles the same four patterns. Sure, the game claims that there are more tracks, but they are just reworked versions of the same four patterns. The tracks get old quickly.

The lack of tracks isn't the only aspect of this game that pull holds it back. The announcer is obnoxious. It seems that he only has five or so quotes, and he says them far too often and out of context with what is occurring on the screen. He'll shout phrases like "Oh my God!" and "This is amazing!" at every single jump, and sometimes when you are doing nothing at all. At first, it was comical, and provided a good laugh, but it can become grating. As far as I know, there is no way to disable the announcer. On top of this, the music is so incredibly cheesy, it's hard not to chuckle at times.

Still, there are more criticisms to put out there: The difficulty. You seem to either get first or last place. The A.I. seems competent for the most part, but sometimes it will mess up and the trucks will seem to get confused and drive awkwardly. Also, if you hit a wall, you might as well give up the race. There is little room for error. Whether or not you think this is a good thing is entirely up to you.

The controls are a bit awkward, and to be fair, they weren't that great in the original Super Off Road either. They take some getting used to, and you may suffer from under and over steer at times, but the controls are manageable and nowhere near awful. You should eventually be able to adapt and keep your truck on the right path the majority of the time.

There are some things that this game does truly get right. First of all, the graphics are good. They're not groundbreaking. They won't leave you in shock by the amount of detail, but they are appropriate for the game. There are visible sprites of people in the crowd, there are loose tires to knock around, and there are shadow effects creating a feeling of depth in each track. The texture of the track is nice as well, although the vehicles themselves could've used more clarity.

Another plus to this game is that it allows up to five players to race at a time. Even the original Super Off Road could only support four players, and depending on which console you used, you were required to hook up an adapter to accommodate more than two players. You can play with the GamePad or a Wii remote. Additionally, Off-TV / GamePad play works very well, so if you want to carry your mud-racing to another nearby room, you can.

The game does have some replay value as well: Winning races allows you to unlock new cars and cups. In addition, there are online leaderboards, although I don't see many people investing more than a few hours in this game.

Overall, Rock'N Racing Off Road could've been far better if the developer spent more time with it. The game is not broken by any means, but it could've been so much more. There could have been more tracks, online play, and some type of upgrade system.

If you want to have a truly awesome top-down mud-racing experience, I recommend trying Super Off Road. I will argue that the SNES version is the definitive home version, with sixteen unique track patterns, sharp visuals, and clear sound. You can find a copy on the SNES or NES for less than ten dollars on various sites across the web, and I can't think of a good reason not to if you own one of those consoles. If you don't have one of those, and still find appeal in this title, then give this game a try. You should at least have a good time with the local multi-player, but don't enter with your expectations set too high.