Drift your way through mud, snow and rain in this awesome arcade racing game!

Introduction

Sega Rally Championship 2 is the anticipated sequel to Sega’s widely acclaimed and successful arcade racing game Sega Rally Championship, which was previously released in the arcades and on Sega Saturn.
The Dreamcast version of this continuation was a strong release title when the console was launched here in Sweden, and it really showcased what the Dreamcast was capable of. Some even claimed that it was worth getting the Dreamcast just for this game!
Sega Rally Championship 2 on Dreamcast is based on the arcade original but expands further by adding new features, new cars, new tracks, new game modes and a brand new campaign mode.

The Game

Sega Rally Championship 2 is an arcade rally racing game where you battle against the environment, the opponents and the clock. The races take place on closed circuits where you race a number of laps, but otherwise it reminds of WRC racing in that you have to master both mud and snow, along with gravel and tarmac in various weather conditions plus the rally car itself. Water that has accumulated on the track really affects the handling and speed of your car. Thus, each stretch of road is a challenge in itself.

Controls

As with the previous Sega Rally games, the cars tend to favor drifting and power sliding along the curves, which naturally is a huge part of the game. The analog stick allows for precision steering, and the triggers act as your acceleration and brake pedals. You can throw the car into a drift quite easily and even turn around a corner with the handbrake, but pulling this off at high-speed does require practice.
You can also choose between Automatic and Manual gears, but we found it a little hard to manage the gears with the buttons. The game also supports the Dreamcast Race Wheel controller, but we haven’t had the chance to try this ourselves.

Content

This game features 19 different cars in total and they all have their own properties and capabilities. You’ll probably find a favorite or two among them, and it’s fun to try them all on the various stages and see how they differ. As they all handle slightly differently there’s bound to be something for every type of rally driver. Some of the cars included are; Lancia Stratos HF, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Peugeot 206 WRC, Subaru Impreza WRC and Toyota Corolla WRC.

There is four different game modes featured here; Arcade, 10 Year Championship, Two Player Battle and Time Attack.

The Arcade mode resembles the original arcade version of the game. This is a series of tracks where you race against fifteen opponents. There’s also a time limit and when you reach a checkpoint you get some extra time. This game mode is very challenging as it requires really skillful driving. You can also play the Arcade mode in a Practice mode which allows you to select a track from the Arcade mode and practice it.

The 10 Year Championship mode is exclusive to the Dreamcast version and works as a campaign. This mode simulates a driving career over ten years. You start at the first year, and must complete the final course in order to progress to the next year. When you win the competition of the year, the next year will be unlocked so your progress is secured once you save the game.
This mode will take you through all the tracks in the game in all the various day, night and weather variations. You also have the option to fine tune your car settings between each race to maximize your chances to win – you will need to do this, because this mode is a really tough challenge where rally perfection is required! Learning and memorizing the track layouts helps too. If you do well you will unlock new cars, so there’s always a neat reward waiting for you here.

Time Attack lets you select a track from all the available tracks in the game – there are 16 different tracks, in varying difficulty represented by a star rating from one to five.
Here you race alone to beat your lap records, and there are three different kinds of records you can go for – three laps, five laps and free run. In free run you get to race the same track for as many laps as you want – your personal best lap time will be displayed on the screen, and your goal is to beat that time.
You can fine tune your car in Time Attack too, but all tracks will be played in favorable weather.
On top of this, you are allowed to save your ghost data when you beat a record. You can later race against this ghost to really compare your performance and find segments where you can improve.

The game utilizes the VMU too. You can store your record tables in there and browse it on the go right off of the VMU if you would want to. The game save takes an awful lot of space on the memory unit though so make sure you have enough free space. It stores time records individually for each car and track, plus the software that allows you to browse the time tables on the VMU. Then there’s also the ghost data, car settings and 10 Year Championship progress on top of that.

Multiplayer

Two Player Battle is the multiplayer mode in Sega Rally Championship 2. It is a standard split screen mode where you both select a car, a track and then race head to head. There are three different types of races to play here; three laps, five laps, and time lag. Time lag is a really cool dynamic rally where you select a number of seconds the losing driver is allowed to lag behind the leading driver before the leading driver is declared a winner.
There’s also a ‘slower car boost’ option in Two Player Battles, which boosts the speed of the losing car. This feature is very subtle and will guarantee that every race is a tight battle between two drivers. It really puts your skills to the test!
The split screen mode has some visuals cut down and the frame rate takes a considerable hit, but it is very enjoyable nevertheless.

Graphics

The graphics are so good and the tracks offer some great variation in both look and feel. The dust, water splashes, snow and rain all look great. There is some nice details along the tracks too, such as photographers running off the road to avoid being hit, birds, helicopters, animals etc. The game is super fast and runs smoothly, even though there is some frame rate slow downs on the more demanding levels.
Sega Rally 2 was probably one of the better looking games out there back when it was released, and I do think it has aged incredibly well.

Sound

The soundtrack is right on the money on this one. It mixes that classic well-known Sega Rally sound with elements of rave, rock and electronic music. The music is very well produced, upbeat, and features techno synths, soul vocals, trumpets, saxophones and electric guitar solos. There are lots of good tracks in the song list that I wouldn’t mind listening to even outside the game.
The co-driver’s voice and pace notes are also great, but the engine noise tends to be on the weak, muffled and tame side. I am guessing that it’s deliberately done so that it doesn’t drown out the music.

Summary

Sega Rally Championship 2 is a lovable arcade racer that delivers many sweaty moments in terms of exciting rally races. Thanks to the accessible controls, great graphics, fantastic music and highly enjoyable gameplay I think this game is a winner in it self. If there’s one arcade rally game you need to play, it’s this one. This game has everything in terms of tracks, cars and techniques to learn and master. If you like to race for lap times then this game will keep you entertained for a long time. This is arcade racing at its best!

Developed By: Sega AM5
Published By: Sega
Version Reviewed: Dreamcast
Genre: Racing
Players: 1-2
Also Available On: Arcade, Playstation 2
Released: 1999-10-14