Ludography
Burning Road cover

1996 · Toka · Racing

Burning Road

PlayStation exclusive

Burning Road is an arcade racing game, heavily influenced by Daytona USA. There are four types of cars to drive: two muscle cars, a drag car and a monster truck, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. There are three different courses to drive on (a wooded area, city streets and snow area) and also have a reverse track variation that can be unlocked. The object is not only to finish ahead of opponents, but also cross checkpoints in order to add more time to the ever depleting timer at the top of the screen.

Released
30 September 1996
Platforms
PlayStation
Genres
Racing
Developers
Toka
Publishers
—
Modes
MultiplayerSingle-player
Themes
Non-fiction
Country
France
Age ratings
ESRB E

About

Burning Road is a 1996 racing video game developed by Toka for the PlayStation. An arcade-style racer, it is heavily inspired by Sega's arcade hit Daytona USA. It received a sequel in 1997, titled Explosive Racing.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Players are timed in races and must race through checkpoints to gain more time. Players are timed to pick a track, a car and the transmission, like in arcade games. There are three difficulty levels: Easy, Medium and Hard.

In-game, there is a 'traffic' radar showing the player where opponents are surrounding the player's car only. The opponent in the lead has a silver cup icon above their vehicle. If the player gets in the lead, text saying 'race leader' displays at the top of the screen for a second.

Reception

Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot described Burning Road as "for the most part, a Daytona USA wannabe", particularly noting that the graphics are blockier than those of Daytona USA. However, he concluded that "while it lacks innovation, it's solid enough to compete dollar-for-dollar with Ridge Racer Revolution." GamePro's Johnny Ballgame instead considered it a rip-off of Ridge Racer, and assessed that "its lack of solid features will drive you to disappointment with only six easy tracks and no two-player split-screen option." He also said it had "the worst theme song in video game history."

A Next Generation critic was also displeased with the low quantity and difficulty of the tracks, but was complimentary towards the graphics, frame rate, and opponent AI. He noted that the "'bumper car' mentality" of the game would likely offend racing purists, and summarized that "Burning Road is entertaining in its own right, but lacking in just enough of the essentials to prevent it from being a superior game."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
PlayStation31 January 1996Japan · North America 31 December 1996 · Europe 31 December 1996

Editions and related releases

Included in
Polymega Collection Vol. 15: Body Harvest

Games like this

Collections2 collections

Genres

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.