Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: May 31, 2000

Even with all the hoopla about the recently released Mobil 1 Rally Championship from Electronic Arts and the soon to be released Test Drive Rally (formerly Rally Masters) from Infogrames, the most widely recognized name in computerized rally racing is no doubt still Colin McRae Rally from the British Codemasters. There are a couple of reasons for this fame: First, even though it was just released in North America, Colin McRae Rally has been a huge hit in Europe for over a year and a half, as even the current game box is dated 1998; second, Colin McRae himself is the most famous rally racer in the world (nicknamed The Flying Scotsman), having been the youngest driver ever to have become world champion in this sport. So even though Codemasters’ marketing budget pales by comparison to what the giants Electronic Arts and Infogrames could spend, its product begins with the advantage of name recognition. But can Colin McRae Rally beat the others in terms of performance?

The racing environments span eight countries and include 52 unique international stages (the rally nomenclature for route or course); you race over mud, ice, snow, gravel, tarmac, and rain. Each surface requires its own special technique, as for example the cars slip a lot more on ice than they do on tarmac. The rough and twisty country courses contain hills and valleys and even waterways you must traverse to get where you need to go. The weather can be clear, cloudy, rainy, snowy, stormy, or foggy, and these conditions affect the road surface and thus the driving itself; and the time of day shifts as you race from early morning to midday to night. This title does not attempt to replicate a real-life competition such as that in Mobil 1 Rally Championship, and instead features simulated rally racing in Australia, Corsica, Indonesia, Great Britain, Greece, Monaco (Monte Carlo), New Zealand, and Sweden. Half of the countries have what are called “super-special” stages, in which two rally cars compete against each other on the same track, with one starting on an inner loop and the other on an equal-length outer loop. But it is noteworthy that at the outset only a few of the eight rallies are initially open to you for racing.

There are 12 laser modeled world rally cars, with all the best known ones present including Audi, Ford, Mitsubishi, Renault, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen. All of the cars handle extremely differently, which is a testimony to the accuracy of the simulation. Zipping along at speeds topping 150 miles per hour, you get to compete against real-life professional rally drivers including McRae himself. At first you drive the relatively easy underpowered two-wheel-drive cars, including the Volkswagen Golf, Seat Ibiza, and Skoda Felicia, without too much pressure to drive really fast. Then as you progress you move up to the heavier and more powerful 4-wheel-drive cars, including the Ford Escort, Mitsubishi Lancer, and Toyota Corolla, providing more intense competition. You even get to see McRae’s own Subaru Impreza, worth $400,000 with a 300-horsepower engine, a six-speed semi-automatic transmission, four-wheel drive, and electro-hydraulically controlled differentials.

All the standard racing modes are available in Colin McRae Rally, without any real innovation in this regard. Time Trial has you race in any individual stage alone or against one player for the fastest time; Championship involves you competing in the whole season of stages to try to become world champion; and Rally allows you to explore and experiment with a single county rally, consisting of six or seven individual stages. In addition, there are two multiplayer racing modes — a two-player split-screen racing option on a single computer, or network competition supporting up to eight players over a LAN (there is no Internet play). Finally, an extensive rally school is available to help train you in the art and science of rally racing. In this type of racing you compete against the clock, as opponents do not start at the same time but instead take off in staggered one-minute intervals. Instead of jockeying for position against others, you must focus on trying to improve your driving using your own set of ideal benchmarks. Five camera views are available — close and far behind the car, fender, hood, and headcam perspectives.