Sega Rally’s been around for as long as I can remember. At its core it’s always been an arcade racing game which is simple to pick up and play, zooming round the country roads and dirt tracks without too much trouble. Of course, for the hardcore among us we could look into it a bit deeper and use manual gears and powerslide round those corners to get the edge and a better split time.
So, this one’s the first one for the next-gen consoles and it’s got something new – ground deformation. Now we’ve seen this before with MotorStorm but in Sega Rally, it actually makes a difference to the way your tyres grip. Razz round snowy slopes and it’ll get moved away and compressed, go through gravel or deep mud and again you’ll make a track that will be easier to go round next time.
It’s an interesting concept but unfortunately doesn’t work as well as it should as the cars in this game are rather tricky to stay on the road, never mind navigate on the best bits you’ve worn away for yourself. It’s really very twitchy and for an arcade game, this isn’t ideal as it’s the type of game you just want to pick up and smash round the tracks for 10 minutes or so without really worrying about how the car handles. Colin McRae Dirt’s tricky enough but at least it’s supposed to be.
Your opponents on the track are also too good. Smash into one wall and you’ll never see them again. I feel like James May in Top Gear.
If you can get control of the cars it’s your usual Sega Rally affair, it feels very Sega –y if that’s a word and you get that geezer telling you where to go saying long left, easy right, maybe. Are you sure Mr talky man?
It also looks very nice too and is great fun multiplayer, although you may enjoy that more on the 360 with its rumbly controller and achievements points to get.
It’s good fun but the handling of the floaty cars does spoil the fun.
Sega Rally gets a very good 7 out of 10.