Developer: Visco Publisher: Romstar Release: 09/90 Genre: Racing
I like making new discoveries. Unless you are rich it is impossible to play everything that releases. Even during the 8-bit era when game releases were slower you would be hard pressed to sample everything that hits store shelves. Nor would you want to. Rally Bike is a game that I am sure I passed over countless times. Maybe it was my fatigue from playing Hang-On for the Master System but another motorcycle game did not seem appealing. Playing it now I found an enjoyable racing game that challenges you in a different way and is still entertaining today.
Rally Bike is a top down racing game in which fifty competitors compete in a cross country race across North America. Even though you are traveling across the US there are only six stops along the way. Each track has a minimum qualifying placement to advance which is fairly lenient. Most stages only require rank 25 or higher to progress which is fairly easy to achieve. For those that go for the gold (so to speak) and earn first place you gain access to a shop where you can buy a new engine or tires for different terrain. As cool as it sounds it makes little impact on gameplay.
Even though Rally Bike is technically a racing game it is not structured the way you think. This is as much a game about beating the competition as it is an obstacle course. Your fellow racers are not what you need to worry about. The road and all its treacherous objects are your main concern. Boulders, incoming traffic, trains, the list goes on and on. Four lane highways will suddenly branch or condense in to a single narrow path. It is hilarious to watch your opposition fall to the same hazards you are avoiding en masse. Learning to balance speed versus going at a slower pace is critical as hazards can pop up anywhere. Aside from placement you also have to worry about fuel.
Although Rally Bike is not a combat racer there are a few power-ups to help out. The rare invincibility will allow you to blaze through obstacles for a long time before running out. Turbo is not as rare but I found to be a detriment. The coolest are the….option like helper cycles that protect you from damage. The most important however is gas. Do not let the long gas meter fool you; it is not enough for a full race. You will either have to get lucky and find more or make a pit stop to top up. Pitting is quick however you still have to wait a few seconds before riding again, meaning you will have to be strategic and time it right lest you end up disqualified. It is simple but adds a little depth to the game.
Because there are so many competitors in each race the tracks are long. In my opinion they are too long. It is grueling and the game would be better off with double the courses at half the length. It is also a missed opportunity. The shop has tires for different terrain yet there is technically only one track where it might have an impact. They could have given the game more depth. Instead you run every track twice with increased difficulty the second go round. More challenge is not what Rally Bike needed.
Rally Bike is unforgiving in its difficulty. Despite the game being generous with its qualifying placement to advance surviving to the end of each course is a task in itself. The levels are excruciatingly long and unfortunately crashing or running out of gas sends you back to the beginning of the level. This is soul crushing, especially if you were at the very end of a track. It is funny that the arcade game is more forgiving in that regard and it was designed to eat quarters. Memorization and split second reflexes are mandatory yet you will still suffer a number of cheap deaths along the way. It can be off putting and the game would have been better off with checkpoints. But it was not a deal breaker for me.
In Closing
Rally Bike is a good game. I should have gotten to this one sooner but there is only so much time in a day. I enjoyed Rally Bike more than the majority of racing games for the system. Lord knows I wish I had played this instead of Super Sprint, what a load of tosh that game is.
