Sega Rally Revo

"The good, the bad and the....."

Sega Rally Revo... man oh man do I love rally racing games! But this game is more of an arcade racer in the same vein as Ridge Racer, but with a rally paint job. Here's a quick review:

Gameplay- FAST and twitchy.... the cars handle really loose... too loose. You're going to be sliding all over that track like you're driving on ball bearings, which is fun, but a little more grip under the tires would have added some more depth to the racing. By the way, the A.I. in this game is sinfully tough. For someone who wants to win a lot, better play DIRT instead, because mastering this game and beating all of the circuits is going to be next to impossible.

Graphics- Great looking graphics- cars, landscapes, etc. Everything is bursting with color and detail. The bad thing is that the frame rate, which is supposed to clock in at around 30 f.p.s., is not fast enough given the speed at which these cars fly around the track. It seems like you can go 5 to 15 meters in two frames.... it's sometimes hard to get a sense of where you are or where you need to steer your car in the heat of a fast turn. Another thing- the chase cameras (2 out of the 4 available views, the others being hood and bumper) are very awkward- the cars look like they pivot instead of turn (this really throws me off when racing).

Sound- Cheesy Sega hard rock soundtrack, but some of the tunes aren't half bad (Tropical). Engine and environment (road gravel)sounds are nice and meaty.

Design- Menu systems are clean and simple. Cars do not have any details or tuning options- they are simply divided up into classes with nothing else to distinguish one from the other except the paint jobs. Some comparison stats like speed, braking, acceleration, etc. would have made a big difference. The tracks, while beautiful and well designed, are few in number (maybe 16 or so). Note- the local multi-player (vertical split screen only) has gotten a lot of complaints, but I have yet to try it.

Replay Value- Not much. This game will be fun for a little while (esp. on LIVE), but other racing games like DIRT, PGR 4 and NFS offer so much more depth and variety. The cars all have similar handling and there are only so many tracks in the game.

Final Word- If Sega had addressed the following five issues, then I'd be one happy gamer:

1. Adjusted the feel of the cars to make them feel more grounded (less sliding/floating)
2. Made the A.I. more forgiving (way too tough... dare I say cheap and cheat?)
3. Fixed the chase camera's car turning graphics (looks so unnatural, it throws you off)
4. Adjusted the frame rate or game driving speed to allow for more perspective/control
5. Added a few more tracks (just a few)

Most games are never capable of perfection, no matter what is done to improve them. It's a shame because Sega Rally Revo is one of those games that could be perfect- the formula's great, the graphics, sound and fun factor are up there, but it's flaws keep it far away from perfection.

Final Score: 67 out of 100 (rounded up to 7/10)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/07

Game Release: Sega Rally Revo (US, 10/09/07)