Collection essentials #323: Sega Rally Championship (Saturn)

Sega was going strong in arcades in the mid ‘90s, and racing games were a very popular arcade genre at the time which benefited greatly from being in 3D. Sega Rally Championship was one of their hits of 1995, the same year the Saturn was going to be released outside of Japan, so naturally they made sure to give the fans a home console port, and they let you know it was special with the special silver-colored cover. While the Saturn couldn’t properly replicate the sharp graphics of the arcade version, this port turned out pretty good nonetheless.

This game stands out from other racing games at the time because, as its name suggests, it is based on a particular motorsport called rallying. Most Americans like me probably aren’t too familiar with rallying since it’s not that popular over here, but if you’re European you’re more likely to know what I’m talking about. Being American, I don’t have a great understanding of rallying myself, but I know it’s a type of racing that involves driving on public roads to reach checkpoints within a certain time, and it can be done on a variety of different areas including dirt roads.

But you don’t need to be a rallying aficionado to play and enjoy this game. Sega did a great job striking a balance of making this game really feel like a rallying experience, but making sure that the controls and gameplay elements are simple enough to be made accessible for any person to just pick up and play. The controls feel good and easy to use, yet difficult to master once the tracks get harder and you need to make tighter turns. As is (apparently) often the case in real rallying, there’s a guy riding shotgun in your car who will notify you of what kind of turns are coming up, so you can hopefully position yourself in just the right way ahead of time. This version of the game also offers a welcome number of options to customize your experience, relating to the controls and difficulty. There are a few different cars to race with, too.

My main complaint with Sega Rally Championship is that there’s just not enough of it. The game only has four tracks! That just leaves me wanting more. Of course, the idea is to play those tracks over and over again trying to get the best times possible. 

Sega Rally Championship was very positively reviewed when it came out, and wound up being one of the best-selling Sega Saturn titles. However, outside Japan, that wasn’t saying much. In Europe where rallying is very popular, it was a popular pick for people who owned a Saturn, but it doesn’t appear that it managed to convince too many people to buy the console.

I could use someone to compete against as motivation for me to play some Sega Rally in modern times. If you want to give me your times so I can beat them, I’d be glad to see how I can do! 

Daytona USA was also a popular arcade racer that got ported onto the Saturn. I do own it and thought about including it on the list, but I dunno, aside from the iconic music I don’t feel too much affection for Saturn Daytona USA for some reason. Maybe it’s because the graphics were hugely downgraded from the arcade. I think Sega Rally is the better game a the deserving essential.