Microsoft RalliSport Challenge - Lulays Joystick Review

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Name: - RalliSport Challenge

Microsoft Description:
Mud, snow, rain, dirt, all at 150 MPH, on the edge of control, with one big huge grin on your face.

RalliSport Challenge, an amazingly realistic racing experience coming soon only on the Xbox, puts you in the driver’s seat of rally racing excitement with more than 25 fully licensed cars, four adrenaline pumping rally race modes, a wide choice of tracks to choose between, and much more.

Taking full advantage of the power of the Xbox you’ll see swaying trees, people and animals running to avoid your car’s path, and realistic particle effects as you speed through a wide variety of terrain types. Misjudge a corner and you’ll quickly be rewarded with a spectacular crash and realistic car damage.

Compete in four different rally event types (Hill Climb, "conventional" Rally, Rallycross, and Ice Racing) as you race against the clock or go wheel-to-wheel in fierce grudge matches against AI opponents with unique personalities, or up to three of your friends in four-player split screen competition.

Prepare yourself for a pure white-knuckle racing experience in RalliSport Challenge, coming only on the Xbox, Spring 2002.

6/4/2002 - After we have spent a billion hours on the various NASCAR Xbox games, it was time for a change. And that timely change came the day RC was delivered.
There's lots of different kinds of racing out there. I've played most every kind of racing sim game you can imagine. RalliSport Challenge is simply different than any of them, yet there are comparable pieces found throughout the game. How does it stack up? Read on…

"Turn Right After the Hill Mate"		94.2
First Impression	After plopping in the game, I waited through the intro - so I can tell you how cool it is. They did a nice job on the intro, but it was completely computer graphics and a combination of actual game replays… they didn't use any REAL video from actual race cars which I think would of made it better. The replays they selected looked a little 'cartoony' and not quite as nice as Gotham Racing's replays. Consequently, I was a bit skeptical about how good this game was going to be… but you better read on - cuz it gets real good - real fast.	8.8
Configurable Options	Views You get a bumper view, a hood view (from on top of the hood), and six varying views from behind the car. I spent most of the time running from the hood view, but longed for an 'in car' view with a steering wheel and my dude shifting gears - or that COOL open tire and frame view that NASCAR Heat 2002 sports! Car Settings Suspension: soft, medium, or hard Gear Ratio: short, medium, long Power Ratio: rear, middle, front Brake Balance: rear, middle, front Steering: tight or loose Transmission: auto or manual Tires: tarmac, intermediate, gravel, snow, or ice Controller Settings There are three pre-set controller choices. You can choose anyone of them and turn the vibration on or off, but you cannot configure each button to your exact liking. Display You can configure your HUD options (viewable on your screen) and you can select camera options. Music Sound The new standard options that you have seen on Xbox games, allowing you to customize your music selections. Sounds You can adjust the Master Volume, Music, Engine, Speech, and Environment sounds. Menu Flow The menu options are very easy to follow, and you can get into and out of something if you just want to get in and 'poke around'.	9.0
Graphics	Well, I started out this review bashing the replay views. They are fine on their own, they are just not as good as they could be when you see games like Gotham Racing. Enough about that… once you get into the car and start racing you will see where the real work went… into the driving physics and action graphics. When you are driving these cars, you can't help but notice the outstanding job these guys did on the graphics. The textures in the various terrains like sand, dirt, snow, and pavement are very good. You can imagine how hard sand and snow are to emulate, but they did a great job. Cool Tip: Remember to check out the 'backfire' action that comes out of the exhaust when the turbo backs up. To see it go off, use one of the back views and put the pedal to the metal... watch and listen and you'll see and hear 'er blow!	9.8
Sound	Very good. If you have heard the in car sounds watching RC racing on TV, you will know what to expect with this game… right down to the English accent from your Navigator! The turbo back fire noises and rev limiter sounds are excellent and add a lot to the game.	9.9
Game Play / Beginner Thru Advanced	There is much fun for the beginners all the way through the advanced. And if you think that you are going to buy this game and just ROMP your way right through the advanced levels, you are in for a surprise. The upper levels take a ton of hours to get down, and you will still have the unexpected little brain farts that will kill you. Driving I am going to give you some game comparisons to hopefully help describe how wide varying this game plays. The cars slide through the corners like Powerslide. They jump similar to Off Road Racing. They 'hook up' on the pavement somewhere between Test Drive and F1 Racing (that's a wide range huh?). The over all game play experience is similar to Test Drive. The Big Difference… a NAVIGATOR If you have been doing racing sims for a while, you have probably heard your crew chief talking to you while you are driving… but that is not comparable to having a navigator telling you what is coming. To conquer this game, you will simply have to learn how to listen to your navigator - and perform the move per his instructions. Once you start getting this down, the game fun takes a shift to the next gear… and the game becomes even funner. Most games have a turning point that elevates the FUN level, and when you get in sync with the navigator - you will have reached an important level of fun! It is simply a joy to race, but I can't emphasize enough that it is very tough to conquer the higher levels - so don't think that you are going to open the box and start racing the top level cars. You have to learn how to drive the 'go karts' before they give you the keys to the 'F1'. If you get impatient, you will have to go out looking for cheats on the web.	14.0
Multi-player	Four players can fasten their seatbelts and let 'er rip. Just the fact that you can go head-to-head with four other guys is huge, and with the Xbox - nothing else is acceptable. Of course 61 inches doesn't hurt, cuz everyone gets the equivalent of a 30 inch TV.	14.0
Value (price for what you get)	I would always rather pay $20 over $50, but considering that the price is $50 for them all - this game easily stacks up as one of the best racing sims you can own, so it is a good value.	14.4
Recommend to Others	If you like Powerslide - this game is a 'no brainer'. If you like Off Road racing (like stadium trucks) you should really like this game. These are fair comparisons for some of the characterizations of the game, but this is simply a game you have to experience to realize that there is really NO other racing sim like this… and if you like racing sims - buy it!	14.3

RECOMMENDATIONS to the Vendor

LAZ

Add the ability to completely configure each button on the controllers.
Give us some way of opening those locked cars without having to get cheats… when the boyz come over - they all want to drive the HOT cars and you can't show 'em the game at it's best until the lame game owner gets to the highest levels. Bottom line... cheats suck - if it's in the game let me use it.