Sega Rally Arcade is a car racing simulator in which you can choose from a variety of tracks and cars to race other drivers. Sega Rally Arcade as you can guess from the title was originally released in the mid 1990’s in arcades around the world. Sega is a popular developer of many games such as Sonic the Hedgehog to Street Fighter.
Sega Rally was originally designed to allow you to travel to exotic places and drive some of the most recognizable cars in the world. Sega Rally Arcade (designed around Sega Rally 3) drifts into view with the all new online mode and ever so popular responsive handling which is one of the famous attributes of Sega Rally evolution. Sega Rally Arcade Online is the newest Sega Rally game playable via the Xbox Live, however it is not part of the rally revolution.
Sega Rally Arcade Online can be purchased on Xbox live for 800 Xbox points roughly £6.85, a reasonable price for the content of the actual game. Once you start the game you will notice straight away the ever so favourable cars from the original game, such as the Toyota Corolla, Subaru Impreza, evo and even the Peugeot 206.
The game play itself is limited to 5 tracks which can be unlocked through playing the game and it has 13 cars to choose. The graphics have been brightened up with sharper images and the sound is much clearer. If you are a Sega Rally follower you will be surprised to hear the co-driver and the countdown from the original arcade game is present here. Sega Rally Online Arcade can be very addictive once started. The controls will be easily adapted to the not too familiar to the game.
Each individual car handles the tracks slightly differently. The aim of the game is to complete each track in as less time as possible shaving off a few seconds here and there will help. The downside to this is each and every track is edged with either fence or rocks. If you hit these you will lose a considerable amount of time and speed, try to follow a good racing line and keep tight to the corners. Each course you play will give a different terrain such as the original mud, snow, gravel, tarmac and even the odd flooding to avoid. As for the jumps you come across, you will have nothing to fear as you will never overturn and even the spin outs are easily to get out of. Damage to the cars will never appear so the cars will always look as good as new apart from the mud spray.
Single Player Championship Race
In this mode you will be placed on the track in 22nd place and have to compete against the remaining 21 computer generated racers. Each computer generated racer is placed around the course at sparingly various places and keep to a strict racing line. Winning this championship in 1st place will unlock a bonus track (lakeside) once unlocked you must complete a dual to permanently unlock the track. Options will allow you to customize the race either from Casual Mode to Arcade mode for the experienced players or to just give a better challenge. Cars can be unlocked by playing through various courses.
Single Race Mode
You will be placed on the track in 6th place to which you must try to compete against computer generated racers to become 1st. Tracks and cars can be unlocked by playing through the game.
Multiplayer Online Mode
This is where the game can score a few extra credit points and where the game gets interesting. You get to choose the tracks and how many racers you would like or you can fill them in with computer generated racers. The game will be much better with your mates as you will notice that all computer generated racers have a strict line of play and never seem to make mistakes. While as we are all human we can all make some wrong manoeuvre which can provide an advantage to you. Overall this mode seems to be the most rewarding as a challenge.
Overall
Sega Rally Arcade Online is well worth the 800 points; the game provides some great traditional game play and various challenges. The cars all sound good as they should and each handles the track relatively good. For those who liked the traditional arcade game this is the one to purchase or to those who are new but interested in some great game play which is easy to get to grips with this is a good purchase. The only downside to the game is that it’s limited to 5 tracks to which the game play can be very repetitive. You even get a bonus with the game a vintage mode where you race the original vintage cars around the tracks.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
