At a glance...

Sega Rally Online Arcade review

I have never lived near the coast and I spent most of my childhood in the 1990s, so arcade machines were a rare spectacle as I grew up. Despite this, I still have fond memories of the SEGA Rally series. As a racing game fanatic, whenever I came across those wondrous luminous shinning neon beasts I would seek out SEGA Rally or its excellent sequel. It was therefore with some delight that I got to enjoy the return of the franchise in 2007. The remake was excellent, and spawned its own arcade edition, SEGA Rally 3, but neither did well enough to save the fledgling SEGA Racing Studios, and so we haven't had a follow-up since. Until now.

Well, actually, still not now. SEGA Rally Online Arcade isn't actually a sequel, it's more of a re-release of SEGA Rally 3 for the home console audience. Thanks to digital distribution's ability to deliver more bite-sized chunks of games, SEGA have been able to offer up a more content-limited title, but at a suitable price point (800 Microsoft Magic Beans - or £6.80). The arcade version has three tracks which are each an amalgamation of the tracks that made up the three environments featured in the previous console edition, along with a couple of re-made classics from the original SEGA Rally. It's a typical arcade approach; offer enough to get people hooked, but not so much that they don't let others come along and put their money in the machine. In that spirit the Championship is a simple affair; you fight from twenty-second to first across 3 races on those 3 courses, before an impossibly difficult final one-on-one on the classic Lakeside stage.

Rounding out the single player action is a Classic Rally where you go head-to-head on another one of the original game's stages, along with Time Trials on each of the tracks with the compulsory online leaderboards. So what we have here is a rather limited selection of options for those playing alone, with some split-screen fun when you bring a friend into the living room. To some the limited tracks are actually welcome, as they allow people to hone their skills and work their way up the rankings, but to others it might not seem like enough for their money. It is an arcade level of depth, but at least it's not too expensive. However, the real reason for this release is actually less about the "Arcade" part of the name, and more about the "Online". Like Outrun Online Arcade before it, the value here comes from being able to take an excellent arcade racer and play against your friends from the comfort of your living room. And while the lobbies and menus are a little clunky, it actually works really well, and racing against humans can lead to tense, competitive races. When you can find them opponents.

The big thing counting against the strategy here is that there just aren't enough people playing SEGA Rally Online Arcade on Xbox Live. It's really rather quiet most of the time, and that's due to the unfortunate release scheduling which saw it arrive on the Xbox Live Arcade just under a week before Dirt 3 came out. And as great fun as SEGA Rally is, it's not much competition for the excellent juggernaut that is Codemasters' own off-road/rally game. While there was initially a good burst of people on the online scene, after a while it has become just those looking for the nostalgia left playing this classic SEGA series.

It's a big shame that the game is getting overlooked because there's a lot here to like. The racing itself is tremendous fun, even when competing with the AI. Races can be tight, with competition enhanced by the track deformation which makes each lap feel different. If you find the right line you can catch up with an opponent, although nothing beats mastering the corners and avoiding the walls in order to succeed. That grasping for perfection makes it addictive, and plays to the limited track selection. It may lack the depth or breadth of Dirt 3, but at a competitive price there isn't really a good reason why most fans of off-road racing can't own both.

Visually things are looking a little dated in comparison to recent racing games, but the wonderfully colourful environments add a style which helps you overlook this. SEGA Rally 3 was certainly at the forefront of arcade racers when it first came out, and even amongst the Xbox Live Arcade selection today it still looks rather good. Traditional SEGA blue skies are also a welcome feature in the era of endless muddy brown.

Unfortunately it's hard to turn around a falling community, and it's a pity when many people will miss out on something so good. It's arcade purism, and it doesn't worry about appealing to a modern audience. That said, most people can pick it up and play it, and they should - if only to give me some more people to play with online.

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