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Sega Rally is one of the best known and most loved driving franchises in the video game market. It's hardly surprising therefore that, after almost a decade since the last title in the series was released, there is a buzz of excitement in the industry surrounding the launch of Sega Rally 3.
And Sega Amusements Europe didn't disappoint, with a week-long celebration at its London HQ giving customers from around the globe a chance to see its latest creation. But does the game itself deliver?
Well, for a start, there can be no accusations that they've taken development of this game too lightly. Literally years in making, the design team has gone to painstaking lengths to ensure that Sega Rally 3 offers the modern player an experience worthy of the brand's reputation.
The bespoke Europa-R game board alone took almost two years to perfect and, with dual processors and 4GB of RAM, the Invidea-based platform provides what Sega's head of local R&D, Patrick Michael, described as "probably the most powerful graphics engine ever seen in an arcade machine". While the board was developed specifically for Sega Rally 3 in Europe, Michael went on to explain that it will be used as on other games in the future.
Complementing the tailor-made computing power of the machine is a brand new, bespoke motion base, again developed in Europe - but this time in cooperation with Sega Japan. The 2DOF - tilt and lift - system gives a real boost to the game experience and certainly enhances the superb graphics. All features of the new deluxe cabinet have been designed to be easy to operate, with access to all moving parts and data points and the software is all fully operator adjustable.
On the subject of the software, there are three game modes, these are Quick Race, which offers up to six players the chance to choose from one of three courses - Tropical, Canyon and Alpine - and take part in a race against each other and a field of computer cars; Championship, in which a single player must take his car through all of the above stages, completing each stage to progress to the next (if a player finishes the final stage in first place they will unlock a head-to head race on the secret Lakeside track); finally there is Classic Mode, this features a completely remodelled version of the famous desert track from the original Sega Rally, even offering the same cars for that added retro experience. Classic mode also works for up to six players, but as soon as there is more than one player involved, all drone cars are removed from the game, offering head-to-head action with the other players.
Such is its belief in the game, Sega is exploring a number of exciting marketing plans such as tie-ups with the World Rally Championship (which has already licensed the cars featured on the game) and possibly BBC TV's internationally popular show Top Gear.
The production of the deluxe model is currently underway, with order books already brimming after the success of launch week and a twin version of the game should be available at the London Preview show in October.
Commenting on the success of the launch, Sega Amusements Europe's sales and marketing manager Justin Burke said: "Sales have met our extremely high expectations. The game has ticked all the boxes for our customers and their players. It is going to all territories across Europe, the Middle East and Russia, and production is continuing right throughout the summer and after to meet demand."
Will you be visiting the InterGame Expo?
