V-Rally 3

"Can a portable racer get any better than this?"

Along with Pokémon Ruby, this was one of the first games I got with my GameBoy Advance SP. And I sure wasn't disappointed! V-Rally 3 is a real slobberknocker... read my review to find out why I think this game is so good.

GRAPHICS- 8/10
If I remember correctly, this game was released in the year 2002. And the graphics in V-Rally 3 are really, really good. It looks a bit like the orginal V-Rally on PlayStation. It gets a little choppy sometimes, but it's good. The courses look great, too. Not revolutionary, but great. The cars look badass as well, this is a thumbs up for Atari!

MUSIC/SFX- 8/10
Music- little there is- is damn good. There isn't in- game racing music, but there is menu music. And the menu music does kick the perverbial ass! Some of it is repetitive, and can get a little tiring and annoying, but it is done pretty well.

The in- game SFX sound like the PlayStation counterparts! Like real rally cars. Other SFX, like crashes, and even the 3, 2, 1, GO! sound authentic.

GAMEPLAY- 7/10
V-Rally is your traditional rally racing game. Rallying is different to normal racing- it's just you on the course against the clock trying to get the fastest time, which can get pretty intense! You have a choice of 7 courses- Great Britan, Kenya, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Finland, and France. Each one has 5 different tracks to race on. The weather varies from track to track. It's all good fun. The challenge isn't too good though... it's real easy, or at least to me anyway. The variation in weather causes a little problem, but a strategic change in the service station and that rectifies the problem.

The control in V-Rally 3 is decent, though the turning isn't very sensitive. It's kinda stiff, but that won't cause too much of a problem.

OVERALL- 8/10
V-Rally 3 is a fun, intense, stunning work of art! It was defintly worth my hard earned cash. I give the developers at Atari a corny thumbs up.

BUY, RENT, OR BURN?
It was worth my $$$, and it is yours! If you like portable racers, this game will be a fine addition to your GameBoy collection. Go on then, buy it and marvel at it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/31/04