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First off I’d like to say I’ve never been the biggest Rally fan. The physics to me were, to put it in one word, "bouncy." The closest I ever had to having fun with a rally game would’ve been playing Sega Rally for the Dreamcast. My biggest gripe on that puppy was the ungodly difficult to reach checkpoints. Now, one year later, we get our second rally title on the DC and it’s a beauty. In my humble opinion it destroys Sega’s flagship rally game in almost every category. If you’re a rally fan, this game has it all…well almost all. Read on and see what I mean. The graphic engine is a pure delight. Sporting nice car models, while not being afraid to rough them up with mud and bang ups. There are 26 cars total, 16 to start with and 10 to open up. While I wish there was more variety to the models, I can’t gripe, as this is the rally world. One thing that's missing is the ability to edit or change the paint jobs on the cars. Each track is beautiful, with rich textures, moving fans, and just a hint of pop up. The games does slow down however slightly, though on occasion. Test Drive V-Rally is sporting a solid engine, and this just gets me all excited for how nice Lemans will look later this year!
Sounds are the weak link that kept this from getting in the "A" range. The car sounds are fine, but the ambient noises hurt. I found myself actually turning up the music on this one to drown out the overall sounds, which is something I NEVER do. If I to point out one particular nuisance, it would be the boring co-pilot. Granted, Sega Rally’s wasn’t much better, but if I had someone telling me, "Easy right…long easy left..etc." without any other form of conversation, he’d be thrown out the passenger door. Not that any particular sound is retched, there just wasn’t anything that was totally pleasing to the ears, with the exception of the music by Sin. Control wise, this is the best playing rally game I’ve ever played. It’s realistic enough for sim fans, but keeps the play control simplistic enough for rookies as well. Power sliding is a breeze, especially during those treacherous weather difficulties. Eden Studios even thought of adding braking assistants to help you learn the tracks better. Test Drive V-Rally is loaded with options to keep any racing fan happy. 26 cars, Over 80 tracks, and even a full fledged track editor has been added. Between tracks on the Championship mode, you have a car modification option to fix up any damages you received on the prior track. It’s nice, but more of a problem then a good thing. If only some kind of car garage mode was added for adding parts and painting, this game would be an ultimate classic. As it is though, the game is truly deep and will satisfy racing and rally fans alike. If you are in the mood for another racing game on the Dreamcast, by all means pick up this one…it has the goods.
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