Sega Rally

By Sam Leitch

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Saaaaayga Rally Championship. What more can I say? It’s back! If you have never played the original arcade game, then you must have been living under a virtual rock for the last 12 years.

When Sega Rally hit the arcades, it caused quite a stir. Aside from the brilliant graphics, the gameplay was unlike anything seen before. With its fast and fun arcade thrills and spills, Sega Rally was the ultimate reason to wag school and race your mates.

Of course, in 2007, things have moved on. There are a heap of great rally games around; can Sega Rally recapture its original ‘wow’ factor? With Colin McRae DiRT released recently, chances are that the game won’t stand out quite as much as the original. That said – I don’t think it needs to. While there are indeed some fantastic rally games on the market currently, none have quite the vibe of Sega Rally and none are as easily accessible and enjoyable.

Of course the new Sega Rally will have some new tricks up its sleeve. All of the tracks will get ripped up in real-time under your car’s tires. Following a groove the car in front of you cut through in the gravel could just be the advantage you need to win a race. NZGamer are looking forward to getting our soon-to-be-muddy mitts on this game to try this feature out and see how it affects the gameplay. Of course we will also have fun trying to break it too, like any new game physics…

Talking about tracks, the originals still hold up as being some of the most fun circuits to race around in gaming history. This time around there will be eight different environments, offering a range of differing driving challenges. Personally I’m hoping the game will subscribe to the old school philosophy of just offering a few well designed tracks instead of the usual huge range of generic courses.

If the new Sega Rally game keeps things fast and simple, providing us with heaps of crescents and sweeping corners, odds are it will be a hit – especially online.

“Game on YEAAAH!”

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