Sega Championship Rally

Saturn owners are finally going to be able to play a racing game that they'll be proud of with the release of Sega Championship Rally, Sega's conversion of the hit arcade game. While the company's Daytona game was good, it wasn't as great as it could have been. It showed signs of being rushed for release, particularly in its horrendous clipping problem. All that's been changed this time around.

The hot development house AM2 (of Virtua Fighter fame) is intent on showing the gaming community that the second time is definitely a charm with Sega Championship Rally. In the 75% complete version we got a peek at, players could choose from five vehicles (three automatics and two manual transmissions) and race on three tracks in a variety of modes, including Time Trial, Arcade and 2-Player head to head, in which players compete on a horizontal split screen.The tracks themselves, which run the gamut from Desert, Mountain and Forest, are beautiful and complex, chock-full of challenging (but scenic) terrain and nerve-racking hairpin turns. If you've played Daytona and were let down by it, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how good Rally looks and plays. If you thought that Daytona was the best thing since "margarine-in-a-tub," you should be prepared to be blown away. One last point, though: since when do rallies have laps? We always thought that rally was one continuous race and were surprised to start seeing repeat scenery. Oh well, maybe that problem will be addressed in Sega Championship Rally 2. As it stands, though, this adaptation looks excellent.