I won’t beat around the proverbial bush with this one: Rally Arcade Classics is the closest a modern game has gotten to capturing the delicious arcade rally racing that Sega Rally 2 so brilliantly was on the Dreamcast. Some of my fondest gaming moments stem from that point in time, where a system only had a handful of games to be played and they were all the peak of their particular genres.
Sega Rally 2 was that for me in 1999-2000, and now, 25 years later, NETK2GAMES’ Rally Arcade Classics has managed to hit that same pleasure area of my brain where good, easy to play but still enthralling racing games permeate. All high praise for sure, you’re probably thinking, so this must have some incredible production values and top of the line graphics, much like Sega’s excellent arcade ports had on that system.
No, not really. Rally Arcade Classics is pretty simple all throughout. Royalty-free music plays in menus, the same canned riff goes off whenever you finish a challenge, on-screen text is probably Arial, and the graphics are only a step above what you would’ve expected to see running on an early PS2 title, only with a higher framerate. Does any of that take away from the quality of the game? Most definitely not, as it controls well, feels great to play as you slide around corners and complete sections in a race.
Do we need anything more than that to get to enjoy a racing game that is obviously aiming at having an ease of play and be something that could run on just about any random PC configuration? The answer is no, but Rally Arcade Classics still provides. There is a surprising amount of content to get through, from the aptly titled arcade to actual rally-to-rally career-type mode, all gradually raising the difficulty and unlocking new cars – that look like the classics but use none of the brands, pretty smart, NETK2GAMES – to use at a very satisfying rate.
But before you can do any of that, you have to earn licenses, and let me tell you, they don’t get as involved as the ones in a Gran Turismo, but they’re still very satisfying to get through, as they show you how to tackle tricky sections in courses quite well. Plus, they’re very quick to get through, 5 minutes tops from my count, and if you’re better at driving than me, you’ll finish them even faster.
Arcade racing games don’t get more straight to the point and well made as Rally Arcade Classics. If you have any sort of nostalgia for old school games as I do, you’ll certainly get a special kick out of this game. But if you’re new to these, it’s also a fantastic pickup, as it’s simple, without fluff, and a whole lot of fun. Don’t worry about realism and just drive – you won’t regret it.
