Michelin Rally Masters: Race of Champions

"Get Closer To God The Hard Way. 30 Unique Real World Drivers put you to the test.
Choose from 17 licensed Rally Cars from Group B, Formula 2 & World Rally Championship.
•Race over 46 tracks in Real World Locations
•Battle the elements as you race over snow, ice, rain and mud in day and night racing!
•Real-Time Car Damage Effects"

The game has a promising opening with a lengthy intro movie and then it's all menus from there. There is a lot of disc loading which gets annoying quick. Between each race the game goes back to the title / score screen before going back to the same race with lengthy loading each time. Upon winning each stage / championship you are awarded with a winning podium video which is very low quality and blocky and re-used throughout the game. There is no effort to keep you interested by using some variations for the different championships. You can imagine my shock when the final ending movie credits roll although quite low detail and blocky although that part was not so shocking.

There are plenty of rally games on the PS1 to choose from but what makes this one different. It plays differently to other games in the type of events and how they are setup in the championship. There are three championships as well as one Main championship, the Race of Champions which is crazy difficult taking place on one track and unlocks nothing for beating it. The three sub championships are made up from multiple races with each tier (Quarter/Semi/Final) being a best of three.

There are multiple cars each handling differently and is chosen by the game before each race. It makes it difficult getting used to how a car controls when you change every race. Cars can be damaged as well visually and physically which is a nice touch. Damage is an aspect you have to watch out mostly in the trophy mode as excessive damage is carried through and you may need to spend time repairing the car. With the challenge cup, you have to worry about the opponent car also colliding with you. The AI drivers can be quite random in their behaviour, going into corners at high speed and flipping their car. Other times they appear to have a prototype warp drive fitted and can belt round track, flip the car, drive the wrong way and still somehow steal the win at the finish line.

There is plenty to play through but the game falls into that trap where once you have spent hours completing each mode, you are expected to do it all again ... and again! just to pad the game out and any sense of enjoyment gets eroded away. The game is challenging enough in its primary modes. I'm not a fan of progression systems that want you to go through it all again but slightly harder. The option should be there right at the start for those wanting the challenge. You are rewarded for your efforts though with additional car unlocks to drive in the time trial modes. The Rm championship is probably the least interesting as it plays exactly the same across the three difficulties. The Challenge Cup and trophy modes at least step it up with longer tracks and weather variations.

The longplay starts out with Race of Champions, completing it unlocks nothing which is a let down considering its difficulty. Then its onto the modes. I play through each mode at F2 level, then all three again at WRC level before finally going through again at Legends level. Once the game is complete I show a quick race in the Stratos which is what we have spent the whole day working towards. There are a few race replays in the opening championship just to show how they look and the music used.

Overall the game is very time consuming and it doesnt feel very rewarding with the unlocks consisting of extra driver bio's to view and extra cars not usable in the championship modes. One saving grace is the Leader board system. In pretty much every racing game ever, you are facing off against one competitor the whole game that gets first place if you don't. But in this game, the competitors are racing against each other and fighting for the top so its not always the same opposing car winning. This means you don't have to win every race in the hops of winning overall and helps to make the game less frustrating when your race doesnt go your way. Of course this rule didn't stick for the final championship and it had one driver pushing me the whole time.

---- Part 1 -----
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:50 Race of Champions
---- RM Championship - F2 ----
00:23:40 Italy
00:42:55 Sweden
01:09:25 Indonesia
01:33:37 USA
01:51:20 England
02:13:40 Gran Canaria
---- RM Challenge Cup - F2 ----
02:32:45 Italy
02:51:30 Indonesia
03:08:55 Sweden
03:28:13 England
03:45:09 USA
---- Rally Master Trophy - F2 ----
04:01:15 Italy
04:23:13 Sweden
04:47:12 Indonesia
05:09:08 USA
05:32:50 England
----Citroen Xsara F2 Unlocked ---
*** Part 2 ***
---- RM Championship - WRC ----
00:00:00 Italy
00:16:10 Sweden
00:39:20 Indonesia
01:00:30 USA
01:15:40 England
01:34:40 Gran Canaria
---- RM Challenge Cup - WRC ----
01:52:50 Italy
02:10:35 Indonesia
02:30:05 Sweden
02:48:10 England
03:08:05 USA
---- Rally Master Trophy - WRC ----
03:26:45 Italy
03:56:00 Sweden
04:27:00 Indonesia
04:56:08 USA
05:26:30 England
---- Mitsubishi Lancer WRC Unlocked ---
*** Part 3 ***
---- RM Championship - Legends ----
00:00:00 Italy
00:13:06 Sweden
00:35:37 Indonesia
00:56:16 USA
01:11:25 England
01:30:30 Gran Canaria
--- Hyundai Coupe Evo II Unlocked ---
---- RM Challenge Cup - Legends ----
01:48:18 Italy
02:05:25 Indonesia
02:27:35 Sweden
02:49:37 England
03:10:35 USA
*** Lancia Delta S4 Unlocked
---- Rally Master Trophy - Legends ----
03:31:15 Italy
04:08:42 Sweden
04:46:55 Indonesia
05:21:37 USA
05:59:28 England
06:29:40 Ending Movie / Credits Unlocked
*** Lancia 037 Unlocked ***
*** Lancia Stratos Unlocked ***
---------------------------------------------------
06:33:24 Drivers Bio
06:36:15 Credits
06:36:54 Show off collected cars and a quick drive in the Lancia Stratos.