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E3 2007: Sega Rally Revo Impressions

It was a nice surprise to see Sony displaying Sega's revival of Sega Rally at their arcade lounge that followed right after the conference. As Sega Rally fans know by now, the last Sega Rally title for the PS2 wasn't so great. It never saw light outside of Japan, and with good reason. Well, here is Sega Rally Revo, designed from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and it's quite the romp.

As soon as you fire up the game, the first thing that hits you is the vibrancy of the colors. The color palette is definitely that classic Sega Rally palette, where everything about the game looks almost candy-like — the urge to like the screen was quite high. The action animated superbly well, as I don't recall a hint of framerate issues. Likewise, the sense of speed was kick ass, and it especially stood out during hairpin turns and monstrous powerslides as your car swoops around a turn.

Track design is precisely the Sega Rally standard that we first witnessed when the arcade game debuted over a decade ago. Deformation, such as leaving mud trails, was definitely very impressive. With every pass of the same spot, you'll notice that your previous pass deformed the track. There's a pretty solid degree of variation in the deformation of the track road, and it comes off quite nice. As you pass over the mud, or snow, your car will pick up a lot of it too. Thankfully, when you're racing, you have pretty slick controls at your disposal, so the experience is instantly engaging.

Most importantly, from what I can gather, Sega Rally Revo is all kinds of fun, fun, and fun. We're happy Sega decided to show this one off after Sony's conference.