Reviewed: December 29, 1999
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
SEGA

Developer
SEGA

Released: November 24, 1999
Genre: Racing
Players: 4
ESRB: Everyone

6
7
6
7
6.2

Supported Features:

So it was with great sadness when I learned the US release of SEGA Rally 2 would not have the modem-link ability available when the game shipped in November. For the game that was used to sell the concept of the built-in modem and online gaming to developers and other industry people who attended the show, I felt I was the victim of the old "bait and switch". Anyway, I set aside my bitterness and resolved myself to 2-player split screen action and sat down to play what I thought would be a fun and challenging driving game.

The first thing you need to know about SEGA Rally 2 is that it is an "arcade" game and while it does feature some "simulation" options such as changing your tires, handling, and suspension settings before each race, there isn't much else for you to do except drive.

The Arcade mode is probably the first thing you will try. It is divided into a Practice and Championship mode (different from the 10 Year Championship). If you choose to practice you will race against a single car; however if you want to race against a pack of 15 other drivers then you will want to choose Championship. Both modes have you racing on one of four available courses against a clock that counts down to your eventual doom or possible victory. You must finish the race before time expires or you will be disqualified. Checkpoints are scattered about the track that will add bonus time to your clock making things a bit easier, but not much.

Now here comes my first major complaint about this game (aside from the missing modem play). This game is insanely difficult, so much that it ceases to become fun. I've invested over 20 hours into the game and have yet to complete an arcade course. I can usually complete the first lap but I will always run out of time before the first or second checkpoint of the second lap. Once I coasted through the second checkpoint but quickly ran out of time and lost the race a few seconds later.

I consider myself an above average racer. I finished Tokyo Extreme and Speed Devils in about a month and even when those games started to become difficult they were still fun. SEGA Rally 2 turns from fun to "throw your controller into the wall" frustrating in about 4 hours. This is mainly due to the extremely poor and unrealistic physics and unresponsive controls.

While driving my car on any of the courses the control and responses reminded me of Rippin' Riders or Hyrdo Thunder. For those of you who have played the PC game Powerslide, you will know exactly what I am talking about. Overly exaggerated power slides are one thing when the game is based on that premise and you have some kind of control over them, but in SEGA Rally 2 you just slide hopelessly into fences, walls, rocks, or whatever borders your track. I saw (and felt) no visible difference while racing on snow, dirt, or even wet pavement. I felt like a puck on a very narrow air hockey table several miles long.

There is no visible car damage although your handling will become increasingly difficult with each crash. My car started pulling to one side or the other after smashing into the wall or guardrail a few times. Your top speed will also start to drop as you take on more damage, and with no means to repair yourself during a race car damage is a guaranteed trip to the loser's circle. You will also lose valuable seconds from the clock each time you strike an object or wall, which is probably why I've yet to finish a race in arcade mode.

If you own a Jump Pack for your controller you will definitely be giving it a workout with this game. It vibrates incessantly each time you leave the road or hit a wall. Needless to say my hands were numb after my first few races. You can control the intensity of the vibration or even turn it off if you don't like this effect.

Ten Year Champion mode is the long term commitment of racing. You will race several tracks in various weather conditions and you will be able to unlock additional cars by finishing each year in first place. Once again the dreaded time limit rule is in effect so I had no hope of making it past year one in this mode.

Now before you go saying "Oh it must be you" or "you must suck at this game" let me tell you that I have done some ample research in the newsgroups and even read some other comments from people who have reviewed this game. It's not just me. A reviewer for another online review site took three weeks before he ever completed his first race. The game is hard, plain and simple with a very steep learning curve.

Chances are you probably won't finish a 10 Year Championship mode in a single sitting, which means you will need to save your game. Be warned that this game requires 81 blocks of memory - just less than half of an empty card. While this requirement isn't as steep as some of the SEGA Sports titles, you may want to consider picking up an extra memory card if you get this game.

Time Attack mode opened the game up a bit for me. In this mode you are no longer restricted by the race timer, and you can race on any of the 16 championship courses using any of the main cars plus any cars you have previously unlocked in the championship mode. Weather is locked to clear conditions to keep all race results consistent. Your main objective in this mode is to set time records and race the ghost car. While it doesn't sound like much fun, at least I had the satisfaction of actually completing a track.

Two Player Battle mode is exactly that. The screen splits in half and you race your friends head-to-head on any of the available tracks and cars. Additional race options lets you turn off the race timer, boost the losing car's speed, or turn on the "time lag" race option which compares each car's time to each checkpoint.

That pretty much covers the various racing modes of SEGA Rally 2 and my major complaints with physics, handling, and control. Let's talk about the rest of the games finer attributes.

Weather effects are perfect from the falling rain and snow to the fog and mist in the mountainous regions. Water sprays from your tires on wet surfaces in addition to smoke, dust or snow depending on the track conditions. Visibility is affected by the current weather conditions, especially if you are driving from the "cockpit" camera.

Let's talk about the camera for a bit. You are given several camera options while you are driving the race. I definitely found the "cockpit" view the easiest of all the views for handling. As with most racing games, driving behind the car just doesn't feel right and the controls are usually exaggerated in this view. First-person viewing definitely smoothes out the controls and helps you plan your driving line through the twists and turns of these well-designed courses.

In replay mode you can choose from your various driving views or the TV view, which gives you the best angle for all the action during the race. The AI of this TV camera is very good and the built-in camera shots make for some very exciting replays.

All of these high quality images are brought to you in blazing 60fps actions. While frame rates appeared to drop during certain events such as several cars crashing or fighting for position, they never dropped to an unacceptable rate. In most cases it was barely even noticeable. Two-player mode maintained an equally high frame rate, but as always, when you divide your TV into two narrow strips you lose much of your sense of scale and distance viewing. Even on the largest of TV's, racing in that narrow strip is never as fun as racing on a track that takes up the entire screen. Just another good reason they should have included that modem option.

I've already discussed my issues with the poor handling and control. In all fairness to the game I went out and got a Concept 4 Racing Wheel. I'm a firm believer that you should never have to spend another $60 (for the wheel) to make a $50 game playable, but even that wasn't the case. The wheel offered no better control over any of the cars in this game. In fact, I think I may have had slightly better control using my standard issue controller.

The learning curve is definitely too steep to make this title a potential rental. You would probably spend more in rental fees than the purchase price before you got very good at this game. Of course all of these conclusions are based on my experience. You may be some super-gamer and able to turn record laps and first place finishes right out of the box. More power to you!