Geekscape Games Reviews Sega Rally Online Arcade

It would be an understatement to say that Sega has an impressive portfolio of franchises under its belt. One of the few that have driven under the radar as of late is the Sega Rally series. Sega Rally was a pioneer of the mud soaked rally racing video games, and after taking a few years off of the track, the series returns with Online Arcade. In many ways, this newest game goes back to basics and comes close to bringing back the addicting, yet limited arcade experience.

At first glance, you would call me a liar if I told you that this is a $10 download title. The game looks fantastic, with realistic looking cars and environments. Driving through the five distinct tracks, it’s easy to tell how much effort went into each one. The various terrain that each stage offers, (from asphalt, mud, snow and water to name a few,) affect the control of the vehicle while using the visuals to sell the realism, (the mud on the cars look awesome!) 

But no matter how good it looks, if it plays like mud of a different kind, what does it matter, right? I’m happy to say that the game plays nearly as good as it looks. This is an arcade racer tried and true, so choosing between 12 licensed cars and five courses, (some of which are locked,) racers speed to the finish line with loose turning physics that are easy to pick up and play with. The game is kind enough to warn you of the type of turns The single player options are thin, primarily spent in free race mode where you select a track and go at it,or championship mode where players race the first three tracks against 21 other racers and the clock since you’ll drop out if you don’t get to the checkpoints fast enough.. If you manage to claw and scratch your way to 1st by the end of the third race, you’ll go mano a mano against the CPU in the final track.

I’m sure you can see that the single player mode isn’t too robust, but the word “online,” isn’t in the title for nothing. Racing players online works without a hitch and ran smoothly whenever I was able to find a match. The time trial mode has a really cool feature where you can race uploaded ghosts from the leaderboards or challenge developer ghosts. And what good would a multiplayer game be without split screen? While it only supports two player head to head, it’s still a blast to tackle the track with a buddy.

Despite the thin set of features, the only major pitfall I found with Sega Rally Online was its lack of instruction. I messed around with a few of the previous games, but never really got into them. So naturally, I wanted to know how the game worked. Sadly, you know that section that says, “How to play?” It shows you the controls… which is also under the controls section. The only way I could find instructions was to go to a loading screen and cross my fingers that my question would be answered in one of the tips that pop up. I know gamers don’t usually read the instructions anyway, but it would be nice to have for a noob like yours truly.

Even still, I didn’t need instruction to realize that Sega Rally is a really polished, great looking, and most of all, enjoyable racing game that shouldn’t be missed. Sure, it only has a few tracks that can be finished in less time than it took to download, but the online features and game design are so well done, I doubt you’ll just drop it after a quick run. C’mon, it even supports the force feedback wheel! (Remember that?) Save for a few missteps, if you want a easy to play racing title that’s easy on the eyes, (not to mention wallet,) it’s time to strap on your seatbelt and give this one a spin… or at least a download.