A steep learning curve and deep customization options are the trademarks of a great racing game. The unapologetically arcade-styled Sega Rally Revo has neither going for it, with one of the smallest learning curves in a racing game this side of Live Arcade and customization options that make the kiddie pool look like an ocean.
The game's biggest flaw will likely make it a big draw among non-racing game fans though. Given the need to power slide around turns constantly, on less than agreeable surfaces, the game is incredibly easy to pick up and play with decent success immediately. The game's keys to victory seem obvious right from the start, steer less, steer early, and keep your foot on the gas. There is never a need to worry about slamming into a tree and being stuck. The game's fast-moving tracks and ever-present fences keep the action moving, and make it nearly impossible to actually loose control of your car or get off course. Computer-driven cars never feel smart enough to provide good competition out of anything other than sheer speed, as they typically let you race right on by without putting up any kind of fight.
As for realism, the game has little to none. Despite how important it is to follow in the tread of other cars around thick, muddy tracks in real life, it feels like a definite option here. Gamers will notice almost no difference between blazing their own path on the course and following the path laid out for them by cars in front of them. The old Days Of Thunder quote, "Rubbing's racing" remains true here, but the usual idea of rubbing your opponent into a wall will have to wait for another game. If the game used crash physics realistically, your car would be in a ditch and totaled thirty-seconds into every race. Instead, cars are nearly impossible to spinout. Over small jumps, your car will occasionally land on top of another, with no damage done to either car, and with both parties continuing as though nothing happened. In fact, the cars never take any damage at all, regardless of what they hit, or how hard.
For a game so lacking in realism, it is no surprise that they did not pay attention to the real-life car details. Despite your constantly unlocking real cars, from real car companies famous for rally cars, the game never allows you to see what the difference is from one car to the next. There are no vital statistics for any of the cars. You cannot see the difference in horsepower, weight, or any of the other pertinent pieces of data that might help you make a decision from one car to the next to start a series. This is especially disturbing because the developers obviously took the time and care to make sure that gamers would notice a difference from one car to the next. Trial and error is the only way gamers will truly know what car is best for them in the game. Perhaps the lack of customization available for the cars left developers wondering whether gamers attracted to the title would care.
You will find more chances to pimp your car in a NASCAR game than you will here. You have so few chances to alter your car that they reset with each series. Your options are to change your tires, change the paint job, or change the transmission. Although there are only two choices, off-road or road, the choice of tires in the game is an important one, but the game frustrates you by only allowing you to make the selection at the start of a series. With three to four races in a series, and varying amounts of rough terrain and road to each, it would have made more sense to allow gamers to swap tires from one race to the next. You must race the entire series with the same car, tires, paint job, and transmission. It does add a level of difficulty to the game, but it feels unnecessary.
The paint jobs for each car are preset, and not customizable. As you drive more with each car, you will unlock two additional paint jobs to pick from. With only three paint jobs per car, gamers will be disappointed when they realize that the color of the preset decals and the car itself is never customizable. The game's shoddy manual transmission controls add another layer of frustration and disappointment. With most gamers using the triggers for gas and brakes, the placement of the shift buttons as 'X' and 'B' buttons is awkward and confusing. In continuing the trend of limited customization, the only other controller option is to use the bumpers, which actually works worse. Why not assign the shifting to the right-stick, which remains unused through the game?
