If there is one game I remember fondly from all my days spent in the arcades when I was younger, it is Sega Rally, the game to me was just arcade perfection, all you had to do was put your money in the machine and then race around the dirt ridden tracks in your mission to be the best, it was easy to learn, addictive and a whole lot of fun as well, so when Sega announced this game for the next generation consoles I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, but now that it is here do I still feel the same?
The first thing you will notice about Sega Rally is that is a dream to play, picking up the controller and racing around the track for the first time will have you in awe, the game looks just wonderful and the handling of the cars is arcade perfect, sure if you are a fan of any of the more realistic games like Gran Turismo or the PGR series, then the handling make take you a while to get to grips with, but once you do then just try putting this down because it will have you hooked.
The main bulk of your gaming time in Sega Rally will be spent in Championship Mode, this varies in difficulty but everyone (regardless of skill) starts in the Premier Tournament and within this there are five difficulties to get through, these are Amateur, Professional, Expert and the Final with each consisting of three to four races, from here you will then progress to the Premier, Modified and Masters Tournaments which are all structured in a similar way.
At the beginning of the Premier Mode you start out with a Subaru Impreza and although it may take a while to get used to, after a few races you will soon be sliding around the corners like an expert such if the excellent handling of the cars. Sega Rally really is an incredibly rewarding experience, ever bump, brake and power slide makes you feel like you are at the wheel of a real car, sure you may bounce of the scenery should you not take a corner properly and about forget seeing any damage should you collide with an opponent because it won’t happen, but these things don’t matter because this isn’t meant to be another realistic driver, this is arcade racing at it’s finest.
As well as the excellent handling of the cars, the racing surfaces also play a big part in the race, drive around a track once and on your next lap you will notice that you and your opponents previous lap has made permanent marks deep in the surface, this plays a big part in how the track handles and you will need to accommodate this as you negotiate the road, this becomes especially difficult on later tracks such as Alaska where the surfaces are made of a mixture of snow and ash meaning you will literally be bouncing off the walls. The track deformation isn’t the only obstacle you will come across as each racing surface offers up something unique, as you progress through the game you will drive through snow, sleet, sand, mud, water and gravel, each of these provides different challenges, you can also feel the difference between all of them, meaning you will need to compensate for whatever surface your car happens to be racing on.
Should you like you’re racing with more than one player then you have the option of either split screen (which works very well) or Xbox Live. Online Sega Rally delivers quite nicely, all the usual options are present should you require a quick race against strangers or a custom one with your friends, I had no problems when looking for a match and found that each race I took part in was both varied and evenly matched, how long the lobbies of this game will stay popular for is hard to say but the option to race online is there and very well presented at that.
Graphically Sega Rally looks absolutely stunning, the environments are rich in detail, all bursting with colour from the blue skies to the tropical trees and it really makes the game feel true to it’s arcade roots, but perhaps the best thing of all is the way the environments interact with your car, drive through mud and it will cling to your bumper only to be partially washed off as you drive through a puddle, or watch as you are trying to negotiate a corner while the car in front kicks up sand causing your view to be obscured, it’s all very nicely done and not only effects the race but looks unbelievable.
If you like your racing games arcade style then there isn’t a game that exists that is better than Sega Rally, it looks, feels and plays like no other game, even if you are not particularly a fan of racing games it is just so hard for me to imagine you not liking this such is it’s grip on you from the moment the accelerator is pressed, racing purists may want to look elsewhere for their speed fix but not me I’m hooked. Highly Recommended.
