"...When
all is said and done the game has fun gameplay and a wonderful aesthetic
that make the title fun to play, even though it's difficult to
master..."
The moment I
completed my first lap, playing this game it became quite clear that
this game is very hard. It demands a lot from players, and is definitely
not for the weak. But that's just fine as the physics, handling, and
graphics are more than enough to make the game
a winner. You might want to turn off the volume though as the music is
incredibly annoying.
Sega
Rally 2 is definitely one of those games that should be played with a
mop and bucket close at hand. The beautifully detailed, high-resolution
graphics are a drool-inducing sight to behold.
The cars, tracks, and backgrounds are all
incredible sights to behold. Little touches like the cars getting dirty
when driving through mud are great additions. The game does suffer from
a little bit of slowdown from time to time which is distracting, and
certainly doesn't help the concentration that is essential to winning in
this game.
The
game also has some of the most annoying music that I've ever heard. It's
all Japanese arcade game music. If you're into that stuff, great, but
for a lot of people the tunes will be maddening. Just pop one of your
favorite CDs in the stereo to listen to while playing. Sound effects are
standard fare, but the voices of the navigators are very irritating,
especially the female voice.
Sega
Rally 2 is still an arcade game at the end of the day so it's in that
direction that the physics and handling of the cars lean. It's all about
sliding around, and swerving to take the corners. The way it plays out
makes the game quite fun with the crazy, intense action that the driving
style brings.
Multi-player is limited
to two players and can play somewhat choppily. The field of view is more
than adequate for seeing far into the distance. It isn't terrible, but
it isn't great either.
The one sticking
point that really hurts the game is its incredibly
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high level of
difficulty. There is absolutely no margin for error in this game, zip,
nil, forget it. If you want to win you pretty much have to take the
corners just right, while finding the ideal car settings to take of the
tracks. Oddly enough the opponent cars don't put a fight
when trying to pass them, and if they're in the way they're easy to push
over. They serve as placeholders and nothing more.
What
also serves as a letdown is that there is no internet play. All the way
up to launch the Dreamcast has been touted for its on-line abilities and
Sega Rally 2 was supposed to a shining example of that. But what we have
here is a game that doesn't have on-line abilities, only a two-player
mode.
While
extremely difficult, the game doesn't do so in any cheap sort of way.
While playing it's easy to tell that if something goes wrong in a race
it's the players fault. As such the game challenges its players to
improve their skills so as to beat it. When all is said and done the
game has fun gameplay and a wonderful aesthetic that make the title fun
to play, even though it's difficult to master.