Gaming Target - Xbox: RalliSport Challenge

Written by Adam Woolcott on March 11, 2002

Full Review: This game is too damn good for smart remarks.

Being newcomers to the video game console field, Microsoft has to make an impact versus the two strong, enduring companies known as Nintendo and Sony. In order to do that, MS has to bring Xbox gamers the finest in gaming, and make sure nobody else gets to play it unless they buy an Xbox. The surest way to accomplish that is through first-party software Ц and besides a couple of hiccups, their first-party library has been phenomenal, including great titles like Project Gotham Racing, NFL Fever, Amped, and the almighty Halo to name a few.

Thanks to RalliSport Challenge, you can add yet another УOnly on XboxФ Microsoft published game to the list of amazing software the company has graced its Xbox with, thanks to the masterminds at Digital Illusions, a Sweedish company that knows rally racing ever so slightly. Rally racing is pretty difficult to translate to a video game, but RSC accomplishes it with a ton of variety, a steep, yet gradual, learning curve, flat out spectacular control, and the prettiest visuals you can find for a racing game anywhere. That adds up to one of, if not the best rally racing title out there for any system Ц not that there's a lot of them, but RSC sets the bar so high it will take a miracle to beat it out.

Rally racing is traditionally very different from the kind of racing we might see in the United States Ц most of the time you race alone, due to the narrow tracks. Instead, drivers do one point-to-point run at a time, and whoever has the fastest time is the victor. Occasionally you may see a couple cars race at the same time, but usually the solo thing is the standard procedure.

RalliSport offers 4 different types of rally races, with 2 particular types of it. There's that standard solo run all by yourself to beat a simulated time, and a hill climbing set of races that run the same way (such as in Gran Turismo 2's hill climbing levels like Pike's Peak), where you race a clock, not other opponents. The other modes are straight out races Ц the ice races and rallycross. Ice races are what they say; you race on a snowy track under a sheet of ice. These races feature 3 opponents, and a much wider track, thus the room for some УtrueФ racing action. Rallycross is basically the same thing; only the courses are run on dirt or mud tracks instead of ice.

Because of this variety, the rather lengthy career mode is much easier to tolerate, and lacks the repetitive boredom of doing the same kind of thing over and over until you get bored of doing that same thing. If you're not into doing a career race, you can still select a rally and an ice race at the outset, with the hill-climbing and rallycross unlocked after beating the first leg of the 4-tier career game.

RalliSport also offers 4-player split screen action for multiplayer fans. Unfortunately the game doesn't allow for LAN play, so there's no 4-player system link play to be had.

Of course, you'll spend most of your playtime in career mode, unlocking the numerous cars besides the ones at the outset. And there's a doozy list of cars, from the famous Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, to the Toyota Corolla, Subaru Impreza, Nissan Skyline (my eyes lit up seeing this car in the game) and the Lancia Delta, amongst a total of 29 cars. RSC also includes those death-mobiles, the banned УBФ class of cars, along with built for hill-climbing monsters. Too bad RSC couldn't include the holy grail of that class (hill climbers that is), the infamous (for the insane tweaking of it in Gran Turismo 3) Suzuki Escudo.

Career mode is split into 4 separate tiers of racing, and each one gets progressively challenging. Not difficult, challenging. Yes, they are 2 different things Ц difficult usually means УcheapФ while challenging means Уyou best bring your skills, sucka.Ф Actually, even on the beginner level, RSC offers an unforgiving, but yet rewarding, challenge curve once you get through the initial Уfeeling outФ process. But RSC is one of those games that gets more challenging the better your skills get Ц usually you'll unlock the perfect car and learn the perfect moves for flying around corners, thus eradicating the annoying Уway too hard for now, must work to get better carФ phenomena that many other racers seem to enjoy dishing out to make the game harder than it should (Project Gotham can be called this kind, if you'd like). So as long as you've adjusted your abilities as such, you shouldn't have much trouble dealing with the slowly increasing challenges.

Winning races in career mode, as well as winning the mini-tournaments offered, is not just based upon your placement, but also your skills. The faster you finish, and the less damage the cars take (and yes, they take damage, but it doesn't seem to hinder performance at all), along with your position after the race is finished dictates how many points you'll get when all is said and done. And you will need those points, because getting so many of them is what unlocks the next tier in the career mode, letting you progress to the more entertaining, challenging levels of play.

To be the best as you can in career, you'll have to spend plenty of time in the time trial and single race modes; especially time trials. Because the track designs are punishing, with nasty turns and blind jumps, you need to get to know each course before you tackle it within an actual race. Going in blindly will lead to much frustration, so practice makes perfect. You can retry a race right in the middle of it on Beginner level, but anything higher, as in the Normal and unlockable Pro level and you get one shot and one shot only, or you re-do the entire race series. Thus, if you want to avoid constantly racing the track to get used to it, take advantage of time trials and such.

When you're actually out on the track, not only do you need to learn how to race on a course, you must also adjust to the 4 different weather conditions. The amazing thing about RSC is how much variance there is between different surface types. Racing on tarmac (pavement for those who didn't know) is fairly simple and is easily adjusted to, but the other race types require a different approach (however, they are scary as hell when missing the road means a long fall down a cliff). For instance, on the ice racing tracks, you can't really just barrel around a corner at even half speed Ц if you do, you'll just hit a bank and go flying and flipping over, most likely losing the race because of it. Instead, you have to learn to slow down, go into the turn, and then accelerate a bit at a time until you see daylight. Because the track is so slick (because of ice, duh), much care is required to win.

The mud and dirt tracks are similar to each other, but still different Ц practicing a combination of the turns on tarmac and ice are needed to take the rough corners at a decent enough clip to maintain your place in the event. Since the mud tracks are slick, perfect cornering is needed, because overdoing it will slow you to a halt and possibly mess up your standing.

Despite all that, I wouldn't go as far to call RSC a complete rally simulation Ц it's actually a slight cross between arcade and sim. It's not so technical as a GT3 that requires you to slow the car to a near complete stop to make a tough curve, but not as arcadey as a Ridge Racer where making big turns without putting your foot on the brake is the norm. Thus, it carries the hybrid arcade/simulation tag that a game like PGR brings; only RSC does it even better.

The controls are pretty much perfect Ц once you get used to the surface you're racing on, the cars become extremely easy to handle and seamlessly do what you tell them to do. The R&L triggers on the Xbox pad work perfect for this game, without the killer pain that the Dreamcast controller was known for. And the best, most important thing is Ц the game gets so engrossing, because of these great controls, that you almost forget you have a controller in your hand. It's really that good.

Now, of course, all this is fine and dandy, but if the computer AI is cheap or stupid, it can ruin it all. Thankfully, RSC's AI is top-notch. All the same issues with the terrain that you have, they have Ц and actually you'll probably blow away the AI on the ice courses, because they're slowing down to a crawl practically to make even an average turn. Strangely, the simulated rally races (where you go all alone, racing against a time) seem more difficult than the ones where you go against live opponents. Whether that's an AI flaw or just a time limit thing I don't know, but it's peculiar. However, it's not impossible and the times are beatable with plenty of practice.

The only thing I find wrong with the gameplay is the secondary driver that travels with you Ц on the solo rally races, he calls out the upcoming turns and hazards. That's great, but they're said way too fast, thus you may get confused and do something dumb because of how fast you get the directions. It's like traveling in an unknown town and being yelled all kinds of different ways to go at once, thus getting lost. On the actual races, the secondary driver only gives you crap if you keep running into things, because you get a map to see what's up ahead. Perhaps the other modes should have been mapped too; but because the rally tracks are point-to-point and not lap based, I can see the differences needed.

RSC's first notable feature when the game started to circulate around was the graphics. And for good reason Ц they are simply stunning. And it's not just with the environment; it has all to do with the many little nuances that RSC contains.

Some of the areas are a bit bland Ц the Safari rally levels are just boring sand without a lot of variety. There are a few trees and such, and some background effects, but there's nothing much that really stands out. Instead, take a look at the ice racing tracks, and the Mediterranean rally levels. After seeing those tracks, you'll be amazed at the beauty of this game. For instance, on the icy roads, the sun beats down, and not only lights up your car from whatever direction its facing, it even lights up whatever area of the ice is in the path of the sun, shining brightly.

The cars themselves aren't exceptionally detailed Ц I'd go and say PGR's cars look better as a whole. However, it's the other details that make the graphics stand out as a whole. Each car takes damage Ц from dented doors, broken windows, bashed out taillights and brake lights, it's all there. Seeing a car with half a door window, with the other half cracked and ready to fall off with another hit is amazing.

Each car is also УdirtableФ Ц the more you race, the dirtier your car gets. Racing on the ice tracks will kick up lots of snow, covering up things like your brake lights and making the paint job on the vehicle fade away. It looks even better in the muddy courses, with tires getting tons of mud on them, and the whole bottom of the car in a severe need of a car wash. It's the kind of thing that has to be seen to believe.

The sounds of RSC are very good as well Ц each engine has it's own unique sound, and the sounds of barreling through a dirt road are fairly authentic. Also, the cars banging for position are well done. There's also a tolerable voice for the co-driver; complete with the cheeky British accent that might either appeal or annoy the hell out of you. Besides that, the sound effects are good, but are overshadowed by the whole spectacle of the game.

What makes RSC a winner is the ability to take advantage of the Xbox hard drive for a custom soundtrack. So if the largely forgettable techno-electronic tunes don't do anything for you, bust out the CD collection and put the songs you like into the game for maximum enjoyment. Don't forget to mix in a bunch of silly tunes that don't fit, just for a good laugh.