Sega Rally Championship

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Sega Rally Championship
System(s): Sega Model 2A CRX, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2, PC
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM5, Sega AM4 (cabinet) Sega AM3, CS Team, Sega CS R&D 2 (plus) H.I.C. M2
Peripherals supported: Arcade Racer Joystick
Genre: Racing
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1997-01-31 ¥8,800 (9,240)8,800 (9,240) HCJ-0111 US 1997 US (Expert Software) 199x EU 1997-01-07 MK-85048-50 UK (Xplosiv) 199x UK (Grabit) 199x UK (Fair Game) 199x KR 199x JP 2006-01-12 SLPM-62703
ESRB Sega ELSPA USK OFLC CERO ESRA Tectoy

Sega Rally Championship (セガラリー・チャンピオンシップ), also known simply as Sega Rally or occasionally by the extended title of Sega Rally Championship 1995, is an arcade racing game developed by Sega AM5 for Sega Model 2A CRX arcade hardware. It was released in 1995 to critical acclaim, and is the first in the Sega Rally series.

This is not the same game as the Game Boy Advance and N-Gage Sega Rally Championships which emerged in the years which followed.

Gameplay

Sega Rally is an off-road racing game, in which players drive rally cars across one of four tracks as quickly as possible. Like prior Sega arcade racing games, Sega Rally enforces a strict time limit and a checkpoint system - success is measured by how fast the player can navigate the three standard tracks before either crossing the final finish line or retiring due to the timer running out.

As a rally game, Sega Rally has no concept of "laps" (in the arcade version at least) - each track is treated as a linear journey from a defined beginning to a defined end (although in reality, all tracks are circular, so the beginning is the end). There are computer players which need to be avoided, with the overall aim of finishing in first place at the end of third course. The positions are carried through to each track, so if a user finishes in 10th on the first track, he or she will start in 10th place on the second. Opponent cars are not covered by the same strict rules - they exist solely to provide an extra layer of challenge to the game.

Sega Rally is notable for being the first racing game to allow players to drive on different surfaces, including including asphalt, gravel and mud. Each surface has different friction properties which adjust the car's handling accordingly. Prior to Sega Rally's release, racing games often took a more simplified approach to differing surface types - grass for example might simply reduce the top speed of the car, not affect handling, leading to unrealistic results. These features allow Sega Rally to stand out as a true "rally" game, a sport very much dictated by road surfaces, rather than a generic racing game with rally-esque settings.

As is standard for rallying, an unseen co-driver issues instructions for the road ahead, although it would not be until Sega Rally 2 when distances would be mentioned. The computer controlled AI cars are not as aggressive as seen in Daytona USA - they instead aim to take the best possible racing line at all times to deny the player of valuable seconds.

Cars

Only three cars exist in the first Sega Rally, two by Italian car manufacturer Lancia and one by the Japanese firm Toyota. All three are based on Group A models seen in the World Rally Championship, although there are some minor differences in regards to paintwork and sponsors.

	Toyota Celica CT-Four
	The Toyota Celica CT-Four (ST205) was launched in February 1994 and stands as the newest of the cars on offer in Sega Rally. It is perhaps the token Japanese car, and was likely included because the ST205 was new at the time , as this model did not win any World Rally Championships (though did win the 39ème Tour de Corse during the 1995 season). Older models of the car, the ST185 and ST165 were more successful (the ST165 winning the 1990 WRC). Curiously the Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD, a very different looking car with more titles to its name is absent from this game (despite being built by the same company). The Celica Turbo 4WD won the WRC for drivers in 1992, 1993 and 1994 as well as the WRC for constructors in 1993 and 1994.
	Lancia Delta HF Integrale
	The Lancia Delta HF Integrale, won the WRC constructors award in 1992, and is the follow-up to other award winning members of its family, the Lancia Delta HF 4WD (champions in 1987), Lancia Delta Integrale (champions in 1988 and 1989) and Lancia Delta Integrale 16V (champions in 1991, constructors champions in 1990). The Delta and its derivatives dominated rallying in the years before Sega Rally's release, and the Lancia badge is perhaps best associated with this motorsport.
	Lancia Stratos HF
	The Lancia Stratos HF is the "hidden" car in the original Sega Rally, although featured predominantly in Sega Rally 2 and in most Sega Rally games since. It is the oldest car of the trio, though is a iconic vehicle in rallying after winning the WRC in 1974, 1975 and 1976 (and the driver's championship in 1977). The Statos is the most powerful car in-game but comes with the price of floatier handling (attributed to the fact that it is two-wheel drive, not four). The Statros is unlocked by finishing first on the Lakeside track in the Saturn version, or by inputting the code on the mode selection screen. In the arcade it needs to be unlocked by placing the gear stick into neutral and holding break, inserting a coin, and pressing the view buttons in order on the menu until a sound effect is heard. Surprisingly this is not the first time the Lancia Stratos was playable in a Sega game - Safari Race for the SG-1000 contains both Lancia Stratoses and Audi Quattros.

As is standard for many Sega racing games, both automatic and manual transmission variants of all three cars exist, with the manual car generally being faster.

Tracks

	Desert (easy)
	Alright! Let's watch your run one more time on the desert course. Desert, perhaps the most iconic of all Sega Rally tracks, is a relatively simple dirt/mud circuit with easy turns and a couple of jumps. It also features a helicopter.
	Forest (medium)
	Well, you're gonna see your excellent run one more time. Cool breeze, birds and clouds. Relax and enjoy... Forest ramps up the challenge with a few tight turns. Part of the track takes place on mud, while others take place on the faster road surface.
	Mountain (hard)
	Let's watch. The key to victory on this cool course is patience. But, as you know, only patience is not enough to win. Mountain is the hardest track, with no off-road sections (aside from embankments), many turns and narrow roads, leaving little room for error.
	Lakeside
	If you have to drive only one course for the rest of your life, this is the one. Is this heaven? Yeah... Lakeside is a bonus course that can be played after finishing the previous courses in first place.

History

Release

Saturn Version

Following the arcade release, plans were put in place to bring the game in an enhanced form to the Sega Saturn. Marketed as a killer app for the system, the Saturn version arrived in late 1995/early 1996 to critical acclaim, and is often regarded as one of the system's best racing games.

The Saturn release retains all the features of the arcade version, although due to the Saturn being less powerful than the Model 2 arcade board, significant cuts were made to graphics, namely polygon counts, texture quality, draw distance and screen resolutions. To compensate, the Saturn Sega Rally has a full redbook audio soundtrack created by Naofumi Hataya.

As well as retaining the arcade mode and its original rules, the Saturn version contains a time attack mode in which you can race across multiple laps against a player ghost, as well as a split-screen two-player mode with similar track options. The primary difference is the ability to create and use customised variants of the Celica and Delta, with added adjustments for handling, tyres, front and back suspension, and even the blow-off valve to give the car a different noise when moving. The Saturn version also keeps a more detailed record of lap times and statistics of that nature. There is also a two-player cooparative mode.

The Saturn version was converted by Sega of Japan's CS Team, under guidance from Sega AM3. There are minor differences between regions - generally the US version has fewer graphical details than its Japanese and European counterparts, and its replay mode has fewer camera angles. All versions are compatible with the Arcade Racer Joystick.

Plus

1996 saw the release of Sega Rally Championship Plus in Japan. Plus is very much the same game and the standard Saturn Japanese release, but adds XBAND support and is tuned to work with the 3D Control Pad. For the latter reason alone it is generally considered to be the most definitive Sega Rally for the console.

PC Version

1997 saw a PC release of Sega Rally, appropriately titled Sega Rally Championship PC. This version shares the same feature set as the Saturn version although sports superior graphics and network play.

An very rare variant of the PC version, distributed with Righteous 3D video cards (by Orchid) exists with added Direct3D support. The added 3D hardware acceleration provided by this port allows for superior graphics and frame rates, although as textures were not replaced, it is still on the whole less detailed than the Model 2 version.

Plus: NetLink Edition

In the United States an enhanced Sega Saturn version of the game was released under the title of Sega Rally Championship Plus: NetLink Edition. This is similar to Sega Rally Championship Plus, though swaps XBAND support for Sega NetLink support. It does not, however, feature 3D Control Pad support, so now that the NetLink service is deceased, is no different to the standard Saturn port.

PlayStation 2 Version

A version for the PlayStation 2 was bundled as a box set with Sega Rally 2006 in Japan and Asia. This is a straight port of the Model 2 version with some adjustments for the PlayStation 2 hardawre. Only the arcade mode is available and extra settings of the Saturn and PC versions are absent, however it is currently the most accurate home port of the game available.

Legacy

Sega Rally was followed by Sega Rally 2 for Sega Model 3 hardware and later the Sega Dreamcast. Codemasters have cited Sega Rally as a strong influence on their first Colin McRae Rally game.

Production Credits

Arcade Version

Chief Programmer: Sohei Yamamoto
Programmer: Kenichi Yamamoto, Shinobu Hayashi, Satoshi Shiozaki
Chief Graphic Designer: Kenji Sasaki
Graphic Designer: Kumiko Shoji, Kenji Arai, Seiichi Yamagata, Tomoko Yemura, Nachiyo Kamogawa
Music: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Sound Effects & Music: Tomoyuki Kawamura
Mechanical Engineer: Masao Yoshimoto, Masayoshi Yamada, Hiroki Koyama, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Tomoya Takasugi, Takuya Ohashi
Cabinet Graphic Designer: Jun Hirato
Special Thanks: Toyota Motor Corporation, Fiat Auto S.P.A. -Lancia-, C-One Corporation, Shuichi Furuoka, Koh Akiyama
Navigator's Voice: Kenneth Ibrahim
Assistant Director: Isao Matsumoto
Produced by: Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Directed by: Kenji Sasaki

Saturn Version

Head Programmers: Ryuichi Hattori, Osamu Hori
Programmers: Kouichi Toya, Yasuhiro Watanabe, Koji Kaifu
Head Graphic Designers: Minoru Matsuura, Shiro Kinemura
Graphic Designers: Saori Wada, Masashi Kubo, Maiko Kitagawa
Sound Director: Tatsuya Kozaki
Music Composer: Naofumi Hataya
Sound Effects: Seiro Okamoto, Tatsuya Kozaki
Sound Programmers: Naomi Yamamoto, Tadahiko Inoue, Yoshiaki Kashima
Navigator's Voice: Kennes Ibrahim
Special Thanks: Kenji Sasaki, Sohei Yamamoto, Mario Cotza, Toyota Motor Corporation, Fiat Auto S.P.A. - Lancia
Supervisor: Yoshio Fujimoto
Produced by: Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Directed by: Ryuichi Hattori, Atsuhiko Nakamura

---

Head Programmers: Ryuichi Hattori, Osamu Hori
Programmers: Kouichi Toya, Yasuhiro Watanabe, Koji Kaifu
Head Graphic Designers: Minoru Matsuura, Shiro Kinemura
Graphic Designers: Saori Wada, Masashi Kubo, Maiko Kitagawa
Sound Producer: Yukifumi Makino
Sound Director: Tatsuya Kozaki
Music Composer: Naofumi Hataya
Sound Effects: Seiro Okamoto, Tatsuya Kozaki
Sound Programmers: Naomi Yamamoto, Tadahiko Inoue, Yoshiaki Kashima
Navigator's Voice: Kenneth Ibrahim
Recording Producer: Tatsutoshi Narita
Recording Director: Fumitaka Shibata
Recording Engineer: Naoyuki Machida
Public Relation: Hiroto Kikuchi, Ryutaro Nonaka, Tadashi Takezaki, Yasushi Nagumo
Overseas Coordination: James Spahn, Ryoichi Hasegawa
Manual Preparation: Hiroyuki Mitsui, Hiroya Tanaka, Hayato Takebayashi
Special Thanks: Kenji Sasaki, Sohei Yamamoto, Shinji Kawahira, Jun Senoue, Youji Ishii, Koichi Nagata, Makoto Oshitani, Yutaka Kamimura, Ko Tanaka, Mario Cotza, Koki Takahira (Car Graphic), Toshiya Hasegawa (Rally Xpress), C-One Corporation, Castrol, Michelin
Original Sound Track

"Ignition"

• 'Conditioned Reflex', 'Getting Muddy', 'Power Games', 'Reckless Running', 'Ignition', 'Desert Land', 'My Dear Friend, Rally'

Music Composed by: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

Sound Produced by: Takayuki Hijikata

• 'My Dear Friend, Rally'

Written by: Kenneth Ibrahim, Tetsuya Mizuguchi

Supervisor: Yoshio Fujimoto (TEIN)
Thanks to the cooperation of Toyota & Lancia. The automobiles in Sega Rally Championship are the actual cars that participated in the WRC.

• Toyota Celica GT-Four, Lancia Delta HF Integrale, and Lancia Stratos

Produced by: Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Directed by: Ryuichi Hattori, Atsuhiko Nakamura
Presented by: Sega Enterprises

US Manual Credits

Producer: Chris Cutliff
Assistant Producer: Tracy Johnson
Test Lead: Fernando Valderrama
Test Assistant Leads: Steve Thompson, Jay Vo, Sean Doidge
Manual: Marc Sherrod
Sega Sports Team: Scott Rohde, Chris Smith, Gerald Deyoung, Rosie Freeman, Mark Panigua, Lorne Asuncion, Todd Morgan, Dave Perkinson, Matt Underwood, Terry Thomas, Tom Abramson, John Gillin, Anne Moellering, Brad Hogan, John Carlucci, Adriane DeGroot

US Manual Credits (Plus: NetLink Edition)

Sega of America:

Producer: Tre Johnson

Net Link Producer: Paul Stathacopoulos

Director of Net Link Engineering: Yutaka Yamamoto

Lead Testers: Sean Doidge, Michael McCollum, Chris Lucich

Product Manager: Andrew Stein

Product Specialist: Mark Subotnick

Packaging: Eric Smith

Designers/Programmers: Victor Zavala, Patrick Joiner, Bruce Jones

Manual: Frank Higgins/Andrew Stein

Manual Layout: Verdoni Multi Media

SOA Software Test Department: Anthony Borba, Steve Bourdet, Ryan Hurth, Rick Greet, Ty Johnson, Marc Dawson, Roger DeForest, Polly Villayuta, Chris Cates, Jeremy Caine, Jesse Caseras, Aaron Hommes, Greg Pett, Hamilton Baylon, Lloyd Kinoshita, John Jansen, Matt Ironside, Mo Berry, Ferdinand Villar, Michael Yu

Special Thanks: Mark Lindstrom, Steve Hutchins, Greg Winslow, Geraldine Dessimoz, Mike Needham, Yoshi Nakano, Eileen Sacman, Dan Stevens, Marcelyn Ditter, Anne Moellering, Mike Markey, Sega On-Line and the Seedy Crew

MPATH, Inc.:

XBAND Software: Josh Horwich, Janice Hsia, Dave Jacobs, Richard Kiss, Dan Lindsey, Andrew Stadler, Hoan Tran

XBAND Art: Joanna Escolar, Joey Stocklein

Mplayer Art: William Haas

Web Design: John Schroeder

PlanetWeb, Inc.:

VP Engineering: Ken Soohoo

Computer Engineering: Jeff Chin, Steven Cole, Warren Gee, Edgar Allen Tu

Art Direction: Cuyler Gee

QA Manager: Randall Hughes

QA: John Takizawa

Director of Server Technologies: James Straus

PC Version

Head Programmers: Ryuichi Hattori, Osamu Hori
Programmers: Kouichi Toya, Yasuhiro Watanabe, Koji Kaifu
Head Graphic Designers: Minoru Matsuura, Shiro Kinemura
Graphic Designers: Saori Wada, Masashi Kubo, Maiko Kitagawa
Sound Director: Tatsuya Kozaki
Music Composer: Naofumi Hataya
Sound Effects: Seiro Okamoto, Tatsuya Kozaki
Sound Programmers: Naomi Yamamoto, Tadahiko Inoue, Yoshiaki Kashima
Navigator's Voice: Kenneth Ibrahim
Special Thanks: Kenji Sasaki, Sohei Yamamoto, Mario Cotza, Toyota Motor Corporation, Fiat Auto S.P.A. - Lancia
Supervisor: Yoshio Fujimoto
Produced by: Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Directed by: Ryuichi Hattori, Atsuhiko Nakamura

PlayStation 2 Version

Chief Programmer: Sohei Yamamoto
Programmer: Kenichi Yamamoto, Shinobu Hayashi, Satoshi Shiozaki
Chief Graphic Designer: Kenji Sasaki
Graphic Designer: Kumiko Shoji, Kenji Arai, Seiichi Yamagata, Tomoko Yemura, Nachiyo Kamogawa
Music & Sound Effects: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Tomoyuki Kawamura
Sound Programmer: Yuichi UeDA
Mechanical Engineer: Masao Yoshimoto, Masayoshi Yamada, Hiroki Koyama, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Tomoya Takasugi, Takuya Ohashi
Cabinet Graphic Designer: Tetsuo Okabe
Special Thanks: Toyota Motor Corporation, Fiat Auto S.P.A. -Lancia-, C-One Corporation, Shuichi Furuoka, Koh Akiyama
Navigator's Voice: Kenneth Ibrahim
Assistant Director: Isao Matsumoto
Produced by: Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Directed by: Kenji Sasaki

Gallery

• 

  Deluxe cabinet

• 

  Twin Cabinet

Promotional Material

• 

  Model 2 US flyer

• 

  Model 2 US flyer (deluxe)

• 

  Model 2 EU(?) flyer (twin)

• 

  Model 2 JP flyer

• 

  Model 2 JP flyer (twin)

• Saturn US TV advert

• 

  Saturn JP flyer

• SegaRally Saturn DE PrintAdvert.jpg

  Saturn DE print advert

Physical Scans

Model 2 Version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 93 №163, p93 Games World: The Magazine (UK) 83 №11, p76/77

	88
Based on 2 reviews

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Sega Rally Championship

Model 2, US (upright)

Model 2, US (deluxe)

Model 2, US (twin)

Model 2, JP (deluxe)

Model 2, JP (twin)

Model 2, UK (deluxe)

Model 2, UK (twin)

Saturn Version

Sega Retro Average

Publication Score Source CD Consoles (FR) 90 №13, p46/47/48/49/50/51 Consoles + (FR) 96 №50, p98/99/100/101 Computer & Video Games (UK) 95 №171, p38/39/40/41 93 Edge (UK) 80 №29, p70/71 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) 85 95 Electric Playground GamePro (US) 80 №79, p58 GamesMaster (UK) 95 №38, p54/55 Game Informer (US) 86 January 1996 Maximum (UK) 100 №3, p142 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 95 №40, p64-66 Next Generation (US) 100 Vol. 2, №13, p178 Next Generation (US) 100 Vol. 2, №14, p160 Player One (FR) 98 №60, p108/109/110 Sega Power (UK) 97 №75 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) 97 №3, p78/79 Ultimate Future Games (UK) 93 №15, p58/59/60/61

	93
Based on 18 reviews

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

{{SAT egm_source№78, p188	L}}	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Sega Rally Championship

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, US (Not for Resale)

Saturn, US (Plus: NetLink Edition)
Cover
Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, EU (newer)

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual Inlay

Saturn, JP (Plus)
Cover
Spinecard Disc Inlay

Saturn, JP (Plus) (Satakore)
Cover
Disc Inlay

Saturn, BR
Cover

Saturn, KR
Cover

PC Version

PC, US
Cover

PC, US (Expert Software)
Cover

PC, EU
Disc Jewel Case

PC, EU (Ntertainment)
<div style="margin:auto; max-width:px"> 320x120px Cover

PC, JP
Cover

PC, JP (Ultra 2000)
Cover

PC, AU (Valusoft)

PC, UK (Xplosiv)
Cover
Disc

PC, UK (Xplosiv) (Alt)

PC, UK (GrabIt)
Cover

PC, UK (Fair Game)

PC, DE

PC, DE (Green Pepper)
Cover

PC, NL/FR (Sega Classics)
Cover
Disc

PC, PL (Xplosiv)

PC, Asia

PC, KR

PlayStation 2 Version

PlayStation 2, JP
Cover

External Links

• Sega of Japan catalogue page (Japanese) (PC version)