New Rally Champ. vs Original

How does the new Rally Championship 2000 compare to the original Magnetic Fields Rally Championship which was released in 1996. Does the physics package remain the same or is it more difficult to drive. I ask because my nine-year-old boys love Rally Championship, and I'm wondering if it's worth buying the new version for an upgrade in graphics if the ease of driving is the same. If people who have played both titles tell me that there's very little different in game play in a prettier package it'll end up as a stocking stuffer next month. www.mdc.net/~mets41

I would say, that the physics are pretty much the same as in that 1996 game, though it is a little more difficult to do powerslides... CU Zolli

>How does the new Rally Championship 2000 compare to the original Magnetic >Fields Rally Championship which was released in 1996. Does the physics >package remain the same or is it more difficult to drive. >I ask because my nine-year-old boys love Rally Championship, and I'm >wondering if it's worth buying the new version for an upgrade in graphics if

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>the ease of driving is the same. If people who have played both titles >tell me that there's very little different in game play in a prettier >package it'll end up as a stocking stuffer next month. >www.mdc.net/~mets41

It's very different. The roads have way more height changes in it. They are not as flat as in the original. Sjoerd

Sorry for the length of this, but I have a lot to say... I've just spent some time playing RC2000, and thought I'd offer my opinions as someone who loves driving games/sims from the "fun" sims like TOCA2 and SCGT, up through full simulations like GPL, SODA and N3. First, let me put a couple of thoughts into perspective... We're getting to a point where there is a lot of sime/game crossover, evident by how some of the less sim-like programs like SCGT do some modelling that traditionally serious programs like N3 don't do. Some people appreciate this, others don't. I'm very happily switching between Rally Championship, Dirt Track Racing and TOCA2 right now. Each offer something the others don't, and I appreciate them for what they are. Dirt Track Racing captures the feel of driving on packed dirt wonderfully, and I feel TOCA2 captures the "rough and tumble" spirit of Touring Car Racing beautifully even though it isn't highly realistic. In that vein, I like Rally Championship, but I don't consider it anywhere near a definitive simulation. I'll preface my comments by saying that all play was done in SIMULATION mode. I think the source of much of the controversy were the comments that the full version driving physics were going to be substantially different from the demo - they aren't. The steering is fast. I backed the slider all the way off, and it helped a lot with my LWFF. The controls/car movement have an immediacy to them that belies the feeling of driving a heavy vehicle on a loose surface. Accelerating, stopping, turning feel like I would expect them to on pavement sections. Front wheel drive or not, Dirt Track Racing better conveys the feeling of the type of corrections you'd expect to be making on a dirt/gravel surface. If you hit a tree, bridge abutment or other object, you do indeed stop dead, slam it in reverse (or hold down the brake pedal in automatic trans mode -unfortunate) and continue. I've often overshot turns and had the car high enough off the ground that I'd suspect it would damage the suspension, upon landing even though these cars are built to be punished. I couple times, I augered in the nose without flipping, and continued on undamaged. There IS damage modelling, some of it conveyed by onscreen text. I damaged the cooling and electrical system on my car, but this was after an awful bit of driving that including hitting a bridge and stopping dead, and missing a bridge completely, going in a stream, then driving up the opposite bank. Only more play time will tell how much it affects performance. I initially got a Cooling System Malfunction message. The car continued to perform the same. I was eventually given another message, this time saying something to the effect of Slow Down. Finally, I had a Cooling System Failure message. This was accompanied by visible steam coming out over the hood using the hood view. I was in the last half of the final stage, and was able to continue to the end. I'm not sure if I would have burned up the car if this had happened earlier on or not. As far as physical control goes, I was unable to get the game to run with split access on my Formula Force, despite the control setup recognizing them immediately. At the start of the race, I pressed the gas pedal and the car revved, but the sound wasn't accompanied by any forward motion. Switching back to combined axis solved the problem. There may be something more to the setup that I missed, but a rally sim NEEDS to have good split axis support. You can hear the real life drivers holding the throttle to the floor while controlling the car with the brake. Overall, there is a lot of good here. As said by almost everyone, the graphics are beautiful. The Pirelli rally starts off in the dark, and it's quite beautiful. The flicker of your 4 huge lights seems just right, and the flash of cameras as you run along the fences with spectators is striking. I can see why Magnetic Fields would want to be somewhat liberal with the damage model. The stages are long, and this would be one intimidating sim with truly accurate physics. More difficult than GPL, given the difficulty of committing huge stages to memory. Most of my rallies would probaby be over within the first few kilometers. I still wish for the opportunity to try. Having the current Simulation mode as a "Semi- Sim" mode between Arcade and a true *** Simulation mode would have been great. DNF's from breaking wheels off or mangling the front end a couple of klicks in would be good incentive to concentrate on keeping the car going for the long run with cautious driving instead of sideswiping scenery and jumping ledges. As far as realism goes, I'd have to say the game most reminds me of a rally version of a newer Need For Speed. Some might consider that an affront, but that is what Rally Championship most reminds me of when I'm playing it. It's definitely not in the GPL and Viper level, nor does it approach SCGT with the Advanced Options Editor. That said, I'm having fun with it, and if you're lucky enough to be able to seperate fun and absolute realism, Rally Championship 2000 is VERY playable. In fact, I'm going back to playing it now. Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

Thanks for the informative and balanced review Mr 9684 (may we call you Tril? :)) Hope to see more people do the same since i am quite interested. Did they include more body noise in the full version? The demo car seemed very quiet considering that it was jumping from bump to bump. I expected more squeaks and thumps from it. David

Very objective review, the first one I read here on RAS about RC2000. Thanks, Andre