So I made a thread about Rally games about six months ago, and it seemed to go over well, so I thought I'd bam another one out since DiRT just came out, and Sega Rally 2007 is set to hit later this month. 2:23 in the morning is a terrible time to start a new thread, but whatever.
DiRT is pretty damn rad. It's much more arcade-y than previous games in the Colin McRae series, but it's all about really powerful vehicles driving really fast over dirt and tarmac and crashing into shit and looking damn fine while they do it. Here is a picture:
The general concensus amongst the internet is that the 360 version looks slightly better (which is strange, since the engine was co-developed by SCE), but the PS3 version has a slighty steadier framerate. There are a shitload of different cars, trucks, buggies, crossovers, and even some rally vans and a rally vehicle that looks like a goddamned garbage truck.
Here is another picture:
I got a used copy the day after release in perfect shape for $40. I rule.
The game that inspired Codemasters (CMR devs) to get into making Rally games was the original Sega Rally. The arcade version was awesome (especially if you found one with a full tilt seat), and the home version on the Sega Saturn was awesome as well. Here is a picture of it:
Extremely arcade in it's presentation. Featuring three cars, four tracks, and the best Sega buttrock soundtrack ever
(Game Over Yeeeeeeaaaahhh!), Sega Rally introduced untold numbers of gamers into the joys of powersliding a $200,000 car through dirt and mud and rocks.
The sequel for the Dreamcast:
was a lot of fun as well, but suffered from a rollercoaster framerate that would shift between 30 and 60fps depending on which portion of the track you were on. In fact, you could say that playing it made your eyes want to
WinCE. Get it? Windows CE? Bad port? God I am so fucking funny sometimes.
Speaking of Sega Rally, Sega Rally 2006 on the PS2:
supposedly really blows, which is probably why Sega hasn't released it anywhere outside of Japan. But, if you get the special ed:
you also get an arcade-perfect port of the original Sega Rally 1995:
and that's pretty damned awesome. Problem is, Play-Asia wants $39.90 plus shipping for it, and I'm not sure if the method I use for booting imports will allow me to play it on an NA PS2. plus $40 is pretty spendy for Sega Rally 1995. I'll probably buy it anyway.
And oh yeah, Sega Rally Revo:
is hitting later this month. Looks fucking awesome. The demo is available on Live so download it. It's fucking gorgeous, even on SD. Also, cars leave divits in the dirt and mud and it's awesome.
While we're here, let's look at a picture of Colin McRae Rally 2004 on the Xbox:
Pretty cool, huh? I'm trying to track down a copy of 2005. Is it worth it? I'm also trying to find a copy of RalliSport Challenge II:
Also, I'd likie to mention the best Rally game ever, Rally Cross 2 for the PS1:
because it has a fucking track editor!
Here's a picture I took in GT4's Photo Mode:
The Rally portion of the GT games is a lot of fun, because I like driving around super-powered Imprezas and WRXs almost as much as I like throwing on a Turbo, some dirt tires, and lifting the suspension of an '82 Honda Accord (or some other suitably shitty vehicle) and fucking around like nobody's business.
So, let's talk about Rally games I've mentioned, ones I haven't, stuff like that. Basically, let's just
Rally it up, bitches.
Posts
Reason why I played DiRT's demo to death, didn't play the full game since it took me 3 races to realise I suck at that game.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
But that's the point of rally racing!
I'm missing the point right? I was planning to pick it up second hand, but with the tidal wave of games coming for the 360, I'm just going to stall on that purchase.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Seriously.
Mr. Gates, who would you like dead? Because I'll do it.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
I'M A TWITTER SHITTER
I'm probably going to have to buy one online.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
If I have a working 360 by then Sega Rally Revo is an instant purchase for me.
Spelling the guy's name wrong = Mega Fail
It's Mäkinen. One K.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
You and the other car's tires leave indentations in the dirt and mud which mess with you when you drive over them again. It looks really fucking good on my SDTV as well.
Also yeah I think Colin McRae died the same day the Sega Rally demo hit Live. Conspiracy?
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Nerd.
How's the demo?
Edit: I think we should at least pay tribute to Colin McRae on the title, I never watched much rally, but if anything, he was the one in my opinion that brought rally racing to the masses, especially the gaming population.
Also, I agree with the awesomeness of Rally Cross 2 (and 1) on the PSOne. I used to play that on a friend's machine for hours and hours. It just, "felt right."
I really enjoy DiRT also. I've been playing the 360 version, and I am actually thinking of picking up the PS3 version soon for the smoother framerate. I tried the demo and it was oh so smooth.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
As for McRae, it really sucks. He had his five year old kid, a friend of his, and his friend's six year old kid in the chopper when he crashed.
On a side note, another cool thing about Rally Cross 2 was that it was the first game I remember to actually show your car get dirty during a race. Your car could get muddy or covered in snow during a race, and then if you drove through a river it was clean again.
I got Need for Speed: V Rally yesterday on the PS1. It's pretty terrible.
Also, Richard Burns Rally
looks pretty interesting.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
I highly recommend that people check out DiRT.
I downloaded the Sega Rally demo last night, but haven't gotten a chance to play it yet. I doubt I'll ever complain about too much arcade rally goodness.
Wii: 7594 9419 8007 3578
Richard Burns is great but extremely hard, I played it for a few weeks when it first came out and couldn't string together a good rally. Might install again and give it a go.
Network Q RAC Rally was the first one I ever played...very entertaining game.
It led me to purchase Mobil 1 Rally Championship, which is one of my favorites to this day. This one centered around the British rally championship, and they took the time to map out the actual stages at full length, and you raced in multiple weather conditions as well as during the evening & night hours in some stages.
Richard Burns Rally is a great title, I consider it to be the Grand Prix Legends of rally games...it's that tough.
I never played it, but I hear Rally Trophy was pretty outstanding too.
So stripped down and simple, and fun. The tracks are groovy.
Dirt was great too, but I skipped it at the time, will prolly buy it from a bargain bin at some point.
But all my racing monies are going towards PGR4 for the moment.
Last night I tried out the Sega Rally Revo demo and it was a lot of fun. The surface deformation is neat and add's a lot to the gameplay. Now I know what Tycho ment when he said rumble is essential for this game. It's so nice to actually feel when I get back into the groove.
I played the Dirt demo a little while back but I sucked so bad it actually turned me off from playing it anymore. Not that i'm good at SRR either but I don't fly off the edge of a cliff when I take a turn too fast, thus putting me pretty far back and essentially out of the race causing me to restart and increasing my frustration. Not that having to restart the track many a time over doesn't go hand and hand with racing games but it definatly increases the fun factor when restarting is minimized from not flying off the track every other turn.
Eventually I will buy Sega Rally Revo. Just not very soon since theres a ton of other games i'm looking forward to in the very near future. Besides Dirt and SSR I have haven't played a rally game since Top Gear Rally on the N64 (which owned).
its perfect, absolutely perfect.
on a sad note, r.i.p. colin mcrae.
360 Gamertag: Baronskatenbass Steam: BaronVonSnakPak HgL: AnsonLuap
Word.
First and only Rally game I ever learned to love.
That is all.
Edit: Top of the page for great justice.
Hopefully Sega Rally sells really well so Sega sees that releasing updated versions of their classic games with next gen polish will probably make them more money than cranking out terrible Sonic spinoff games every year.
I wish Revo would ship with Sega Rally 1995 like Sega Rally 2006 did. I'm still hoping it hits Live someday. It would be awesome to be able to play it with multiplayer.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral