Rally Bike (NES)
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- This page is for the NES version. For the arcade version, see Rally Bike (ARC). For the Sharp X68000 version, see Dash Yarou (X68).
Rally Bike is a top-down motorbike racing game developed by an unknown developer and published by Romstar released in 1990. The game is an adaptation of the arcade game of the same name by Toaplan and Taito. In Japan, the game was called Dash Yarō (ダッシュ野郎). The word "Yarō" is a bit hard to translate into English, but refers to a "guy" in a negative fashion.
You play as an unnamed motorcyclist who must go through five stages, all of which are locations throughout the USA; San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, and New York. Though the Japanese manual mentions stage four being Boston, it was removed from this version of the game, as was one of the bonus stages. The NES version's manual does not mention the progression of the stages.
You control your bike with the D-pad left and right to steer, A+Up to accelerate fully, and B+Down to slow down fully. The goal is to get to the finish line within the position threshold of each level. This will allow you to proceed to the next level. If you go on to the next level, you get to choose between one of a couple engine types or one of three tire types; something unique to the NES version. Throughout the level, you will see gas station markers, which you'll need to stop at to refuel. However, this allows a few opponents to race past you, as they do not have to refuel. Occasionally, a helicopter (supposedly the one from Toaplan's Tiger-Heli) will appear and drop all sorts of powerups including for points, fuel, or even two racers at your side that can crash opponents for you. Every time you either pass an opponent or they crash, you move up one position. Getting first place doesn't net you any extra ending, so you should just worry about qualifying for the next stage. If you beat all four stages, you beat the game and the game is over. Unlike the arcade game, there is no high score screen, and you cannot get extra lives, rendering the score virtually useless.
The game is noted for its brutal difficulty; the other racers are relentless and will crash into you at any cost; fall off your bike a few times and the game is over. It's made even worse by the fact that no matter how far you get in a level, if you crash, you are forced to start from the beginning. As a result, the game was mostly negatively received by those who have played it. Despite never getting an NES release in the west, many people have compared this game to the Famicom game Zippy Race, which was originally released as an arcade game in the USA as Motorace USA. The graphics are also quite subpar in comparison to the original arcade game, and even for an NES game in 1990. It doesn't help that the manual is barebones and doesn't give much information.
Contents
Screenshots
Music
Rally Bike borrows its music from the arcade score by Osamu Ohta. The arcade score was rich in variety, though not very fast-paced to fit the action on the screen. It sounds like whoever arranged the music for the NES version did their best to adapt the music from the arcade version, but misses a few notes here and there, and makes simpler arrangements of the songs. Many of the songs have had their lengths cut in half; perhaps due to time constraints, or because some of the parts in some songs sound similar to each other.
The NES version removes three songs from the arcade version; Black Tea which was used for the Boston stage in the arcade version, Continue which played at the continue screen which the NES version lacks, and Gas Station, as the gas stations in the NES version do not display a cutscene. The reason for Black Tea not being present is because (as stated above) the Boston stage is not present in the NES version (though the Japanese manual claims it is). Gas Station is not present because, even though the NES version has gas stations, it does not have a cutscene for it. Continue isn't present as the NES version does not offer any continues.
Conversely, some of the songs carried over had their purposes changed. For example, the first two stages have had their music swapped for some reason. In addition, the NES version does not have a high score screen, and instead, the track Sun Set plays when you're selecting your parts for the next stage, something not in the arcade original.
The track names and ordering come from the album Toaplan ARCADE SOUND DIGITAL COLLECTION Vol.6.
Recording
| # | Title | Composer | Arranger | Length | Listen | Download |
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| 01 | Macosa | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:48 | Download | |
| 02 | Congra | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:31 | Download | |
| 03 | South Wind | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 2:07 | Download | |
| 04 | Dixie Line | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:48 | Download | |
| 05 | Sand Storm | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 1:52 | Download | |
| 06 | Den | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 1:27 | Download | |
| 07 | Second Line | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 1:18 | Download | |
| 08 | America Bye Bye | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:34 | Download | |
| 09 | Crush | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:03 | Download | |
| 10 | Game Over | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:06 | Download | |
| 11 | Sun Set | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:37 | Download | |
| 12 | Cut Off | Osamu Ohta | Unknown | 0:20 | Download |
Credits
- Ripper: MrNorbert1994
- Recorder: Doommaster1994
- Game Credits:
- Not Credited Composer: Osamu Ohta
- Unknown Arranger: Unknown
(No source; Game lacks credits.)
There are no credits in the game nor its manual; this also goes for the Japanese release, so it's unknown who ported over the score from the arcade version. Osamu Ohta has been confirmed as the composer of the original arcade game via other Toaplan composers (like Tatsuya Uemura), as well as the official soundtrack CDs, which credit him as "Ree Ohta".
Albums
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Game Rip
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Format |
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Ripping NES music is a very arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site.
Audio Devices
The game uses the 2A03 of the NES for music and sound effects. The DPCM channel is never used. The game uses a custom sound driver not used in any other game.
Releases
Links
- gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/587555-rally-bike - GameFAQs.
- mobygames.com/game/34635/rally-bike/ - MobyGames.
| Rally Bike | |
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| Notable Songs | Macosa • South Wind • Dixie Line • Sand Storm • Den • Black Tea • Second Line |
| Notable Personnel | Osamu Ohta |
| Notable Companies | Toaplan • Taito |
- Games Released In 1990
- Games Developed By Unknown
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- Rally Bike (NES)
- Games By Osamu Ohta
- Games By Unknown
- Games Without Credits
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- Games That Use NSF
- Games That Use NSFE
- Games Released In Japan
- Famicom Games
- Games Published By Visco
- Games Released In USA
- Nintendo Entertainment System Games
- Games Published By Romstar
