Top Gear Rally 2

"If you're ready to step up to a realistic racing game, Top Gear® Rally 2 is the one to beat. This is the first and only game on the N64 to feature point-to-point rally courses and authentic rally racers from Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi. If you survive the rigors of ARSG Rally School, you'll earn racing certification for races around the world, on courses through every imaginable environmental condition. This isn't just simply the most realistic rally game on the planet - it's also the best. Add parts and customize 15 authentic cars, including models from Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi Attract new sponsors and use your earnings to purchase new racing equipment and parts. Unlock hidden cars and courses by winning race seasons in Championship Mode. Learn rally techniques and earn Racing Class certification at the ARSG Driver School. Never drive the same track twice with the new TGR2 random track generation system!"

Another Top gear Rally and this time from a different developer that wants to step it up from the arcade like experience to more simulation. As rally games go, it has the usual setup of multiple championships based around different track setups. What stands out in this one is a damage system which has your vehicle taking damage if you hit walls or cars slowing your car down and tires that pop and need changing mid race. Any damage needs sorting before the next leg of the rally. As you complete races faster cars will unlock which you can either jump to or spend earned points on upgrades for your current vehicle to keep up with the requirements of the harder championships. Winning also awards decals for your car which in turn brings in more sponsorship money.

But does it work, is it fun to play? The short answer is NO!. It doesnt take long before the damage mechanic becomes frustrating. Engine overheating is a constant and you cant do much about it with upgrades and happens more often with the wrong tires in use as your wheels just spin to engine destruction. Selecting the correct tires is the most important part of the game and getting wrong will cost you dearly. You can only buy upgrades at the start of each rally so its important you have each tire set ready as it is not always clear what each track will require. To add salt in the wound it will also cost you time if you need to repair damage and swap tires between legs which can effect your overall lead in the rally.

It doesnt help that just like the previous game, there is very little content with only four track types and they are made up of maybe 10 segments that get connected up in various ways, just like building a track in a track editor. There is not a lot of variation between tracks, just length with more track bits snapped on. The game expects you to re-race rally's in order to build up championship points and spending money which can drag out the game. Decisions made on upgrading or changing car team can have an effect on this as you lose money when changing teams but maybe its worth it compared to spending the same upgrading your vehicle to a similar level.

Popping tires can be really annoying and takes a couple of settings to repair which you have to call from the start menu. Whilst the same can happen to the competing cars, it doesnt really matter as you are competing against a pre determined time so even if you beat all the cars in the rally, you can still end up last if you didn't meat the times set so smashing the other cars off the racing line and leaving them in the dust doesnt really have an effect on the final result leading to more frustrations.

The longplay shows playing through each rally in turn and popping into the rally school between championships to earn some extra points unlocking more races and car options. I may not have gone in with the best strategy of getting a new car between championships with just a few upgrades leading to some race replay later in the game for more upgrade money. The Snow tracks are the absolute worst with it being very difficult to get traction. This might be an emulation issue effecting the games physics causing the car to bounce around and not stick to the track. What ever the cause its very frustrating and causes a big problem in the world rally championship and a snow breaking challenge in the rally school.

How bad is it that nothing happens for completing all the championships. I think it wants you to race forever more so I have to manually roll the credits followed by a quick look at all the car decals in single play mode. Thankfully, Kemco saw the good sense in going back to a more arcade driving experience with the next Top Gear games.

00:00:00 Amateur Cup - Tutorial Race
00:04:55 Amateur Cup - Eagle Heights
00:12:05 Amateur Cup - St. August Annual
00:19:26 Amateur Cup - 100 Waters Classic
00:27:05 Amateur Cup - Tutorial Race
00:30:18 ARSG Driver School - Amateur License
00:34:13 ARSG Driver School - Sprint License
00:40:30 Sprint Cup - Benin City Drift
00:52:30 Sprint Cup - Ladsughlin Speedway
01:02:38 Sprint Cup - Northwestern Rim
01:12:05 ARSG Driver School- National License
01:18:00 National Cup - Brazzaville ProSport
01:26:30 National Cup - Desolation Valley
01:33:35 National Cup - Timberline Rune
01:41:05 National Cup - International ProSport
01:51:05 ARSG Driver School - World License
01:57:55 World Cup - Porto-Novo Togo
02:10:00 World Cup - Gurtch Gulley Run
02:23:10 ARSG Driver School - Rally License
02:30:42 World Cup - 10,000 Lakes Rally
------re-racing for money ------
02:48:48 World Cup - 10,000 Lakes Rally
03:06:50 World Cup - Gurtch Gulley Run
03:20:10 World Cup - Porto-Novo Togo
----------------------------------------
03:31:22 Rally Cup - International Drift
03:41:54 Rally Cup - Ambdalin Run
03:52:12 Rally Cup - Socna Flats
04:01:25 Rally Cup - Jaipur Heights Supercross
04:10:38 Rally Cup - African Republic Pro Rally
04:21:05 World Cup- Jaipur Heights
04:34:55 Manually rolled Credits