Graeme gets all nostalgic...

Whenever a game from years ago gets a next-gen update it’s often very hard to remove the rose-tinted spectacles and not let nostalgia colour the experience of playing the new game. Especially with a title like Sega Rally.

1995’s original arcade Sega Rally was a true landmark game, and arguably the first to use realistic rally car physics. Then there were different surfaces, superbly conveyed from grippy tarmac to loose mud and gravel. Add in a tight timed-checkpoint system and you’ve got the epitome of an arcade racer. Easy to play but hard to master, Sega Rally still stands up today.

Saturn Sega Rally was, in many ways an even greater triumph; capturing the excitement of the arcade on vastly inferior hardware. With such a rich vein of quality preceding it, how does Sega Rally next-gen update stack up?

Arcade-like

Sega Rally starts with a standard championship structure which gets progressively more difficult as you unlock new events. Pick a car, select off-road or tarmac tyres and either manual or automatic gearbox – and that’s it. Almost arcade-like simplicity; a nod towards Sega Rally’s predecessors.

The original Sega Rally had only 3 tracks (Desert, Forest and Mountain) with a further track (Lakeside) unlocked if you beat all the checkpoints in the first three stages. New Sega Rally takes this inspiration and adds lots more; Safari, Canyon, Arctic, Alpine and Tropical are the exotic locales you’ll be rallying around in Sega Rally, all rendered in classic Sega style with bright, saturated colours and glorious blue skies.

The big difference over 1995 Sega Rally is ‘Surface Deformation’. When a car drives over a surface it leaves a rut in the ground, which is where all the grip is to be found – so you’re constantly adjusting your line to stay on the grippiest part of the track. Stray off-line in Sega Rally and you’ll struggle to keep up with the leaders. It’s a feature unique to Sega Rally – in even PS3’s impressive MotorStorm it’s purely cosmetic – while the 360’s rumble feedback tells you exactly when you’re getting the most grip.

Talking of surfaces, gravel, mud, tarmac and sand are all conveyed really well and there’s loads of debris flying up at your car when driving right behind an opponent. However, on the whole Sega Rally is visually good, without being outstanding. Cars models are acceptable; environments nicely designed; the way the surface cuts up is well executed and the framerate runs at a smooth 30fps, but it’s not the most spectacular next-gen racer going.

This might sound like damning Sega Rally’s visuals with faint praise but there are good reasons not to be too worried. The art team at Sega Racing Studios has taken great care to craft visuals that echo and update the original Sega Rally – and it works.

Few racers offer as much outright fun as Sega Rally. The actual racing is so intense, every position hard fought and harder won, that you don’t have time to scrutinise the visuals. Opponent AI is very aggressive and you’ll be rammed and barged the whole way round a lap but it never descends into a demolition derby – a higher position is always within reach if you get your lines right.

Downright fun

This is where the rose-tinted spectacles should be taken off and Sega Rally seen for the exciting, intense and down-right fun game that it is... but such is Sega Rally’s familiarity that nostalgia eventually kicks in and points out that Sega Rally doesn’t feel quite like Sega Rally.

Modern Sega Rally’s change from timed checkpoints and widely spaced opponent cars to intense pack racing is the main reason. Making a timed checkpoint by a fraction of a second is an intrinsic part of old Sega Rally’s arcade heritage, and is missed despite new Sega Rally’s aggressive, multi-car pack mentality.

For racing fans, then, Sega Rally will undoubtedly be a lot of fun – indeed, Sega Rally is a refreshing alternative to most of the other racers out there, and online play is a welcome addition to boot. There's that nagging feeling, however, that real Sega Rally purists may just like it more if it simply wasn’t called Sega Rally.

GAME's Verdict

• Intense, fun, grip-happy rally racing gameplay
• Visuals keep the authentic feel of the original Sega Rally, but in HD
• Online play works well

• A Sega Rally without the checkpoint-based rallying
• Not the best looking next-gen racer out there.
• Doesn't feel like the true Sega Rally sequel fans will have wanted

Review by: Graeme Jones
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 11.10.07