Price: £49.99 Players: 1-2 Widescreen: Yes 60Hz: Yes Dolby Digital 5.1 sound: Yes Xbox Live-enabled: Yes Downloadable content: Yes Sega Rally first started in the arcades in 1995, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Of course, at its heart it hasn't changed. It's the classic game with arcade quality graphics and the co-driver shouting out instructions, which at times can feel like your car is just pinned to the middle of the screen as it slides about and there's no way you can really come a cropper, but then Project Gotham Racing 4 this is not.

Canyon 1: The very first race. The main mode in this game is for the Championship, of which you'll drive through the Premier, Modified and Masters stages, the latter two requiring more points once you've qualified in the previous championships. There are also four different leagues, starting with Amateur, through which you can progress. Select the rally you want to take part in and your car, whether you want off-road or on a normal road. That said, whichever of the latter two options you pick you'll get a combination of both on the same race anyway. It's also possible to unlock new cars and paint schemes as you rise through the ranks.

Alpine 3: although I came in last after a skid or two on the snow! Other the other main options, Quick Race allows you to pick any particular set of races, and have a go at an individual race with a car, some of which where you'd normally have to work further through the championships; Time Attack is more of the same but allows you to try and beat times that others around the world have set (which doesn't require an Xbox Live Gold membership). Multiplayer can see you going head-to-head with a friend via split-screen in your house or on Xbox Live; and Garage lets you see how you've progressed so far in the championships, unlockables and achievements (don't look at mine - I'm total rubbish, but I did enjoy a good blast with this racer!

Safari 3: the reason for the slight edits was that my controller ran out of batteries - what a time to pick! It takes some getting used to your driving, since the cars slide about on the road, but you do get the hang of it sooner than you feel you will. However, the fortunes of a race really can turn in an instant as you have a collision somewhere and end up slipping back a few places (see my Alpine 3 race!), and it's not always easy to regain that positioning. The graphics are fantastic with excellent draw distance, really showing off well the gorgeous scenery as you can see in the clips. Sound is what you'd expect from a car game - functional. When it comes to the other drives of the CPU variety, the AI is very good indeed as long as you keep up with the cars and don't fall behind, otherwise it's rather a lonely race... For more footage, check out the following: Sega Rally Clip 1: Canyon 1 Sega Rally Clip 2: Safari 1 Sega Rally Clip 3: Alpine 1 Sega Rally Clip 4: Canyon 2 Sega Rally Clip 5: Tropical 2 Sega Rally Clip 6: Alpine 2 Sega Rally Clip 7: Canyon 3 Sega Rally Clip 8 Part 1: Alpine 3 Sega Rally Clip 8 Part 2: Alpine 3 Sega Rally Clip 9: Safari 3

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2007.