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Intro
SEGA Rally Revo developed by the newly-formed SEGA Racing Studio puts the engine into sixth gear releasing its throwback, arcade inspired Rally racing game. It’s been a while since Sega took place in the racing genre podium from classics like Outrun and Daytona USA. Hop in as we spin our wheels with Sega Rally Revo.

Game
Released on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation Portable and PC, SEGA Rally Revo brings a next-generation styled arcade racer to a whole new audience of gamers. If you’re a racing fan who doesn’t want your racer to be overly complex then I think Sega Rally Revo might be the ride for you.  Specializing in fast paced intense rally racing, Revo decides to skip the differential adjusting and keeps it simple by concentrating on the racing. SEGA Rally Revo is a throwback to the arcade games of the past with a slick new next-generation look.

Keeping SEGA Rally Revo stripped down to its chasse was a good choice for Sega given the high level of competition when you leap over to your realism racers. Beyond Gotham, Forza, and Grand Turismo what are you left with that lets you put the pedal down that isn’t in a tricked out ride with 22” spinning rims? In racing purest form Revo gives gaming fans two options to traction, a boat load of the hottest rally cars and a number of twisting tracks to race watch the mud fly.

SEGA Rally Revo is streamlined action is instantly enjoyable and a synch to pick up and play. The hardest adjustment new gamers will have is learning to handle the sensitive handling of the rally cars. Each surface handles the weight and speed of the car differently which has to be taken into consideration while racing. The race tracks the span four different environments, Alpine, Canyon, Safari, and Tropical has you dealing with ice, sand, mud and other dangerous elements.  Dealing with the environments is tough when you’re racing along burning flames at high speeds while dealing with sharp winding turns.  Thanks to SEGA Rally Revo taking the arcade roots, you’ll still have to be concentrate and focused to win the races; however you won’t have to worry too much about busting your drive shaft and being out of the race.

One landmark feature in Revo besides the thrills of driving fast on the edge of a cliff is the new boasted feature of GeoDeformable terrain. Deformable terrain revolutionary feature actually teraforms the ground as you repeatedly race around the track over a number of different surfaces. From gravel-littered paths to the warm tarmac, the terrain will constantly be in flux allowing you to dig your own groove into the earth to gain the advantage over the other drivers. Deformable terrain is a gently placed into the game mechanics to make the experience a natural progression. Keeping this in mind, no two laps will be the same given all the normal variables and now one more, deformable terrain. Respecting the deformable terrain the Xbox 360 version has the advantage over the PS3 simple because the controller vibrates. It might not seem like much, but the vibrations help you feel out the course estimating the terrain by the rumble in the gamepad.

The GeoDeformable terrain impacts more than the gameplay it also pushes the graphics into a new level of interactivity within the environments. The graphics push and pull the environment around your tiers causing mud to be kicking onto your bright livery.  Not to worry, if you want to keep your ride sparkling, quickly veer into a patch of water and watch your ride being washed off as you dip into the ice-blue water. The graphics also keep a light colouring with vibrant levels and livery paint jobs making SEGA Rally Revo stand out on a HDTV. SEGA Rally Revo high level of detail definitely makes an impact and helps gamers focus off the bad side of the presentation, and that is the generic noise filled soundtrack.

As attractive as Sega Rally Revo is, it has its shortcomings. I’m mainly referring to its infuriating invisible walls around the tracks. These barriers are some times to hard to judge when starting your first lap on tracks with hinders your judgement of the amount of time and space you have while power sliding around the mud. It’s vastly important in rally racing games to race by the inch and the laziness of invisible walls is unnecessary and ultimately avoidable with a few more dances around the coding tree.

Along with the invisible walls, Revo feels a little dated with its interactivity with its online portion. I would have liked updated leader boards integrated into the main championship mode along with the multiplayer portion of time trials and versus racing. It think gamers are beginning being spoiled from other games that meld the online with the offline game so well, meaning, it’s time for other developers to grab a ticket and start giving their paying customers the same high level courtesy. Beyond this minor complaint SEGA Rally Revo has a competent online portion with support up to six players to satisfy your online racing needs, just don’t expect Revo to perform at the same level as other triple A racing titles like Forza Motorsport.

The main section in SEGA Rally Revo is devoted to the lengthy championship mode. In this mode you will unlock new cars and liveries as you progress through the rally championship ranks. The races are divided into three continues races over a series of different tracks. To become the ultimate racer you will have a consistent driving record along with a lot of patience dealing to deal with the repeated tracks.  Sega Rally Revo is packed full of content, however a large majority of it becomes a mirror of itself with only a few variations. The constant repetitive nature of Sega Rally Revo makes the game a little unplayable in long sittings and more enjoyable to turn on and run through a few races. It’s bad enough you’ll have race through the same track throughout the whole game with only the speed increasing, you also have to play catch up since you start in last place for every single race.

Offsetting the over packing and repeating championship mode is a list of thirty rally cars that you can gear up.  These vehicles deal with all the 2WD, 4WD brand names you need for a well rounded rally racing experience. Some of the vehicles that are listed in the line-up start with some of the important premier class cars like the Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Mitsubishi Evolution IX, Citroën Xsara and Peugeot 206 WRC. The list goes on to include a modified class including the Super 2000 series Peugeot, unlockable specialist cars and some true Rally classics that remain my favourites over the years, the Peugeot 205 T16, Audi Quattro A2, and Lancia Super Delta HF. Sega even snuck in their own design called the Andorra Racer, an unstable Group B racer sporting a long huge spoiler that looks like it could gain air off the smallest of jumps.

Lowdown
Transporting gamers back to a time when you could get a good gaming experience with just a quarter, SEGA proves that the arcade racing genre isn’t dead. This beautiful and dirty racer provides a fun racing experience unrealistically set in the Rally racing circuit. SEGA Rally Revo might not have every angle fully developed, but with the GeoDeformation and bright graphics all the flaws simply fade into the background as you rip up a few laps in your favourite Rally car. If you’re a fan of racing games SEGA Rally Revo is worth a look as SEGA returns to its arcade racing roots.

Gameplay: 7.5, Graphics/Sound:8, Innovation: 6, Mojo:8 Final: 7.5 / 10

The Good GeoDeformation, Bright Graphics, Arcade Styled Gameplay, Online Supported
The BadRepetitive Tracks and Environments,Invisible Walls, Generically Bad Soundtrack
 
Reviewed by Jimmy | 10.22.07

Features

  • GeoDeformation – a unique feature that dynamically changes the course during each lap with revolutionary surface and environment deformation.
  • Vehicles – more than 30 in total across 4WD, 2WD, Classic and Bonus types, most with three variants.
  • Environments – wide range of hyper-realistic next-generation deformable environments including Safari, Arctic, Canyon and Lakeside.
  • Tracks – a range of off-road and on-road tracks, with a variety of surface types and creative track designs.
  • Multiplayer – speedy online and offline multiplayer modes for up to six people.
  • Action-Oriented Arcade Heritage – in contrast to other simulation-themed rally racers, SEGA Rally Revo features action-oriented next-gen arcade racing unlike any other game.

SEGA Rally Revo

Publisher
SEGA

Developer
SRS

Genre
Racing

US Release
October 2007

ESRB
Everyone

Platform
X360, PS3,
PSP, PC