Sega Rally first started in the arcades in 1995, and has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Of course, at its heart it hasn't changed. It's the classic game with arcade quality graphics and the co-driver
shouting out instructions, which at times can feel like your car is just pinned to the middle of the screen as
it slides about and there's no way you can really come a cropper, but then
Project Gotham Racing 4 this is not.
Canyon 1: The very first race.
The main mode in this game is for the Championship, of which you'll drive through the Premier, Modified and
Masters stages, the latter two requiring more points once you've qualified in the previous championships.
There are also four different leagues, starting with Amateur, through which you can progress. Select the
rally you want to take part in and your car, whether you want off-road or on a normal road. That said,
whichever of the latter two options you pick you'll get a combination of both on the same race anyway.
It's also possible to unlock new cars and paint schemes as you rise through the ranks.
Alpine 3: although I came in last after a skid or two on the snow!
Other the other main options, Quick Race allows you to pick any particular set of races, and have a go at
an individual race with a car, some of which where you'd normally have to work further through the championships;
Time Attack is more of the same but allows you to try and beat times that others around the world have set
(which doesn't require an Xbox Live Gold membership).
Multiplayer can see you going head-to-head with
a friend via split-screen in your house or on Xbox Live; and Garage lets you see how you've progressed
so far in the championships, unlockables and achievements (don't look at mine - I'm total rubbish, but I did enjoy
a good blast with this racer!
Safari 3: the reason for the slight edits
was that my controller ran out of batteries
- what a time to pick!
It takes some getting used to your driving, since the cars slide about on the road, but you do get the hang
of it sooner than you feel you will.
However, the fortunes of a race really can turn in an instant as you have a collision somewhere and end up
slipping back a few places (see my Alpine 3 race!), and it's not always easy to regain that positioning.
The graphics are fantastic with excellent draw distance, really showing off well the gorgeous scenery as you
can see in the clips. Sound is what you'd expect from a car game - functional. When it comes to the other
drives of the CPU variety, the AI is very good indeed as long as you keep up with the cars and don't fall behind,
otherwise it's rather a lonely race...
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
