Sega Rally Online Arcade is inspired from earlier rally titles such as SEGA Rally (Revo in US) on consoles and SEGA Rally 3 on the arcade. Does the mix end up in a ditch or take the chequered flag? Read on to find out.
If you have never played the series, it is clear that Sega Rally Online Arcade is not a rally simulation in the same vein as Dirt. This is an arcade racer where you won’t wreck your vehicle if you crash into another vehicle or the barriers. You will not need to worry about fine tuning your driving skills (though it helps), simply drive full speed towards a corner, tap the breaks and turn into it for an instant drift. Don’t worry about crashing either, you wont lose a windscreen or a tire, just a bit of speed and maybe a place or two. Sega Rally Online Arcade is all about the fun and it is one of the most easily accessible racing games to play on.
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There are a total of five tracks to get muddy with and three are available from the start. Tropical is located in a jungle with mud covered tracks, Canyon in a dusty environment with tight corners and jumps, and finally Alpine is set in a snowy landscape again with some tight corners that are perfect for practising your drifts. The remaining two unlockable tracks are Lakeside, a mix of tarmac and mud with a brilliant chokepoint hairpin turn and Desert a nod to the original ’95 rally track with open areas that are ideal for overtaking on. The number of tracks are respectable for a downloadable game and are all fun to drive on with their own styles.
If you’re playing the single player campaign there are four modes to play. Championship is a vastly cut down season mode in which you start in 22nd place and must work your way through the positions to 1st by the end of the third race. Successfully reaching 1st will put you in a head to head battle with a rival car to take the championship. The championship is a little short-lived and after a couple of attempts you should have no problem completing it. I would have liked to have seen a longer length of races or other variants to play to give this more value.
The second mode is Quick Race which allows you to play on any of the available tracks and vehicles. The Time Attack mode is much the same but allows you to compete against a ghost vehicle which are downloaded from other players on the leaderboards or against the developers own times. Both modes work fine and there is plenty to do to keep you occupied for a few hours. The last mode is the Classic Race which gives you access to two classic cars to race with, however there are unfortunately only two races. Expanding this mode such as including all the tracks would have improved the replay value.
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Both local and online multiplayer modes are supported. The online modes allow for quick join games and creating your own. Up to five other players can race together and you can make up numbers with AI vehicles if you wish. The online modes seems to work well and I never experienced any issues, though a friends Xbox would occasionally freeze when a race was about to load.
Presentation is nicely done, it takes inspiration from the arcade game with a photo style navigation system which works well especially if you are using a steering wheel. Graphically the game fares very well thanks to the SEGA Rally Revo engine, and as it is a SEGA racer you can expect some fun background events such as launching rockets, aircraft fly overs and bobsleighs as you race around the tracks. The music and sound effects keep in tune with the games arcade roots with lively music and plenty of speech from your co-driver. It all works great and feels like you are back in the arcades of yesteryear.
Sega Rally Online Arcade costs 800 :MSPoints: which is great value for money. Five tracks and eleven vehicles from over the years is a satisfying number. While the single player modes won’t hold your attention for more than a few hours, there is plenty of replay value in the online races which are challenging and very fun! Even if you have a passing interest in racing games you should definitely check out Sega Rally Online Arcade!
You can download the demo or purchase the full game via the Xbox Marketplace.
| Rating | Description |
| 7.0 | Gameplay The Championship mode is very short but the fun online mode makes up for it. |
| 7.5 | Graphics Graphics look fine, no complaints. |
| 7.5 | Sound Lively arcade style music which suits the game and who can not love the Game Over Yeah! ending? |
| 7.5 | Final Score |
