Top Gear Rally

By now many of you will be wondering whether we've all gone mad - Top Gear Rally has already been reviewed in a past issue. So what, you might be wondering, could possibly drive us to review it again?

It's not what you might think - we haven't realised that our past review score was wrong and hastily decided to review the same game again in the hope of not looking daft in front of our readers, after all, no halfway decent mag would ever do that! No, we've simply got our hands on the Japanese version of TGRt which happens to be different enough from the US and European versions to warrant another review.

It turns out that rather than simply porting the original game across to Japanese NTSC format. Boss Game Studios have taken the time required to translate some of the text into Japanese to tweak everything somewhat.

Take the cars, for example. All the of the paint jobs have been redone for the island market and, more noticeably, some of the cars from the original version have been replaced with different ones, presumably models expected to be more popular with the game-playing population of Japan.

I Feel The Need...

More important than the aesthetic changes though,are the changes to the gameplay. In-game animation is a lot faster and smoother than before, giving the whole game a lot more pace and excitement. Just as importantly, the handling of the cars - one of the bigger bones of contention in the US/UK versions - has been adjusted, so that the responsiveness of the cars has been improved, and you should find yourself spending a lot less time getting to know the scenery on the bends a trifle intimately.

If you happen to be a brand-new N64 owner, and for some strange reason haven't yet encountered Top Gear Rally, then a brief recap is probably in order.

TGR is a fast-paced rally game -hence the name - which gives you the opportunity to drive a number of different rally-modified vehicles through championship seasons over a variety of different courses. Each course has widely differing terrain, and each contains its own hazards, shortcuts and nicely-designed scenery.

Initially you only have access to a limited number of cars and a couple of the courses, but as you progress through the seasons, you'll unlock newer, tougher courses and gain access to better, faster cars, which you'll need if you want to succeed when competing in the subsequent racing seasons.

Complicating your progress as you race are the other competitors, all of whom are as keen to win as you, and you'll also need to contend with the different environmental conditions, ranging from glaring sun through rain or fog to the ultimate challenge, snow. All these elements also have an effect on the various courses - snow turns previously easy bends into treacherously dangerous obstacles.

In addition to the increasingly powerful 'ordinary' cars, TGR also includes some more unusual bonus vehicles, such as the beachball car, which is constructed from a large ball with four smaller balls as wheels, and the Cupra car, which is basically a blue ice cube on wheels, complete with lights for night racing.

Run Your Mates Into The Ground!

As well as the one player championship mode, TGR also features a one and two player arcade mode, where players can race against a drone car or a friend over their favourite courses in all the various weather conditions. In this mode, though, only the courses and cars that have first been gained in championship mode can be used.

If you find that you're really bad at it, there's also a practice mode, which allows you to drive around the track at your leisure in whatever weather conditions you feel suitable, and thus learn the in and outs of the track without any other cars to distract you.

The cars are fast, but more importantly - in this version - they look fast. You see, the European version had the small problem that if you were watching rather than playing the game, as you probably would be if you were in a shop, then the game didn't actually seem as fast as it did when you were playing it. This does make sense, but you'd have to play it to see what we mean. Hence a lot of people tended to dismiss TGR as too slow after a quick glance. Since the Japanese version plays fast and looks fast, it's no longer a problem.

It's debatable whether or not 'ft's worth anyone who already owns a version of Top Gear Rally rushing out and buying this version. However, the increased speed, superior handling and - in our opinion - better vehicles, do make it a lot more fun to play than the UK/US versions of the game. And priced at only £5 more than the PAL edition (from our importers, at least), it's certainly well worth anyone with the appropriate hardware taking a gander at. If you can ignore the trivially small amount of Japanese text - the vast majority is still in English -then what you get is a superior game for only a slight cost increase!

IT'S HIGHLY UNLIKELY that you've ever zoomed along narrow country lanes at extremely illegal speeds in a rally-spec Ford RS 200, given that they're about as common as Scottish Tories. Well, I have (courtesy of a successful game designer who shall remain nameless until the statute of limitations on motoring offences comes into effect), and take it from me, it was a bloody terrifying experience! While no videogame will ever be able to recreate the feeling of your stomach and its contents being pancaked against your spine under full acceleration or the buttock-clenching fear that the next blind corner you go around will turn out to be occupied by the arse end of a John Deere, Top Gear Rally nevertheless delivers similarly sweat-dripping thrills. And you don't have to pay insurance premiums that could buy a house!

If you were watching someone playing the game in a shop, you probably wouldn't be that impressed. At first, Top Gear Rally doesn't seem especially fast. Although one of the first two cars available is an Escort Cosworth, it ambles around the track more like an Escort Popular 1.1 with beaded seat covers and a nodding dog on the parcel shelf. It would be very easy to make the mistaken assumption that this was all the game has to offer.

Luckily, it isn't. Playing the Championship game, you fight your way from the back of a 20-car grid around a number of exceptionally long courses – winning a season of races opens up new tracks and, more importantly, lets you take the wheel of new and increasingly fast cars. Although the cars aren't actually named in the game, presumably for legal reasons, the two-letter codenames sort of give things away. After five seasons, some of the cars on offer include the aforementioned Cosworth, a Lancia Delta, a Porsche 959, BMW's M3 and a Nissan Skyline GT-R, all of which can be customised using TGR's built-in paint shop.

SPEED BUGGY

Once you've moved on from the initial selection of cars, the speed picks up very quickly, to the point where you start to worry that you're going too fast! The in-car camera, in particular, is almost enough to induce motion sickness as you blast along some extremely bumpy tracks, and you don't need a Rumble Pak to feel the impact if you hit a wall head-on.

The great thing about Top Gear Rally is that, for the first time on the N64, the cars handle in a realistic way. Even though it's still an arcade game at heart – you can barrel-roll your car down a cliff then carry on racing with hardly a pause – you can feel the weight of the cars as they plough round bends, and have to learn just how much opposite lock to put on to get round a corner in a crowd-pleasing powerslide instead of slamming side-on into a rock!

The cars themselves are brilliantly modelled – not just in the sense that they're immediately recognisable as their real-world counterparts, but also in how they perform on the road. They lean on their suspension as they go round corners, handle differently through turns depending on whether they're front- or rear-wheel drive, and even have different centres of gravity. There's a hump on the first course which sends the cars into the air – if you take it at full pelt in the mid-engined RS 200 or the rear-engined Porsche, your vehicle will actually start to tip backwards in mid-air with the weight of the engine!

THE CAR'S THE STAR

Even though nothing actually stops your car permanently (well, almost nothing, but more on that later), Top Gear Rally doesn't skimp on showing the damage inflicted on the luckless motor. The body caves in under impacts, the full garage-pleasing effect shown at the end of each race when what's left of your car is mounted on a turntable and every dinged, dented and downright destroyed panel is displayed for the whole world to ridicule. If you're an especially bad driver, it's possible to halve the width of your car through repeated sideswiping, leaving it looking like something ZZ Top might drive around in! Damage even affects your car's performance, bent (and unaerodynamic) panels slowing you down and making the steering pull to one side.

WEATHER 'TIS NOBLER

This sort of attention to detail is what sets Top Gear Rally apart from its rivals. Although the amount of trackside detail is fairly sparse (the scenery is only occasionally broken up by buildings, landmarks and – quelle surprise – hot air balloons) it's a lot more convincing than Multi Racing Championship's grainy roadside clutter, and gives the feeling of being on a real road rather than an amusement park ride. The care put into the game even extends to the different race conditions – unlike MRC, when the climate changes (the graphical changes when snowfall are so extensive you'd barely think they were the same tracks) and although Top Gear Rally's night driving still isn't up to the level of PlayStation V-Rally, you can't fail to be impressed by the way the rear number plates of the cars in front send the glare of your headlights right back at you.

Top Gear Rally brings new levels of racing realism to the N64, and though it has a few flaws – annoying and not terribly believable engine noises for one, plus lap time readouts that obscure certain corners and an infrequent but infuriating bug where some cars can end up stuck against walls on their noses after a crash, unable to move and requiring the race to be restarted – it's still several laps ahead of Multi Racing Championship, which will annoy all those impatient N64 owners who rushed out and bought MRC because they were desperate for a racing game.

Persistence pays off with Top Gear Rally – once you're past the initially disappointing early stages, you end up with an extremely exciting and playable racer where all aspects of the cars can be fiddled with to your heart's content. With more and bigger tracks than MRC (five in all, plus mirror versions and variable weather conditions that drastically change how each course has to be raced) as well as infinitely more realistic car handling and a far higher challenge level, Top Gear Rally is a must for all petrolheads. THE Games should be congratulated for grabbing this for European release – if you want a racing game that doesn't feature cuddly cartoon characters, Top Gear Rally is the only thing on the track.

AFTER THE YAWNSOME disappointment that was Multi Racing Championship, the next contender in the quest to give the N64 a realistic racing game that can outperform Sega Rally or Rage Racer is Kemco's Top Gear Rally. It looks like it could be a definite contender for the cup as well – it's got more cars, more tracks and it doesn't have the same cretinous commentator as Imagineer's effort! Top Gear Rally has nine cars available (along with, it is rumoured, a pair of secret vehicles that become available once you've achieved enough victories) and have an even greater degree of customisation available those in MRC. As well as being able to adjust suspension settings, fit different types of tyres and the like, you can even give your car a custom paint job and save it out to a Controller Pak. Get ready for a flood of obscene logos!

A major feature of the game, and another which ought to set it apart from MRC, is its simulation of real-world physics. If you're worried that this conjures up images of boffins in white coats droning on about potential energy, don't worry – in Top Gear Rally, it means that if you put two wheels up on an embankment at high speed, your car's going to roll over like a puppy with no left legs! The four tracks (as with the cars, there is apparently a fifth, hidden, track somewhere within the game) over which your car is going to bounce like a spacehopper are huge, and as you can see from the screenshots are a lot more open than MRC's constricted courses.

The tracks are also affected by changing weather conditions like blizzards and rainstorms, which makes their already treacherous hairpins, bumps and drops even more tricky to negotiate. The landscapes on offer are desert, coastline, mountain and jungle – there may also be a mirror mode to give extra variety. The tracks are a lot bigger than those in MRC, and have plenty of secrets to discover. You aren't given any warning of possible shortcuts, but have to discover them for yourself. If you're willing to take the risk, you can attempt to ford rivers and hack through forests in order to cut those precious seconds from your lap time. The gamble is that what looks like a potential shortcut might turn out to be impassable, and cost you the race...

Top Gear Rally offers four different modes of play. Arcade is, as the name suggests, an action-oriented, less realistic version of the game where winning is all that counts. Championship mode requires more attention from the player, as the cars have to be customised for the conditions, and are a lot more prone to taking impromptu flying lessons if corners are taken too fast. Time Attack is, to nobody's great surprise, a time trial mode, and you can probably guess for yourself what happens in Practice.

The question that remains about Top Gear Rally is whether it will be fast enough – as we reported in our E3 feature last month, the version of the game on show in Atlanta wasn't really any faster than MRC. The absence of any real adrenaline-pumping speed was a point against MRC, and a similar lack of whizziness might also cause problems for Top Gear Rally. However, Boss Film Studios have claimed that the final game will be faster than the E3 preview – if it is, then Kemco could soon be spurting champagne all over the podium in a suggestive manner!

We at Our Team have heard about this game forever, and we've finally gotten a chance to get our hands on a playable (if not complete) copy of Kemco's N64 racing game.

Top Gear Rally is one of the more interesting racing games I've played in a while. It them together into one package.

Top Gear Rally is loaded with vehicles, tracks and other variables. The courses can be quite long, and they have multiple branches (some hidden), allowing advanced players to improve their times. They can also be raced backward. Mud. water, ice and nighttime are hazardous conditions you may encounter. When it's dark or rainy, the vehicle's headlights shine the way, snow sticks to tires and mud flies up from behind your wheels.

Mastering the game seems like it could be quite a challenge. Powersliding is a big part of the game, but so is keeping control of your vehicle in adverse conditions. Making the wrong move in icy terrain could really ruin your chances of winning a race.

Surprisingly, there is a shortage of racing games on the N64. Nearing its final stage of completion. Kemco's Top Gear Rally could put an end to this long famine.

Until F-1 WGP, the best N64 racer. Excellent car handling, large and detailed courses and 'paint shop' for custom cars.

Some of the fastest, most realistic driving ever to grace a computer game. Well designed tracks help ensure a healthy lifespan.

Cue Allman Brothers music and lanky fluffy-haired presenter in cowboy boots...

Definitely one of the more exciting and adult games coming to the N64 Is Top Gear Rally from BossGame Studios. At the moment It's about 60-70% complete, but already it's wooing the press with some of the best visuals for a car game yet seen. It certainly makes Sega Rally look like it's running on a VIC 20!

The game structure is that you can race through a vast number of widely unpredictable courses, all with varying weather conditions (snow, rain, ice, fog, night time), and at the moment there are nine cars planned, plus two hidden ones. The Toyota Supra is the main car featured in the game so far, but we've also seen a splendid rendered Porsche 911 and 959.

And of course being a rally game, you are not just confined to a rigid track, and as well as being able to clip the sides with only minimal damage, you can also find secret short cuts and learn to avoid some hazardous areas altogether.

As well as being perfectly detailed, the game features loads of killer features such as perfect transparent lighting effects (good for the lights when driving at night), and quite the most realistic snow we've ever seen in a videogame. The game also has that "Need for Speed" knack for realistic physics and inertia, and each car will handle differently according to whether it's front, rear or four wheel drive. We have also heard that you will be able to damage the cars and even roll them if you have a particularly bad accident. There is of course a two player split screen mode (drool).

At the moment the Japanese version of the game Is thought to arrive In the Summer, with all the cars based on their favourite cars, and then the US copy should hit the shops In October, with Europe at Christmas most likely.

Prospects: It's got cars, you can roll them into ditches, this is going to be massive.

Racing on a Gameboy Advance never ceases to amaze me. How a company can cram the level of detail and realistic feel to a tiny, sometimes airborne, cars is always astounding. Top Gear Rally not only astounds, it manages to delight, giving handheld gamers the first truly real feel of rally racing in a diminutive game. Not only does the game pack 80 tracks and eleven cars into a GBA cart, it also makes the cars almost completely customizable from paint jobs to types of tires and sensitivity of brakes.

The game's tracks are a nice blend of on and off road, outback and city adding to the mix a variety of surface types like sand and mud and an assortment of nasty weather. Gameplay in Rally is a breeze, using the A and B buttons for brakes and gas and the shoulder buttons for shifting if that's your sort of thing. The select button swaps between a view through the windshield and a view of your car and the road in front of it.

The graphics truly push the GBA to its limits, with colorful cars and gritty landscapes. It actually pushes so hard that the game limits the number of cars that can be seen on the screen at any one time. Besides your view of the action, the screen is also filled with a tiny map marking the upcoming turns and opponents' cars, your place in the race, lap number and speed. The top of the screen also displays arrows to mark the severity of approaching turns.

The game's sound is just as packed, giving the cars a satisfying whine as they low gear it around the loose dirt turns of a desert course. An unseen copilot shouts out your driving instructions as you race, just like in the
full-blown rally games.

The game includes several of your typical racing modes like practice, time attack, quick race and three championship modes. It also features excellent head to head racing, though that requires to GBAs a link cable and two Rally game packs to play.

Another really cool feature is the game's online component, yes I said online. All you have to do is beat a time trial race and you're given a password that will allow you access to the game designer's website. Once there you can compare scores and post bragging rights - a pretty cool piece of online competition.

This game manages to blend all the right elements of control, graphics and sound into a package that fits in the palm of your hand while acting like a game fit for a console.

Move over, road rovers! Top Gear Rally is on the track, and it looks like the best racing game for the N64 to date! But will it be able to rev up to the competition (Multi Racing Championship, Formula One, San Francisco Rush) this season?

Rally Impressive Graphics

The clean, smooth, and detailed cars look great against the rendered backgrounds. Real-time shadowing and highlighting allows spectacular nighttime effects and good-looking crashes. The pop-up that's so prevalent in other driving games is almost nonexistent here, and the frame rate moves the game steadily along.

Gear Up

Although the controls take some getting used to (it can only be played via the analog, which allows for greater depth to the driving, but feels foreign to gamers used to pad-based steering), there's little to dislike about TGR. The two-player option also means the game should have some great replay value. Top Gear Rally is tire-riffic!

Top of the Line

Top Gear Rally is poised to take the Nintendo 64 racing crown. Leagues ahead of the dismal Cruis'n USA, TGR features five different on-road and off-road tracks, including desert, mountain, jungle, and coastline tracks, as well as diverse driving conditions, like snow, fog, rain, and night driving. TGR will also be the first driving game to support the Rumble Pack, so look for added thrills to complement the game.

With tricky tracks, impressive visuals, and plentiful options, Top Gear Rally has the goods for the racing faithful. Only a few defective parts keep it off the lead lap.

TGR's strong visuals show off what the N64 can do in capable hands. The car shows damage as you plow into guard rails and canyon walls, and the jungle's reflective mud puddles are a nice touch. Unfortunately, the illusion of speed isn't very dramatic, which hampers the game's pace. Weak engine noises and particularly lame collision sounds further undermine the experience.

Still, the hybrid on-road/off-road tracks are littered with hidden shortcuts, the two-player mode works well, and every car can be customized, from the steering sensitivity to the paint job. Top Gear Rally does have some unfortunate flaws, but racing die-hards and rookies alike will find it worth a weekend whirl.

Graphics

Smooth anti-aliasing and almost no pop-up problems--what a treat! If it weren't for some minor slowdown and night-driving draw-in, graphics would be a perfect score.

Sound

Catastrophic crashes sound more like someone crushing a soda can with their foot, while the lifeless music doesn't force your adrenaline into overdrive.

Control

Response varies on each of the heavy off-road coupes, but the handling is very realistic. That's not to say it's easy or instantly enjoyable, so try experimenting with the settings first.

Fun Factor

Top Gear Rally is better than Cruis'n USA, but what isn't9 While N64 owners cry out for a truly killer racing game, strong but just-shy titles like TGR will have to fill the void.

What good is the N64's massive graphics horsepower it there isn't a dynamic racing game to shift it into high gear? Kemco answers that question with Top Gear Rally, an impressive off-road racing game based on its popular Top Gear series for the 16-bit platforms. Take the wheel of a Porsche 911, Toyota Supra, or Toyota Baja and face numerous gut-wrenching courses in locales ranging from the highest mountains to the lowest deserts. You'll be amazed at the ultra-realistic graphics effects such as rain, dirt, and snow being kicked up by all the traffic. Play first-person, be-hind-the-car, or challenge a friend in sharp, split-screen action. Top Gear Rally looks like fop fun on the N64.