"A fun, but flawed driving game."

When you think about Nintendo's handheld console, the GameBoy Color, what kind of games do you think of? 2D platformers? Pokemon-style Rpg's? Puzzle-games? What I'm sure you don't think of is driving games, especially pseudo 3D driving games, as none of the machines' famous games was in that genre. But there were actually quite a number of games that fell in that category, and one of the better ones was V-Rally, a conversion of the PSX and N64 rally game that was brought to the small screen. Here is why it was quite an interesting game.

Graphics: Considering the systems' limitations, V-Rally is really a great-looking game. The cars you are driving, look clean and reasonably realistic, and the fact that they are big, gives you a better feeling of what they are like, unlike the midget cars of Top Gear Pocket. The backgrounds are pretty varied, colorful, and look very solid indeed, while there is never any slowdown at all, even though the game moves very fast at times. The cars you are driving against are a bit pixled, though, but that is the only gripe about the very good graphics:
9/10

Sound/Music: The music in V-Rally is okay, not really annoying, but certainly not the kind you hum weeks after the last play. The number of tunes is extremely limited as well, but what can you expect in a GBC driving game, a whole orchestra? The sound of the cars' engines is surprisingly enough not to shabby, and while not sensationally good it is much better than the similar sounds in Top Gear Pocket. The sound is overall not bad, but not really good either.
6./10

Gameplay: If there is one thing you can't complain about, it is the speed - this game moves at a high pace, which makes sure that you can't read a book while controlling the car with the other hand. The tracks (that are very narrow) have got lots of twist and turns, but tight control makes sure that there is no un-controlled sliding to worry about. There is a certain lack of different game-modes to try out, though, and the difficulty level of V-Rally is very low as well. However, when you are throwing yourself around the corners at high speed, it is jolly good fun indeed.
7.5/10

Lastability/Replayability: Here is the big gripe, with only a handful of different cars to control, no timetrail-mode available (a crying shame, that) and a distinct lack of stuff to unlock, V-Rally has a big problem when it comes to its life-span. True, it has got many different tracks, but they are pretty short, and you can see them all in a matter of hours. Apart from a quick blast now and then, V-Rally is portably going to collect dust in a few days time.
4/10

Pros and Cons

+
Great graphics
Pretty good engine sound
It is fast
Lots of tracks, that are rather well-designed
Better than Top Gear Pocket

-
Very easy
Only a few cars to drive
Few things to unlock

To Rent or to Buy?

Unless you are very rich or a hardcore game-collector, you really should not buy V-Rally, unless you find it at an extremely low price, there is simply not enough meat in the game for that. However, as a rental you get the chance to see its pretty graphics and experience its enjoyable gameplay at minimal cost, which is - if you ask me - the best choice. Albeit unknown and short, V-Rally was still pretty fun, and is a good rental for your handheld console, but nothing more.

Overall: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/15/03, Updated 04/16/03