Motor Raid

Overview

With its futuristic bikes and the rare ability to fight while racing the game bears obvious inspirations from both the Akira (1988) and Venus Wars (1989) manga and anime adaptation, Psygnosis's Wipeout (1995) for its futuristic planets, and from the Road Rash (1991) game series.

The game is available as a single or two-player cabinet. Game modes include "Championship" and "Practice" and there are four playable characters, Geila, Gunz, Io and Robin, with the fourth one being female.

Unlike other Model 2A racers like Manx TT Superbike or the original Sega Rally Championship, Motor Raid was not ported to the contemporary Sega Saturn or Windows 95. However, efforts to emulate the game on Model 2 emulators have been successful since 2004, thanks to ELSemi or Nebula.

Gameplay

As with most motorcycle arcade games, acceleration is performed by twisting the handle, steering is accomplished through leaning the bike's body left or right, and braking is done by squeezing a lever. As the race progresses, a three-layer turbo gauge will begin to fill automatically and the player can choose among three types of boosts: a short blue boost that's ready when the boost gauge quickly fills to 100%, a stronger green boost that requires the boost gauge to fill up to 200%, and an extremely powerful orange boost that can only be unleashed when the boost gauge fills to the maximum level of 300%, and will allow the character to critically knock out opponents who are in the way (to reflect the game's tagline, "No mercy for anyone who stands in the way"). Boosts are activated by waiting for the gauge to fill up and twisting the acceleration handle twice whenever the desired boost type is available.

What makes Motor Raid a more unique racing game, however, is the ability to engage in close-quarters combat in an effort to seize and maintain first place. The primary combat move, executed by pressing a "punch" button, is to swing a powerful weapon (such as a crescent sword or a "smash-nail" pike) around to knock down and slow opponents. The player can also hold down that button to sacrificially throw the weapon at an opponent to hit him/her at long range in an effort to take his/her weapon as a replacement, but if the player misses or gets attacked too many times, he/she will lose the weapon. In such situation, the player can tap the punch button to throw a punch for a fair chance to steal a weapon from a nearby opponent, or hold down the button to use a permanent secondary weapon, such as a claw or whip, for a certain chance to do so. Players can also press a "kick" button to hold off opponents that approach him/her from the behind to prevent them from attacking or overtaking him/her, but kicks are not powerful, as they do not result in knockouts.

Players are also given a limited amount of time to finish a race, which can be partially replenished by passing through checkpoints. If the timer reaches zero, the motorcycle will cease to accelerate and slow to a stop, ending the game prematurely if it stops before a checkpoint or the finish line. Finishing a race at a good position may also award the player a few extra seconds of time for the next race.

Upon beginning a game session, the player is prompted to choose between the four abovementioned characters. Then he/she is then asked to choose between whether to compete in the "Championship", where the player races on three planets for the top prize, or do a "Practice" run on a course from any of five playable planets (plus a sixth one, Segal, if a cheat code is entered). The player begins each race with the character's primary weapon, secondary weapon, and a 100% full turbo gauge.

In the "Championship" mode, the player will do a two-lap race on the first planet, Yendas, and a one-lap race in two other planets, but which planet the next race will take place on depends mostly on whether or not he/she finishes in first place. If the player finishes first in all three races, he/she will go to the planet Segal for an extra race. If the player finishes first in every race, he/she will then learn more about his/her chosen character as a bonus ending. For example, fully clearing the game as Gelia would reveal that he is a hunter who craves the thrill of hunting prey with his razor-sharp claws.

Stages

There are five playable planets in this game (plus a sixth, secret one), each with their own unique terrain:

In "Championship" mode, one usually has three races (unless you place first in all of them, then it is 4) and they always start on Yendas. Finishing the race in 1st place changes the next stage to a more difficult one than if 2nd or lower place is achieved. The races are as follows:

Yendas → Junos (if placed 1st in Yendas) → Bowel (if placed 1st in Junos) → Segal (Bonus stage, if placed 1st in Bowel, else the game ends)

Yendas → Junos (if placed 1st in Yendas) → Reef8 (if placed 2nd or lower in Junos)

Yendas → Ido (if placed 2nd or lower in Yendas) → Junos (if placed 1st in Ido)

Yendas → Ido (if placed 2nd or lower in Yendas) → Reef8 (if placed 2nd or lower in Ido)

Yendas → Junos (if placed 1st in Yendas) → Ido (if placed 4th or lower in Junos)

Segal is also playable from the start with a cheatcode. To do that, enter "Practice" mode, highlight Yendas and then press Punch, Kick, Kick, Punch, Kick, Kick, Punch, Punch, Kick, Kick.

Official Soundtrack

An official soundtrack for Motor Raid was released on January 21, 1998 by Marvelous Entertainment. The soundtrack also features music from the later Sega arcade game, Sega Water Ski.