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| Source // Retro Gamer |
Cars aren't really designed to be driven through the driver's side window, but damn are they a joy to watch when they are. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for rallying. Never really understood the likes of drifting and traction and changing road surfaces and all that stuff, but I don't go into games wanting all of that.
I want to put the pedal to the metal and thrash through a muddy field in the middle of Europe. In the rain. While a navigator somehow keeps his cool despite shouting into my ear, and onlookers dart for cover behind the nearest bramble bush.
Rallying is messy, noisy, stupidly fast and seems to go against everything that track racing stands for, so it was only a matter of time before someone gave a bit of thought to creating a game so that we can rally in the safety of the arcades.
Sega Rally Championship is that game, and it's arguably the first game to connect players to the road beneath their wheels. Handling matters. Adapting to change is a necessity. Having a good time is mandatory, and I can't wait to play.
Frustrations
Unfortunately, there's no Sega Rally Championship arcade unit kicking around here, so my next go-to is the Sega Saturn, and while it's not too dissimilar in looks, it's not the best choice when the emulator desperately clings onto a playable framerate, and only just manages to maintain it.
I'm missing out on some good Sega Saturn offerings, I'm sure, but not enough of them to warrant an afternoon trying to get some good results via emulation.
There are games that you load up and just know that you're not going to be in for a good time, especially those with graphical or audio issues from the start. Usually, I'd see those struggles to get going and just leave it, but Sega Rally Championship was playable. Just about. It was slow going - like driving through a sand dune, let alone a dirt track - but it went, so I sat down to see where it would go.
Fun Times
I'm glad that, on this occasion at least, I persisted. Even at laughable frame rates with a smattering of input lag, Sega Rally Championship seems to shine.
From the first corner, I was able to admire the handling physics, my Lancia effortlessly gliding across the track, doing exactly what I wanted. Full speed, a touch of lift, steer in and ride the dirt around the corner. Heaven.
Was my success mostly due to the fact I had seconds - slow, countable seconds - to look at the road ahead and react accordingly, able to adjust mid turn with corrections likely impossible had it been running at its normal rate? Of course. But it felt great, and I could only imagine how incredible the arcade original feels.
The championship is split into just three courses, with the usual check-pointed, time-limited arcade gameplay you'd expect to push players forward towards faster times and smoother attempts at making it around the course.
True to rallying, however, these courses are A to B races, seeing you make progress through dirt, gravel and asphalt, each acting differently upon your car. Nippy technical sections on the tarmac make way for sweeping gravel corners that allow you to read the sponsors on the side of your cars for once...
And those cars are accurate rally cars from Toyota and Lancia. There's only one good one, though - let's face it. If I'm going to be staring at one of these two rally cars for a whole game, it's not going to be the Celica.
I'm not even sorry for saying that.
Final Word
After a squirrely section on the mountain roads, my race was at an end, typically within sight of the next check point. I'd only made my way through half of the competitors, so I'm quite far off the pace, but in my defence, so was the emulator.
I do wish to come across a Sega Rally Championship cabinet on my travels, but I fear that's too big an ask. While there are ports and remakes down the years, after my brief (but lengthy) time with the Saturn port, I know that I'm not going to know anything for certain until I try that arcade original.
Will I ever manage it? Will I get around to sorting out some better emulation options? Who knows, but here's hoping.
Sega Rally Championship brought dirt and dust to the racing genre. It's the dirt and dust granddaddy and should definitely be played. It's not the deepest game and your options are limited, but that just means there's nothing stopping you from revving up the engine and screaming around the corner. Sideways. Like you're supposed to.
FORGET ABOUT THAT
Finally, I have a Sega Saturn emulator setup that works for me, and the difference between playing Sega Rally Championship now and playing it back for this blog post is night and day.
Where I was slogging through the countryside in the past, I'm hurtling through it in the present, so fast in fact that I'm hitting all the walls. You need quick reactions to correct for any errors, and you need a bit of skill and care with your inputs so that you don't make errors in the first place. Road surfaces matter and these surfaces tend to make your car slide, usually more than you expected.
After a few laps, you get into the handling well enough to know roughly what you're doing, and from there it's a case of getting better and better in an attempt to finish first.
It's smooth, it's slick, it's rallying. Could do with a little more weight maybe, but it's arcadey too, so I'm atill all for it.
Fun Facts
If we're to believe the Internet without fact checking, this quote from Senior programmer Riyuchi Hattori is golden: "Originally there was talk of using another car from Toyota, but we couldn't find a good one."
Sega Rally Championship, developed by Sega AM5, first released in 1994.
Version played: Sega Saturn, 1995, via emulation.
Version watched: Arcade, 1994 (World of Longplays)
Sega Saturn 1995 (VCDECIDE)