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 The Realism On Each Car Is Excellent. Look! You Can Even See The Tire In The Backseat!
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Today there are many, many games that have been ported to the latest video-game console systems like the Playstation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast. Some of the more common recent ones have been Hydro Thunder and San Francisco Rush. I will be the first to tell you that most ports to consoles sit in the shadows of their arcade counterpart mainly due to the fact that the recent home consoles do not have nearly as much processing power as their "big brothers" have. Hydro Thunder was a decent conversion but sudden framerate drops hurt the overall console value. On the other hand San Francisco Rush was pretty good, all the jumps, cars, and hidden shortcuts were all there along with its own Nintendo 64 features. Probably the largest downside to playing a ported game on a console is the fact that it loses all of the atmosphere. Just the thought of sitting in the latest racing game at the arcade gives me chills. With the large seat, metal pedals, blasting speaker behind your head, and the realistic steering wheel in front of you gives the true-to-life realism most people long for. Anyway SEGA has again released another racer for all of us right off the heels of CART: Flag to Flag with the title SEGA Rally 2 and yes it is a port from its arcade predecessor. Does it surpass, let alone match, the quality of the arcade counterpart?
"What exactly is Rally racing?". Some of you may be asking yourselves that exact question. Being the kind fellow that I am I have decided to spill a few facts about Rally racing for ya. Even if you know a lot about Rally racing I bet some of you did not know that the word "rally" originated in medieval Europe. Soldiers during this time would see which one was better by seeing who could reach the castle in the quickest time. Another neat feature of Rally races is that most of the racing takes place on public roads which offer up to the table a lot more challenge with all types of weather conditions. Rally drivers master all weather (snow, rain, sun) and terrain (ice, mud, tarmac, dirt). Also, co-drivers help the driver out a little. These co-drivers assist in the navigation of the course. Without these people drivers would have a substantially decreased chance of winning.
Two other features distinguish Rally racing from closed-circuit racing. The first is the actual courses themselves known as Special Stages (SS). "Special Stages are held on closed sections of public road, each car driving at full speed ensuring this the most exciting part of rally racing."- SEGA RALLY 2 manual. Each day a number of these Special Stages are raced on and the driver with the quickest overall time at the end wins. An actual race is a site to see and many people from around the world come to see them. Considering the fact that most of the races are held on public roads the spectators can stand anywhere they please. No seats or fences are blocking their way nor are there security guards standing guard at these events. There, that was a little background on actual Rally racing. It seems that it is pretty dangerous not only for the drivers but for the audience as well.
One thing I was hoping for in SEGA Rally 2 was a little variation in the mode screen but unfortunately it is more of the same. There is an Arcade mode, Two-Player Battle, and Time Attack along with a slightly original 10 Year Championship mode. In Arcade mode you can decide from Championship or Practice options. Championship consists of racing against fifteen other cars on four separate tracks. There is a time limit ticking away as you go along and in order to increase your time you need to reach checkpoints thrown all over the tracks. The Practice option is pretty self-explanatory. First choose your car, then track, and just run around the track till your thumbs are numb. Two-Player Battle is self-explanatory as well. Pick a friend to race against and you are set, it is an all out battle to the finish. Then there is Time Attack in which one trys to get the fastest time around certain tracks.
Winning a few extra points of originality is the 10 Year Championship Mode, or Career mode. You start off at year numero uno and after you finish (you don't have to win each year) you progress to the next year. If by some lucky shot from God you win a year you get a new car to race with. Throughout this mode you will encounter all types of weather conditions, times of day, and terrain environments. This mode is extremely enjoyable because each year consists of a different set of four tracks. After each track you are able to customize the car for the next race with different tires, gear ratios, transmission, etc. and even get a weather forecast so you can see exactly how to equip the car. One downside is that it is uncanny in its difficulty. Placing third or fourth was the usual for me. I placed first in the first year but it was by a bumper. Watch out for this mode, my friends, it is really unforgiving at times.
One of the main reasons that it is really unforgiving is the fact that Rally 2 has so much realism involved that some of the more casual gamers will throw down their controller with disgust. For all those who love realism and want the fastest time possible the only word you need to know is "technique". Basics like Drift , Tuck-In, Over and Understeer, and finding the correct line in each turn. Once these basics are mastered most of the game becomes easier to complete but the computer Artificial Intelligence is really hard to completely overcome. All of these basics techniques are described in the manual but a training mode would have helped in the game in order to help out the novice racers.
Another key aspect of Rally 2 is the recognizable car manufacturers whose cars are available to own like Lancia, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Subaru, Toyota, Fiat, Alpine, and Renault. All the cars were modeled after their real-life model and absolutely look marvelous on the road. They run smooth and there is a significant difference between each one when trying to contain them on the road. I suggest using the Subaru Impreza WRC to begin things just because it seems to more forgiving in turns and has excellent acceleration, perfect for the beginner.
When you first begin playing I suggest you run through Practice mode a while till you get the hang of your car and how it handles around turns on all types of track road conditions. Speaking of road conditions there are some excellent tracks in Rally 2 and they all represent specific types of environments that are raced on in real life. In the beginning there is only three tracks accessible, Desert, Mountain, and Riviera, and only one route on each. All together there are three other track types, Snowy, Muddy, and Isle, along with 1-3 different routes on all the tracks. There are 16 courses in all. I will be the first to say that each track looks just so sweet it is ridiculous. Twists and bends along with jumps and dips litter each track along with the occasional patches of ice or water. In the Desert stage animals can be seen moving all over the track and on most of the track you can see spectators taking pictures of your car as you pass. Lighting effects from deep in a tunnel to outside lens flares provide some yummy eye candy. Also textures look incredibly life-like. One neat feature is the fact that each track can have different amounts of terrain. For example, on the Muddy stage route 1 there might be a lot of mud but at times during the race you might get to drive on some more stable tarmac. In the Snowy stage there can be thick snow but it might be converted to ice by the time you reach the end. My only wish was to have slightly heavier cars at times like that because they seemed to like to slide all over the place.
Not only do the tracks themselves have excellent graphics but so do the cars that drive on them. Decals, Manufacturers, even the replacement tire in the back seat of the car can all be read clearly. Tail and head lights come on and off and rear-view mirrors reflect what is behind them. As the car moves through more and more mud, snow, and water, build-up can be seen on the car's tires and it affects the way the car handles. After repeatedly running through puddles of mud eventually the car will need a good wash-down because of the dirt mounded on the side of the car and windshield. Yeah that's right, if you decide to race with the hood viewpoint eventually it will become blurry and hard to see at times because of the splashing of mud all over it. Talk about realism! In some previous games I have played collisions between cars looked unnatural but in Rally 2 it could not be more realistic. Techniques like bump-spins and side-swipes bounce the cars around in true-to-life directions.
Control and sound are dead-on accurate in Rally 2. Each car responds to the movements of the controller really fast but sometimes it is a little swimmy on certain tracks. Depending on the weather, too, there can be some control problems uncovered. Background music is also really good and each engine has it's own sound. Another really nice feature is the option for a co-driver to help in the navigation on each race. Phrases like, "Easy Right" or "Hard Left 100" are all clear although they do not sound natural. It is like they taped all the sayings separately then pasted them together. I am not sexist but the male voice sounds slightly more natural than the female. Also I had to take into account that SEGA picked a really bad "Game Over" song to end each loss. It is horrible, some guy's voice sings, "Game Over YEAHHHHHHH!". This will probably not be annoying for most people but if you begin to lose a lot in the beginning this becomes extremely annoying. It is like it is a good thing that you lost.
Without a doubt SEGA Rally 2 is the best racer out for the Dreamcast thus far. It has excellent graphics, superb sound, excellent track design, and a few neat features like the ability of using the Dreamcast modem to post times on the Internet. What will turn some people away is the extreme difficulty of the game. But hey, if you have found that you beat games within a matter of days and want a challenge then this is great for you. Also if you are looking for more of a simulation game then an arcade game SEGA Rally 2 is not for you. Although the 10-Year Championship mode is really long there is no money involved. Therefore there is no need to buy new upgrades or faster cars. What it all dwindles down to is "Do you want the best, most realistic racing game for the Dreamcast?". If your answer is yes then get SEGA Rally 2, it is worth it. -Nick Steinhauer
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