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8-Bit Era - The Scrolling Generation
The 8-bit era of video games was dominated by the Nintendo Entertainment System, with the Sega Master System being a distant second place in sales in most markets. The motorbike racing games of this era all featured the bike scrolling along a horizontal or vertical plane, with no sprite scaling, because the technology of the era did not allow for depth perception and, as such, these games did not convey a true sense of speed. Trademark games of the era were Nintendo's Excitebike and Sega's Enduro Racer.
16-Bit Era - First-Person Perspective
As the video game industry progressed into the 16-bit generation at the dawn of the early 90s, the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo consoles dominated the industry, with sales being roughly evenly split. The 16-bit technology allowed motorbike games to progress beyond the realm of simply moving a sprite along the screen and into the arena of sprite scaling. Sprite scaling allowed these motorbike games to now offer behind-the-rider and first-person views allowing the player to feel as if he were actually moving forward. The sensation of speed was conveyed by making sprites portraying background objects grow larger as the rider moved forward. Electronic Arts' Road Rash and Sega's Super Hang-On were among the most notable games of the era.
32-Bit Era - Polygonal Modeling
The 32-bit era of video games came into full bloom in 1995 with the introduction of the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn and the 1996 release of the Nintendo 64. This was the generation of 3D and polygons, as the graphical power of these 32- and 64-bit consoles now allowed for real-time rendering of 3-D figures composed of polygons. The emphasis shifted to the first-person perspective and the courses, bikes and riders were starting to be made of polygons over sprites, allowing for a further emphasis on depth and speed. Electronic Arts' Road Rash was remade using this polygonal technology, while games such as Sega's Manx TT Superbike displayed how polygons could really move the racing genre forward.
Post 32-Bit - Polygon Refinements
With the introduction of the Sony PlayStation2, Microsoft XBox and Sega Dreamcast at the dawn of the 2000s, the polygonal movement further evolved. These machines were capable of rendering more polygons per second, allowing for more detailed vehicles, riders and environments and allowing for a higher frame-rate. The capability of rendering more polygons per second and how it increased usable frame-rates allowed for the games to move more smoothly, as well as convey a faster sense of speed than previous consoles.