Road Rash puts the player in control of a motorcycle racer who must finish in third place or higher among fourteen other racers; the player advances throughout the game's five levels by winning five races on each level.[1][2][3] The game's races take place in a number of Californian settings, including San Francisco, the Sierra Nevada, Napa Valley and the Pacific Coast Highway.[4] During a race, the racer can brake, accelerate, and attack neighboring opponents. The racer will punch at the nearest opponent with a default input, while holding a directional button during the input will result in either a backhand or a kick. Some opponents wield weapons such as clubs and chains, which can be taken and used by the racer if the opponent is attacked as they are holding the weapon out to strike.[5][6] The racer can be ejected from their bike if they crash into an obstacle (such as cows, deer, cars and trees) or if they run out of stamina (shown in the bottom-left corner of the screen) due to fights with opponents. In this event, the racer will automatically run back toward their bike, though the player can alter their course and avoid incoming traffic with the directional buttons, or stand still by holding the brake input button. Opponents will likewise be ejected from their bike if their own stamina is depleted; the stamina of the nearest opponent is visible within the bottom-right corner of the screen.[7][8][9] In the Sega CD version, the color of the opponent's stamina meter indicates their level of aggressiveness toward the racer.[10]
The racer begins the game with a set amount of money and earns cash prizes for each successful race.[9][11] From the main menu, the player can access a shop and view several bikes of differing weights, speeds and steering capabilities, and the player may purchase a new bike with the money they have accumulated. As the bikes become faster as each level progresses, purchasing a faster bike eventually becomes essential for keeping up with the other racers.[11][12] Some bikes are equipped with a series of nitrous oxide charges, which can provide a burst of speed if the player quickly taps the acceleration input button twice.[5][8] The player will advance to the next level after winning a race on all five of the game's tracks.[9][13] With each subsequent level, the bikes become faster, the other riders fight more aggressively and the tracks become longer and more dangerous.[1][14] The player wins the game by winning a race on each track in all five levels.[2][3][13]
The bike has its own "damage meter" between the racer's and opponents' stamina meters, which decreases every time the racer suffers a crash. The bike will be wrecked if the meter fully depletes, which ends the player's participation in the current race and deducts the cost of a repair bill from the racer's balance.[7][9] Motor officers make sporadic appearances throughout the game's tracks, and can also end the player's participation if they apprehend the racer following a crash, which deducts the cost of a fine from their balance.[9] Repair bills and fines become more expensive with each subsequent level.[1]If the racer lacks the funds to cover either a repair bill or a fine, the game will end prematurely.[9][13]
Road Rash is primarily single-player, but allows for two players to play intermittently against each other.[11][14] The game features two distinct modes of single-player gameplay: the central campaign "Big Game Mode" and a stripped-down "Thrash Mode", in which the player can race on any given track at any difficulty.[11][15] In the Big Game Mode, the player takes on the identity of one of a selection of characters with differing statistics. Smaller characters accelerate more quickly, while larger characters have stronger attacks.[3] Each of the characters start with a differing amount of money, and some characters come equipped with a weapon.[11] Between races, the player can converse with other bikers and receive gameplay tips.[4][11] The Windows version features an online multiplayer mode for up to eight human players connected via a modem or local network.[16]
