SEGA Rally Championship (1995) - MobyGames (2025)

So that's the conversion, what about the game itself you ask? Well, SEGA Rally is a rather amusing arcade diversion that is low, low, low on realism and high on action, and uhm... er... well, I guess I can tab my way to "the bad" now...

The Bad
....Ok, as I mentioned the premise behind SEGA Rally is that of a mindless arcade racer, the likes of which we have seen since the dawn of time, however SEGA Rally and many other games of it's ilk are simply a complete bore when ported to the PC or any other home platform and usually result in lame games that offer little or no entertainment regardless of how they were ported. SEGA Rally is no exception. Why? Because the mechanics behind each platforms (arcade and home) are different! And nowhere is this more evident as in the arcade racers (particularly those developed by SEGA). The reason you play a game in your home is because you really want to spend time with it, the reason you play a game at the arcades (generally speaking of course) is because you want to kill some time and amuse yourself for awhile... See the difference? What does this translate to? Arcade games are usually quick action-fests that maximize their fun factor to be played out in a time span of 2-4 minutes and just die out after that. So why was SEGA Rally (or other racing games such as Cruisin' USA or Daytona USA) such a hit in the arcades? because it perfectly understood that rule and abided by it religiously. SEGA Rally doesn't offer you a complex career mode or a lenghty campaign mode with dozens of cars to choose from... that doesn't work in the arcades. Instead SEGA Rally throws you into a "championship" of 4 short races (make that very short races) with 3 possible cars... races that are as flashy, straightforward and strategy-free as possible in order to give you that great "quick-fix" that made it such a good game in the arcades. Cool isn't it? Well as you probably guessed by now, that may cut it in the arcades, where it only costs a quarter to amuse yourself, but on the PC things are a little different and you soon realize that SEGA Rally is, to put it simple: a borefest.

The racing physics are non-existant, and while that is a pre-requisite on an arcade racer such as this, this game takes it to the extreme. As anyone who has ever seen a rally race can confirm, slides and powerturns are the order of the day but SEGA Rally seems to think that's all there is to it, making the entire game some sort of 3D pinball simulator where you just lunge your car in a general direction and bounce around the track while making turns and slides... Fun the first 5 minutes, hell afterwards...

The Bottom Line
In short, go to the arcades, look at it, spend a few quarters if you feel like it, have some fun, but KEEP IT IN THE ARCADES. Bringing it to your home will only make evident how crappy a racer it is.

Make sure to use the 2nd version 1st Party Sega Saturn "fighter" controller or possibly the 3d analog "nights" controller to play this game. It is a massive difference from the most common, version 1 Saturn controller.

The Bad
While this first installment was just perfect, they could have capitalized on the opportunity and given the sequels more tracks and more options! While they might not have the best replay value, all the Saturn and Arcade versions of this racing series are superb, (especially the massive and very expensive, single cabinet version of SEGA Rally 2.. realistic manual transmission and e-brake to boot.. if you are in San Diego check it out inside the Sea World arcade). But stay away from the Dreamcast conversions..

The Bottom Line
This is one of those hard-core racers. Not with slow, concentrated, simulation style gameplay found in Gran Turismo 2, but more of twitch-reaction, shooter style gameplay found in Ikaruga or G-Darius.

The Good
The physics of the car is very good. The two player battle and link battle lets you can battle with others. You can customize the car at car settings. The game also have ghosts so you can review your previous results and follow the ghost to improve your results.

The Bad
I does not like the windowed mode only works with 16 bit color mode. The cars and tracks selection is very limited. So, you will be bored.

The Bottom Line
If you like car physics, play it. If you does not like the game's cars and tracks, do not play it.