Rally Cross

With Rally Cross, Sony effectively delivers all the excitement of off-road racing--minus the mud. debris, and bruises. Extremely sharp graphics, numerous game options, and good ol' rock 'n' roll racing fun ensure a fine time for 4x4 racing fans.

Hit the Dirt

Up to four players can race in simultaneous split-screen mode, or you can go solo to try and master the tracks. With its solid lineup of 20 cars and trucks, six race locations with three courses each, and single-race or tournament modes. Rally Cross ensures replayability.

The game also features beautifully rendered 3D racing environments with off-road surfaces like sand. dirt, grass, snow, and ice. Subtle touches such as leaves and mud kicked up by wheels, skid marks burning into the pavement, and dents and bruises on the cars enhance the realism. The only graphics drawback is a shortage of directional signs indicating sharp turns. Crisp sound effects, such as gravel spitting up and the squeaks of the vehicle's chassis, complement the sound.

Rally Fun!

High-speed racing fans may be disappointed with Rally Cross as hot doggers will continually find themselves running off embankments and ending up top down. Mastering your ride instead of driving fast is the key. The ability to roll your vehicle is essential when tackling sharp turns or flipping your car back over onto the road.

Although there are plenty of crashes, bumps, and flips, with a little practice and patience, you can rule Rally Cross's roads. Go 4x4 it!

Rally Cross is gunnin' its engines for a promising start on the PlayStation. This on-road/off-road racer sends you jouncing down six rough-n-tumble tracks behind the wheel of one of 20 rally cars. The eye-catching graphics and rowdy skids, flips, and crashes should make for fun races as you battle both the pack and the terrain. If you don't keep the rubber side down, you even have to roll your car back over! Sony plans to spend more time under the hood, refining the graphics, handling, and gameplay of the preview version we played. If it makes the right calls. Rally Cross has the potential to peel out with some hot PlayStation facing.

Rally Cross looks like Sony's answer to Sega's Rally, which hasn't been topped since its release on the Saturn a year ago. Sony's Rally Cross appears to have the graphic quality and gameplay firepower to give the long-standing king of off-road racers a run for its money.

Immediately apparent is the level of depth and attention to detail Sony has gone to to make things as realistic as possible. This shows most noticeably in the vehicle physics and the way in which it affects gameplay. Four-wheel independent suspension along with true acceleration and breaking characteristics takes this off-road racer to the next level of realism. Hitting a dip in the road or a banked curve at the wrong angle and speed will result in your vehicle flipping or rocking back and forth, making it hard to regain control.

Other more entertaining driving maneuvers include power-sliding, jumping and impressive roll-over crashes. Be warned, as the vehicles take visible damage as the race continues on.

A hefty 20 different cars are offered, all with their own distinctive speed, acceleration, traction and handling characteristics. Unfortunately, the vehicles in Rally Cross are not name-brand cars. Nonetheless, the cars hold their own with their sporty styling, functioning brake lights, rotating wheels and a good "throaty" engine grow that will make you forget that you aren't racing brand-name cars.

The racing environments are large, impressive and detailed. There are six courses in all, each with three separate tracks. You also have the option to race them backward in order to prolong gameplay.

The tracks range from a stadium-cross to an island course. This diversity allows for a variety of racing surfaces. Your vehicle will have to traverse dirt, snow, ice, gravel, pavement, grass and sand as you make your way through all of the tracks. Many of them have secret roadways and other bonuses hidden amongst the trees and bushes that make things a little more interesting.

Other elements within the tracks include streams, leaf piles and mud-pits for cars to plow through, thus spitting up debris behind the rear wheels. There are several camera angles from which to view the action. Rally's optional cameras consist of bumper, hood, first-person and chase cam.

The most notable option is an ambitious four-player Split-screen Mode. If the final version of the game can run this smoothly, it might be the best feature of the game. With any luck. Rally Cross could be the quality off-road simulation the PS has been lacking.

Sony's gening into the racing game with Rally Cross, a four-player speedfest that drops you behind the wheel of 12 rally cars and 4 trucks. The rubber starts bumin' on 18 tracks in fantasy locations like the lost mines, royal gardens, and the jungle, and each course involves on-road and off-road action. Multiple pathways through the tracks challenge you to find the best path to the finish, and track conditions like snow, gravel, mud. and water affect your car's response. Up to four players can smash fenders.. .all at once in a splitscreen divided into quarters.