Picked this up for 1 english pound sterling under the premise that I was being a dolt. After copious play I can say that it isn't the red headed bastard child that I thought it was (apologies for the analogy).
What initialy grates is that playing it immediately after the original epoc making version it seems like they've tried to emulate the look, with similar menus and sounds etc. After sidelining that as a superficial issue, and actually play the game its obvious it comes from the same league as Sega Rally, but they twiddled with it.
Using the DC controller as the umm controller, and coming immediately from the Saturn and its controller its most natural to use the d-pad and ignore all analogue aspects. Which I have done. Basically slide/drift initiation was a all or nothing affair originally. If you wanted to drift a corner you had to decide and commit before breakfast. In Sega Rally 2, a drift is started oh so simply, just double the time on that direction than a twitch turn and the back end flails out without question.
That completely changes the game, not only is the drift easier, but the tracks are wider and less technically challenging. Remember the first Desert track, a novice player wouldn't beable to navigate that last chicane before the long long long right hander for love'nor'money. SR2 doesn't have any on that jazz on the first track, it does progressively get more dicey, its just not as tight.
Naturally the arcade mode is where its at. But they've plonked this crazy 10YEAR CHAMPIONSHIP mode in there, which is an even MORE dumbed down version of the arcade mode, with some more diverse yet ever-so-less-well-engineered tracks. You can change tires, setups, ratios, packed lunch... just a bit dirivitive for me.
However, saying that, I haven't yet "won" Arcade mode, so there is something there to master, maybe using analogue bits might improvethings.
The only thing you can try and do is enjoy it without weight of expectation. It's an alright game that has been superceded by almost every big name rally game since, mainly because it tries to be a rally game. Sega Rally wasn't trying to be a rally game, you see: like all Sega games of the period, they were arcade games first (score lots of points, complete the challenge) and about the subject second (the fact you are in a 'car' is peripheral).
SR2 tries hard to be a rally game, so it's not as arcadey as SR1, nor as techincally accomplished as a Colin McRae, V-Rally or even the Gran Turismo rally bits.
Don't expect a lot and you may enjoy it, but it's not a great game. Mildly enjyable, at best. Oh, and analogue does improve the experience in my opinion.
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♦
A serious house on serious Earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognised, and robed as destinies.
~Philip Larkin,
Church Going
You were playing Sega Rally using digital? You nutter. Plug in a 3D pad and play the game the way God intended.
No no no, the Saturn wheel is essential and pwns any other control method.
You were playing Sega Rally using digital? You nutter. Plug in a 3D pad and play the game the way God intended.
Only Sega Rally Plus (Jpn-only relase) supports analgoue control. You know that, yeah?
Think the original did too. But not really. I.e. it works with the wheel therefore the 3d pad too.
As for Sega Rally Plus... that may be my holy grail. Details are not specific, is it exactly the same game, or did they "funk it up"?
Oh yeah and my Digital pad skills are ulta honed on Sega Rally, its like I'm playing a fighter, left, right, left left, A HADOKEN!
You were playing Sega Rally using digital? You nutter. Plug in a 3D pad and play the game the way God intended.
Only Sega Rally Plus (Jpn-only relase) supports analgoue control. You know that, yeah?
Yeah I read that somewhere, not sure that's 100% true. It's been a while but I'm reasonably confident that the PAL version works with the 3D Pad and gives full analogue control.
I used the analogue pad in the game when I used to play it, but I'm pretty confident it wasn't - I'm sure you couldn't hold an angle with the analogue (digital requires you 'position' a car in a series of movements, as you know. Even if you 'hold' it in one direction it's still at 0 until you reposition, making a 1 value again).
If you hold the analogue in one position (away from the default 'centered' position) on SR1, does the bonnet stay in that position, or does it keep moving? That's the tester.
______
♦
A serious house on serious Earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognised, and robed as destinies.
~Philip Larkin,
Church Going
Way I understand it... initial Japanese release was d-pad or wheel, and then Plus release supported the analog pads.
Pal release was basically the Plus version, and also supports the analog pads.
Really? Cool.
Not that I don't believe you, but do you have a link to this info? I'm just really surprised because my PAL copy (which I no longer have to test, unfortunately) never felt like analogue, even with the analogue pad. Might have been because I was just shit, though
______
♦
A serious house on serious Earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognised, and robed as destinies.
~Philip Larkin,
Church Going
I definitly played PAL Sega Rally with 3d pad... and no idea if it was or wasn't analogue.
More importanly what happened to the Serial link? As I understand it NetLink is a 28.8k modem, so they must;ve twddle the netcode to make it work fairly comfortably?
Easiest way to check is with the rev counter and using Trebs method of checking the steering. I used to play on the 3D pad all the time, I'm sure I wouldn't have bothered setting it up if it was doing digital only. Still I've been a tit a few times before now
I don't mean to be a stick in the mud but I couldn't play SR2 the frame rate was really awful. Was this just a problem that was addressed in later releases (e.g. PAL)? I don't remember which version I played.
Hmm don't know, I've played the PAL version and I don't think it was a problem, I've got the Japanese version now, but not had a chance to play it. Is it bad throughout or is it sporadic slowdown?
I think Sega Rally 2 is 30/25fps ntsc/pal.
The pal version is unoptimised too, no 60Hz option and big fat borders. Low frame rate and no 60Hz mode in pal games seems to be a common trait of the DC WinCE games.
It runs full screen 30fps on an ntsc machine, but presumably that screws up the in-game clock.
If you input this code on the title screen, some trackside detail is sacrificed for a better framerate.
Up, A, Down, Down, Left, Right, B, B, Down
Works on all versions. The expert SRC2 players all agree that the JP version through VGA is the smoothest way to experience the game though.
Ah groovy, need to try that.
Pal version vga should be just as good as the ntsc version... I might have a crack at this this evening
Did it work? I've still not fixed my DC, so I can't try this out just yet.