Title: _Rally Cross_
System: Sony Playstation
Price: $47.99 (Software Etc.)
Type: Racing
	Believe it or not, I picked this title up on a whim. I've always had
a bit of a thing for rally racing, ever since my halcyon days, when, as a wee
mite, my paramedic father took me to see the Olympus Rally in Washington
(the State, not the circus, pedant!) where he was driving the pace car and
assisting in medical services. Needless to say, the sight of offroad vehicles
mutilating turf and scenery alike in the name of loud noise and mechanical
violence faintly aroused me, and I've been a fan ever since. Actually, that's
not *entirely* true; it was the apocalyptic moment when a modified RX-7
rolled over onto a crowd of British photographers cloistered in the inset of
a gravel washboard that turned me on, and the thought of cars as inadvertent
deliverers of vigilante justice against the terminally stupid has been with
me ever since. Buuuuuut I digress. I enjoyed Sega Rally, lack of realism and
kooky controls aside, merely for the look and feel of the game. Chugging
through the pastoral landscape in a noisy Lancia or Peugeot, giving
the verdant flora a distinctly petroleum-based scarring and the native
fauna sonically-induced aneurysms really appeals to a nasty, primal bit in
all of us. Admit it. You've ALWAYS wanted to take your car where it *shouldn't*
be.
	Anyhow, _Sega Rally_ aside, there has been a distinct lack of games
reflecting this aspect of vehicular racing. There really is no TRUE
Rally simulation out there, because most rallies are not actual races against
other cars, but timed courses where the driver and his navigator attempt
to guide their custom vehicle through treacherous terrain. _Rally Cross_
does not offer this aspect of racing, which is really just a Time Trial,
but allows for competitive racing against 3 other players in an environment
that is slightly less arcade-oriented than _Sega Rally_. In fact, in this
game, the "environment" is everything. Where _Sega Rally_ was relatively
flat, gradual hills aside, _Rally Cross_ really gets down to the nitty-
-gritty of what makes rally racing the grueling, technical competition
it is: the terrain. No smooth, gliding tracks here: we're talking ruts,
rocks, bumps, grooves, sand pits, mud pits, ravines, water, deliciously
topsy-turvy tracks that don't just rise and fall - they HURL you in every
direction. This really isn't a race of trying to avoid the track barriers,
this is a game of navigation and knuckle-biting skill. Now, hold on for
a second, here - I'm NOT quoting this off the back of the box or some
"Mad Lib"-type press release of the "insert exciting adjective here" variety.
_Rally Cross_ really succeeds at capturing the essence of rally racing,
unlike _Sega Rally_, which was _Ridge Racer_ with rural scenery. The terrain
in this game is *brutal*. The initial track, Oasis, is a MONSTER - sand
dunes, rocks, sand traps, and creek beds abound. I can't explain the terrain
without using negation - every racing game you will play after this will
seem hopelessly *flat* by comparison.
	Graphics in this game are excellent, easily beating out _Sega Rally_
and _ridge Racer Revolution_ for poly count and overall appearance. Everything
flows along at around 30 fps, with no pop-up whatsoever, even in 2 player
mode. Light sourcing is also beautiful and abundant - the gradual shifts
in lighting as you go through the forests of the Island level or the lantern
light as you cruise through the caves on the Old Mine track is very evocative.
Of course, in two-player mode, some compromises were made to remove pop-up
and keep the frame rate high - the mip-mapping used to replace textures
viewed up close with higher definition textures is much more apparent, with
texture transition making things a little quirky in the distance. A non-
-graphics dweeblet will never notice this, though - being a CS major with
a specialty in graphics algorithms, I tend to nitpick at these things.
Polygon dropout and texture seams are non-existent. The camera angles are
also very well done, providing a convenient transition to a more top-down
perspective when one invariably buries the nose of his vehicle into a
ravine or cave wall.
	The animation is also superb. Your car jolts and bounces along with
a realistically-modelled suspension, and damage becomes visible the more you
brutalize your poor vehicle. Water, mud, rocks, sand, and snow spray all
over the place as you rock and bounce your merry way along the serpentine
tracks - all these little touches make the illusion all the more convincing,
especially in 2 player mode. It's really quite hilarious to see your opponent
erupt into a cloud of sand as he misses a turn and tries to scale a sand bank,
only to roll, side-over-side, into a sandburst at the bottom. It's also rather
less funny when you start "eating rocks," as stones kicked up from the leader
rocket into your vehicles windshield. Owza. The weather, the tracks, the
animation - all are excellent, better than any racer I've seen on the
Playstation to date, especially in terms of polish.
	The game itself consists of 6 tracks, with 3 variations (same
terrain type, slightly different scenery and a completely different route)
and the option to drive them either forwards or backwards. The courses
include a desert track, an alpine track, a muddy stadium course, an island
jungle track, and a country track. All of them offer distinctly different
driving experiences, and really add to the replay value. Options include
running unlimited laps, a solo race, a standard race, a season mode, a
head-to-hade race where you race in one direction and your opponent races
in the other, and a mixed mode which alternates between head-to-head races
and standard races. There are, according to the manual, nearly 24 different
vehicles to choose from, with only the first 8 available at start. Beating
a rookie season nets you the next 6 cars, beating the pro season nets you
you a truck, and beating the pro season 3 more times nets you the last
trucks. However, this won't be easy - this game requires an almost _Jet Moto_
-like level of skill, something I appreciate but those looking for a quick
jaunt around Auntie Em's farm won't. The AI plays fast and dirty, despite
its tendency to screw up on the Rookie levels.ractice really plays off.
	The game really struts its stuff in the two player mode. The screen
is split horizontally, but most of the detail remains intact, unlike _Need
For Speed_ or _Daytona: CCE_. There is also a four-player mode, but since I,
lacking a multitap, have not played, I really can't comment on it. 2 player
mode really rocks, though; you can bash and batter your opponent, and,
since the terrain is so challenging, it's really hard for two opponents of
equal skill to really surpass each other. It gets really hair-raising some
times, 'specially when you've gleefully rammed him onto his side on a sand
dune, only to have him roll down and whack your nose, sending you into a 180
or pitching you over as well. Truly, this is not a game of speed, as velocities
rarely exceed 60 mph, but a game of pure, unadulterated *precision*.
	And this is where some folks might have a few complaints: control.
This game does NOT control like _Ridge Racer_ or _Sega Rally_ with their
annoying "tap-tap" approach to control - it's somewhere between them and
_Need For Speed_. Like in real Rally racing, you MUST anticipate curves to
survive, and you MUST be precise in your movements to keep the car precariously
balanced on dunes or hills, or to keep an innocent rut from laying you
flat on top of your hood. Tapping will only cause you tonegotiate turns too
slowly; you have to make your steering with a control pad deliberate and
precise. Also, and this *is* a novel concept - you MUST use your brakes.
You will spend the rest of your meagre racing career hammering dents out
of your hood if you do NOT learn to tap on the brakes coming down a steep 
incline or hitting a bad washboard. And, please, for GOD'S SAKE, Margaret,
let OFF the accelerator when going through bumpy territory! As in the oft-
-cited but rarely-experienced theatre known as real life, hitting a patch
of spotty terrain WILL hurl you into the nearest and most-firmly affixed
piece of scenery. Again, before you complain about the lack of 2-cent 
powerslides or wild control, CONSIDER the effetct of the terrain and LEARN
to brake or at LEAST let off the accelerator. Speed is your enemy unless
controlled properly. Save the flat-out pedal grining for the few clear
straightways and work the gear column and brakes for the control *vital*
to surviving the rest of the track.
	Sound is pretty good all around. Semi-generic rock anthems play
while driving - appropriate, if a bit too Black Sabbathy for my tastes.
SOunds are excellent, from the splash of mud and water to the nicely-
-modulated engine roars and the sounds of bruised suspensions. An
appropriate aural package, if a bit unremarkable.
	There really isn't much more to say that isn't outside of the scope
of this review. This is as close to the real thing as it gets with being,
well, unplayable. Racing Time Trials against computer set scores would be
closer to true rally racing, but that would unequivocally *suck*. What
_Rally Cross_ does capture, and admirably, thanks to outstanding graphics
and physics modelling, is the FEEL of rally racing, where the terrain, not
the opposing cars, is your enemy. If you don't treat the environment like
your competitior and only worry about the other cars, you WILL wind up
tumbling down hills. And THAT, kids, is rally racing in a nutshell.
ScoreZ:
	Graphics:   9.0.  The best seen in a home racer to date, save perhaps
		               for _Rage Racer_.
	Animation:  9.0.  Superb. The cars look and feel like slightly 
			           exaggerated versions of the real things. 
	Music:      6.5.  Decent, albeit unnoteworthy.
	Sound FX:   8.0.  Environmentally appropriate.
	Control:    8.5.  Very precise, although some time MUST be spent in
	                   learning the best techniques to negotiate the
	                   terrain. This is NOT a game of passing cars, this
		               is a game of *surviving*.
	Playability:8.5.  It's a blast, 'specially with a f(r)iend.
	OVERALL:    8.5
	I heartily recommend this to any person with a liking for racing
games that deviate from the standard _Ridge Racer_ formula, that force
you to reconsider the rules. This game has a HUGE amount of depth for a 
racer, especially in learning the tracks and how to respond to the terrain.
This game WILL take awhile to master, both with the ton of options and the
challenge of the tracks. Don't give up because you can't place in your
first five attempts ala _Mario Kart 64_; evolve a little. Approach this
as an entirely new racing experience, as that's what it is - it's not
stack cars, or street racing, it's a rally sim.
	This is the best Sony's done to date, easily surpassing (IMHO)
AM3's _Sega Rally_ in terms of graphics and technique. Those who prefer
a simpler, less knuckle-biting experience with an easier learning curve
will undoubtedly prefer the immensely playable but oh-so-_Ridge Racer_
antics of Sega's offering; but those of us who want something a little
closer to actual rally racing will find the Sony offering to be the
superior.
---
Douglas L. Erickson             |  Curiosity killed the cat/
douglas@mailhost.ecn.ou.edu     |  Loathsome rituals brought it back.
Visit my Anime Art Gallery at:  |                          - Revelation X
http://www.ecn.ou.edu/~douglas  | {My opinions remain unsponsored by ECN}