SEGA Rally Comments by Kristan Reed

I've not been this pleased over shaving .17 of a second off a lap time since Burnout 2.

I've gotta ask though, does the game have replays in it ? o_O

@squarejawhero: "The comments on Sega Rally only serve to show how inflated many gamers ideas of what games should be like nowadays. It always comes off as a list of wants to me (pulling fingers out to add DLC?! Play the game first and get it done, young bucky!)"

LOL - good point, and I rarely get to see all that a game has to offer these days (mortgages/job/fiancee is not a good combo for finding gaming time), but I would like to say, in my defense, that I view classic track releases as quality DLC. It's a nostalgia trip that fans of the series can apprciate and I, personally, would happily pay money for that experience (400mp for a decent selection of extra maps).

What's wrong with that. I'm not saying there in't enough in the game to make me want to buy it as it is (quite the opposite, in fact), but I'd be willing to pay more for more, further down the line - the whole point of DLC as far as I understand it.

I must say thanks though SJH - at the age of 27 I don't often get called a young bucky, so you've made my day!!! ;0)

does it have a classic arcade mode like the original, where you drive a single lap on a number of tracks passing a few cars on each until your eventually 1st after the 4th track. you know what i mean.

@AhrimaaN - SSHD got a 9, and this is also a PS3 game, I fail to see what you're suggesting with that post.

@evild_edd - now I've gone past 30, I find myself patronising people more and more. It's part of the perk of looking a little more wizened (I'm so gonna get battered down by some of the older EG members if I'm not careful bwahahaaa). Mortgages and fiances aren't two of my problems though! ^_-

I think (although I'm not accusing you of this) some people view retro DLC on new releases of old games as something intrinsically easy to do. Thing is they'd most probably require rebuilding from the ground up, and seeing as designers prefer to top old titles if they can (otherwise where would be the challenge?) my guess is it'd take too much effort to do. Anyway, people are already complaining it's to old skool! ^_^

Shit. Another game to buy :D

@SJH - I see what you mean and agree - to build the retro levels from scratch to meet the standards of the new tracks would, I'm sure, be a lot of work. Depending on how well the game sells, it may be worth their while.

I hope the title does well for them (UK devs and all), and that they go on to make some crazily-good Daytona title that has 24 player online action or something like that.... now that would be awesome!!! :D

...getting carried away with thoughts of future stuff again.... too many games, too few hours in the day!!! ;0)

P.S. Why has the SEGA Rally review been posted when the game isn't out until the end of NEXT week. Surely it would have made more sense to have saved this and posted the Super Paper Mario review instead?

Wow. Surprised at the score after playing the demo.

I do think you have to like this type of game to appreciate it though. I absolutely despise BioWare games, and yet see them score highly all the time, much to my astonishment.

Saw this on Friday on gamespress...

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PRESS RELEASE

Brighton, England, September 14th, 2007

Eurogamer and SEGA team up to deliver landmark marketing campaign for SEGA Rally


Brighton, England, September 14th, 2007: Eurogamer is preparing to host its biggest ever marketing campaign, with an unprecedented network takeover for the launch of SEGA Rally. The activity, due to start on September 24th, sees SEGA Rally take every single advertising impression on every single page of Eurogamer.net, Eurogamer TV, Eurogamers, Eurogamer Germany and Eurogamer France for a full week, ensuring the campaign is the biggest in Eurogamer’s eight year history.

Grant Gie, UK Marketing Manager at SEGA said the following, “Eurogamer are the perfect partner to help launch SEGA Rally to a new next generation audience. The network takeover is truly a unique and original way to market video games online and we’re very excited to be the first publisher to take advantage of it.”

Dan Robinson, sales manager at Eurogamer added, “We’ve worked closely with SEGA to deliver a truly breakthrough campaign. Never before have we had a campaign of this scale, spanning our entire consumer network of sites. It’s also the first campaign to co-ordinate activity between the UK, France and Germany.”


For more information on Eurogamer’s advertising solutions as the busy Christmas period approaches, please contact Dan Robinson – dan@eurogamer.net / 07919 378 414.

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Wanst expecting a 9 at all but am now intrigued - I was like ooh! when i first heard about it then i saw the vids and thought Hmmm, now it ooh again. Will be trying the Demo!

too many good game this year! not enough time or money.

Im so glad this turned out to be great!!

also on the point of less is more I totaaly agree. I think its better to perfect a few tracks then try to kind-of-know-your-way around many. The original ridge racer gave me more hours of fun with its 1 track than the likes of gran tourismo ever could.

@JediMasterMalik "@AhrimaaN - SSHD got a 9, and this is also a PS3 game, I fail to see what you're suggesting with that post."

I was also wondering what his point was.

Mind you, that cunt Kryon said exactly the same thing in the Sonic 2 review- I guess they're fuck buddies, or something.

Right - this necessitates a review on the purchase of an official 360 wheel. Have the re-jigged units, sans exhaust effects, hit the market yet?

> you wouldn't know it wasn't made by the Japanese

Because caucasians are just too damn tall?

Perhaps you can explain in more depth your theory on why the Japanese make the best games?

PS - absolutely adored Outrun 2 / 2006, and love me some ludicrous Ridge Racer handling, but found the demo of this to be totally ordinary.

The two tracks aren't massively interesting (and one of them felt like a pretty shameless lift from a Rallisport Challenge 2 track). There's just nothing in the demo that would convince me to buy it, especially when I've got PGR3 (only just started), Test Drive Unlimited and Flatout : UC on my shelf, and PGR4 around the corner.

PPS - not a fan of Bioware games either.

Super Stardust HD on PS3 scored 9/10 by the way...

EDIT: Beaten to it :(

There's nothing sinister about the remark, it just has a very vibrant, clean, Japanese style about it. Even the music has that generic rock feel to it, as if it was a deliberate attempt to ape that style that you always hear in Japanese games.

I loved Burnout 2
I'll be getting this baby!

Just gave the demo a try and I really think I'm gonna pass on this one, though I was ready to run out and buy it after reading this review (and the 8.8 one at IGN UK).
I like a wide range of racing games - from real sims like GTR2, rFactor and RACE on the PC with my Logitech G25 wheel, to all the arcade racers and "pseudo-sims" I'm currently playing (without a wheel) on my 360, Dirt, Flatout UC, Forza 2, MotoGP 07, PGR3 (really looking forward to PGR4, loving the cockpit views and the new weather effects look sweet) - but this SEGA Rally demo just didn't have a feel and a style I cared much for, though I'm a bit hard pressed to explain exactly why that is.

I think the game it reminded me the most of in terms of "feel" is oddly enough OutRun 2006, which for some reason I didn't like at all either.

Maybe I only enjoy these ultra arcade racers when they let me smash up the cars and environments :) - otherwise it feels a bit too much like just hammering around in circles at full throttle, which I frankly think gets boring really quickly.

I think the game it reminded me the most of in terms of "feel" is oddly enough OutRun 2006, which for some reason I didn't like at all either

Your post is a bit worrying - I am much the same, I love Burnout 2 as much as GT Legends, but Outrun C2C left me completely cold for exactly the reasons you mention.

I've played the demo and agree with several of the people here - there's something indefinably odd about the feel of the game - it's like it's inert or something - definitely not a purchase for me as the wheels don't feel like they're connected to anything more tangible than a line of code, never mind the deformable tracks.

green_nifta,

Yes, it does come across as a little strange, huh?

Like others have said to me the demo feels not right.

Car handling methinks, but then something else aswell.

I dumped I don't know how many yen into the arcade playing the original.

Now...should I buy the PC edition or the 360 edition?

So is that a 9/10 for all three versions? I only ask because I really couldn't give a crap about the rumble...

Wow! I wasn't expecting it to be this good, after the last one got such disappointing reviews (even though I did like it). Definitely going to have to get this.

"Like others have said to me the demo feels not right. Car handling methinks, but then something else aswell."

Is it... haunted?

Would be surprised if this title does well, probably follows the path of Rallisport 2.

Tried the demo a few more times in the light of this review. Not sure about the 'blistering arcade sensation', but the way the deformation affects the drive is great, and I can imagine this would be fantastic online.

The graphics are very impressive, especially the detail of the scree kicked up by your tyres. Very nice trick guys. Thankfully there's no HDR the like of which ruined Dirt for me.

As in the review the sensory feedback from the rumblepad is integral to the gameplay, can't imagine the game without it. I found the deadzone on the pad a bit excessive though - any idea if it can be changed?

COMMENCING demo download NOW!

Very impressed by the demo it actually delivers what motorstorm promised to... the terrain actually effects the handling as it should not just look good

I cant beloeve some said they dont give a crap about rumble in a game thats based so much on the terrain effecting the was your drive..

After playing the demo definite pickup

I'm not going to go into much detail about why - I've already said it elsewhere - but based on this demo, SEGA Rally is the finest pure arcade racing game on the Xbox 360. I absolutely adore it, perfect handling, gorgeously vibrant visuals, superb track design and a lorra lorra fun to play, could you ask for more? Well maybe more than 16 tracks would have been nice but considering how much time I spent playing the Saturn version of SEGA Rally and its inferior Dreamcast sequel, I can see myself playing this extensively way past Christmas, perfecting my lap times and playing it online. Forget Halo 3, next week belongs to SEGA Rally as far as I'm concerned!

What a great year it's been for SEGA, first the sublime Virtua Tennis 3 then the equally wonderful Virtua Fighter 5 and soon SEGA Rally!!! :)

Sounds like a really good reason for Sony to "surprise" us with a rumble Sixaxis controller at TGS.

Just played the demo and I'm pleasantly surprised.

I loved 1 & 2, but after the shambles of the 2006 edition I wasn't expecting much. Congratulations to the dev team they have really nailed the handling (bumper/bonnet cam) and graphics have that lovely chunky Sega feel. The track deformation is a nice touch as well, I can't imagine it without rumble though.

"I'm not going to go into much detail about why - I've already said it elsewhere - but based on this demo, SEGA Rally is the finest pure arcade racing game on the Xbox 360."

Have only tried the demo, but I agree on the whole arcade feel and sense of speed is great - I'm gonna buy this for sure :)

Only question which version - 360 or PS3.

Are there any difference in framerate and/or framerate, tearing, etc.? - or in online/multiplayer features?

The rumble-less Sixaxis is not gonna be a issue for me.

I CANNOT wait for this. Been excited since that Edge preview. But why oh why was this review so early? Doesn't come out until October 9th here in the states!

That's an awesome day for gaming btw - Sega Rally, HalfLife Orange Box, FFT PSP.

@neiltc13

Nothing fishy going on this time (unlike the sensible soccer review. Naughty, naughty). Eurogamer are quite generous markers and after playing the demo I can definitely see why it could get 9/10 here (probably a 7/10 in Edge).

Nice review Krudster. Just played the demo and it really does capture the feel of the original. I can't count how many hundreds of hours my friends and I played that game split-screen, and I would echo the comments that it's truly not about how many tracks the game has but rather the mastery you put into them. There is NOTHING more rewarding than racing a friend who has the same track memorized and pulling off that tiny bit more perfect line in the last lap to pull out a victory.

Sega rally indeed, welcome back old friend.

neiltc13: I don't actually feel I need to defend the review (particularly as you've been around for ages) as the words do the talking and we've reviewed a lot of games over the years - but it was only a few months ago that we gave a Sega game 2/10... Every publisher has had good and bad review scores - and every publisher advertises here too. We get good access to stuff - particularly for games developed in the UK. There's no special treatment.

Cool, sounds great.

My guess, neiltc3 spun around like a chump for a lap and turned it off. Sadly it is what I fear too many will be doing.

Once you get a bit used to the handling, which took me 2 laps, sliding around, nailing the perfect drift, kicking up the speed again, jostling for position - an incredibly exciting experience. Sega did good work here.

Nice work Sega! I'm not sure I want to see an updated Daytona tho - at least not with that awful bobbing up-and-down that the car did - made me sick in both Saturn versions.....

Any word on how the PS3 and 360 versions compare reg. graphics and multiplayer modes?

And yes, I'm aware of the missing rumble on PS3 ;)

PS3 & 360 are identical in almost every respect, bar achievements and rumble. No difference in frame rate, poly count, v-sync, etc.

I played the arcade version silly about 10 yrs ago, played the demo last night and no, it just didn't feel right. I'll just keep playing DiRT and Forza.

Is it just me or do the cars in the demo seem to turn in the center of the car? You know, not a 4, rear of front wheel drive experience but a pinned down in the middle racing experience. Never expected high reviews after the demo.

Number1Laing - "Once you get a bit used to the handling, which took me 2 laps, sliding around, nailing the perfect drift, kicking up the speed again, jostling for position - an incredibly exciting experience. Sega did good work here."

Exactly. On my first go on the Tropical stage with the default settings, I was shocked at the twitchy handling and kept crashing. It took me nearly a full race before I realised how I was supposed to play it, switched to the bonnet view and after that I haven't looked back (not even using the Y button!) 'cos I've been too busy enjoying the game. That initial transition period might be what puts people off but once you "get it", you'll realise that the handling is sublime, allowing you to drift around corners at 100 mph, never losing that exhilirating sense of speed and excitement which is missing from most "realistic" rally games. After the disappointment of SEGA Rally 2 on the Dreamcast, this appears to be a real return to form I think, retaining the feel and charm of the original as you remembered it!

I was sceptical.

But after playing the demo - it is utterly fantastic!

It cannot be compared to PGR, Forza or DiRT as it is just different, I love driving games and have had most of them for PC as well as XBox and this is just awesome fun. It immediately took me back to hours playing the 4 levels on the Saturn. The handling is spot on - not realistic at all but seems to always give you that "one more go" feeling of old :)