Developer: AM3 Publisher: Sega Release: 11/15/95 Genre: Racing
The Saturn port of Daytona USA disappointed many. While it captured the gameplay no one can deny that the graphics left a lot to be desired. Meanwhile PlayStation owners received a stunning conversion of Ridge Racer. But a lot can change in the span of six months. Where Sega’s first round of arcade conversions were lacking the next set looked a generation ahead. Sega Rally is a fantastic port of the ground breaking arcade game that showed the Saturn had a lot of undiscovered power under the hood. While not as easy to pick up and play as Daytona it is undoubtedly the better game, at least at home.
Sega Rally was among a second generation of Saturn arcade ports with Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop. Where Virtua Fighter and Daytona were absolute stunners in the arcade but their home ports were less than stellar. Daytona especially suffered in the transition with a below average frame rate and excessive pop-up. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say many began to doubt the Saturn’s 3d prowess. Sega Rally helped to quell those fears along with offering something different in the racing genre. I admit I was turned off by it at first; I lean squarely in the arcade style racing camp. But once I accepted the game for what it is I saw it for the great game that it is.
As a rally game Sega Rally’s arcade mode differs from the usual racing game. Each race is a single lap with your placement in the ranking carrying over to the next race. The eventual goal is to work your way up to first place by the end of the third track. The AI cars exist only to get in your way and are not as aggressive as in other racing games. It sounds more laid back than in other racing titles but the pressure is high. Checkpoints are tight and leave little margin for error. With a single lap to earn a high position mistakes can affect your entire championship run, making it impossible to ever see the top three.
Outside of its rally setup possibly the biggest distinguishing factor in Sega Rally is its controls. Sega Rally was one of the first games to simulate different terrain and its effect on handling. It sounds like basic stuff but in 1994 it was groundbreaking. There is less traction in mud while grass lowers your top speed. The Saturn version does an excellent job of replicating the arcade’s controls although it is a point of contention for many. For those accustomed to power sliding around turns it will come as a shock. The controls can also be very touchy which can be frustrating. There are modifications you can make to various aspects of the cars but they sadly only work in practice mode. As frustrating as the controls can be at first I do feel it is worth it to master them.
Each of the game’s three tracks feature strong design. The three courses (desert, forest, mountain) go through a variety of terrain from asphalt in the city streets to muddy roads. They each give you a different taste of how the ground affects the controls and challenge you to deal with them as such. The initial desert lulls you in with its easy difficulty but it ramps up from there. Forest is what will make or break your run as you need to secure a high position to hope to even glance at first place in the following course. The Mountain roads snake their way through a city and feature tight among narrow roads. It is fitting as a last stop on the championship circuit. As great as the courses are I only wish there were more of them.
The one area that Sega Rally suffers is in content. Like most early racing games of that era there are a limited number of tracks and modes with few left to unlock. There are only two cars and three tracks initially. If you come in first in arcade mode you can unlock the Lakeside track but prepare to put in work to earn that. This version adds a practice mode, time attack, and split screen coop for some longevity but otherwise the thrills are short lived. But boy does the game reach extremely high heights.
The most shocking area Sega Rally improves on previous Sega racers is in its graphics. This is a far cry from the 20 fps mess of Daytona. Here the game is a solid 30 and rarely ever dips. More importantly the pop-up is kept to a minimum. This is done through smart course design that hides the majority of it behind turns and other track side detail. The fact that there are less competitors in each race is what probably helps the game improve in these areas. Either way this is an amazing package from a presentation perspective, including the remixed soundtrack.
In Closing
Sega Rally is one of the best racing games for the Saturn despite its early release. As a game it is excellent; as a port it is fantastic. If it had a little more content it would have been near perfect. Sega deserve credit for restoring faith in the system (albeit briefly) with such a stellar port.
