THERE are racing games land there are racing games but when it comes to the best Sega Rally is absolute king - in the arcades that is. Sit back, grab hold of the steering-wheel and gear-shift and take the ride of a lifetime. It's very fast and, with the clock counting down the seconds, you just long to make the next checkpoint. Fail to do so and the game is up.
Sega Rally is what they built arcades for; it's non-stop pulsating action from the word go. It's so good, in fact, that one could easily spend the bus-fare home on it and dream about the near-perfect stage you just completed as you stroll home-wards. But with this PC version you should have no such worries. For the initial outlay of £40 you can play Sega Rally until the cows come home.
But, unfortunately, life is never quite that simple. The PC has its limitations (depending on the specification) and if it's not at the top end of the market, Sega Rally will show your system's limitations. And, although specifying a Pentium 75 as the minimum requirement and P90 as the preferred option, the makers should instead have stuck a big red label on the front, warning customers that nothing less than a P166 would do the game justice.
Even if you get over that hurdle, there are still one or two more.
If played in the arcade, the steering wheel and gear shift come as standard equipment and this enhances the playing no end. On the PC, however, these are expensive extras and fiddling with keys doesn't quite give the same enjoyment. This doesn't become apparent until you take the car out for its first test drive. It's a real disappointment no matter how much you are prepared for it.
Graphics: 90%, Sound: 79%, Gameplay: 80%