Sega Rally 2006 - Arcade Series 1 (PCSX2)
23Sega Rally 2006 for the PS2 running on PCSX2 emulator. Sega Rally 2006 was a Japanese only PS2 game. The fourth arcade series in it consists of 4 tracks that are based on the four tracks from the original 1995 Sega Model 2 Sega Rally.
So, I download this ISO a long time ago. I'd had a really brief play on this using an emulator, but that was it - got distracted by other stuff and never really put any time into it. Decided to give it a bit more of a try today - really wanted to love it; love the little touches like the recreation of the Desert Stage from Sega Rally 2 in the first arcade series and the 4 original Sega Rally stages in the arcade series 4. I think the handling for the most part is pretty good too and feels nice and arcade-y. The graphics aren't the best though, I don't know why they're so grainy looking. I was getting a bit of PCSX2 related slowdown at times too here (PCSX 2 has always been a bit of a funny bugger like that - odd that I get slowdown in a PS2 emulator, but yet I can run a Wii U emulator full speed: https://youtu.be/z1ipde58HXQ)
So, despite the stuff I like about SR 2006 it's got a big issue; it's like whoever was in charge of quality control and playtesting over at Sega JP forgot to change the game difficulty back to 'normal human' difficulty from 'retardedly difficult' before the game was released.
This very first 'Arcade Series 1' race I'm doing here doesn't seem too difficult and I've managed to complete and get 1st on 'Arcade Series 3' too (after a lot of tries) but I'll be fucked if I can do it on 'Arcade Series 4'. I keep running out of time on Lakeside with the finish just in sight (game is an utter prick in this regard too, in that the second the timer hits zero it's game over, you don't get a little grace period where you roll to a stop once it's run out - the difference in some arcade racers between making it over the finish line with a nanosecond to spare).
Had a quick try on Arcade Stage 6 (that opened up after getting a podium in Series 3). It's 4 courses that consist entirely of hairpins and chicanes. Fucking ridiculous - couldn't even catch up to the next car in front of me on the third race, couldn't even make it to the first check point on the fourth.
The AI cars are really annoying too, if you clip them when trying to get past, they seem to suddenly match your speed exactly and become really hard to overtake. This is doubly annoying considering how narrow some of the tracks get and the fact that until you pass them, the rubber bandy car in front of the one you're trying to pass will keep staying out of your reach. Grrr.
Turns out, the Arcade Series hasn't got many parts to it (it only goes up to 6) so I guess that probably explains the severe difficulty jump, but it feels like a bit of a cheap way of adding to the longevity. Arcade Series 4 basically jumps to 'arcade machine' difficulty with how strict the time limit is, and traditionally Sega's home ports have tended to be a tad more forgiving than their arcade big brothers, seeing as how they're not trying to get you to continually cram one pound coins into them. A shame, because like I said, there's a lot to like here, slightly crap graphics aside.
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