Rally Trophy offers almost a dozen different cars to drive across the rough terrain courses that rally racing is famous for. You can drive classics such as a 94 Saab V4, a Morris Mini Cooper and a Ford Cortina through 5 different countries that contain a total of 42 tracks that contain some of the most vicious turns that I have ever raced on. Much like the Gran Turismo series, Rally Trophy offers 2 different game modes: Arcade and Rally. Arcade mode is pretty much what you think it is; you simply choose your car and race against other opponents. You don't have to fiddle around with your car, nor do you have to worry about totally trashing your car either. Rally mode offers a much deeper experience, allow you to fine tune your car by changing the suspension, brakes, steering and much more. You'll also have to keep an eye out on the condition of your parts, since they also wear down after a couple of races. Another difference that I noticed was that all of the courses are somewhat different when playing in Rally or Arcade mode, which is a really nice change of pace from other games that just reuse all the tracks no matter what mode you are playing it. I do wish that I could have a choice between what types of tracks I could play in though.

The single player mode in either Arcade or Rally is very nice. As it is in real life, the Rally Trophy pits you against... time. You don't have to worry about someone overtaking you, and you don't have to worry one bit about you playing catch up to the car in front of you. The only thing you need to worry about is how fast you get to the finish line. And while the game seems to be a little on the hard side, it's still very enjoyable. It's one of those games that has found the sweet spot when attempting to adjust a game's difficulty, because while a lot of the tracks in the game can be really tough the first time around, they become fairly tolerable on the second and third attempts.

Graphically the game is very solid. While I don't think it's on the level as Gran Turismo 3 (or perhaps it's the fault of my video card), it's not terrible, and at times it can be really nice to look at. The car models themselves are very nice, and really do look like their real life counterparts. I did notice quite a bit of popup while playing the game, but again, this is most likely the fault of my video card.

The controls are a really mixed bag, and it really all depends on your hardware setup. Using the keyboard, Rally Trophy has a very slippery feel to it, and controlling your vehicle can be a pain in the neck at times. However, playing this game with a steering wheel and some pedals is an absolute dream, and easily beats out Colin McRae Rally in this respect. Trying this out with the Microsoft Sidewinder also impressed me, as the game is much easier to control using both of these accessories than using the old keyboard or mouse.

What really hurts this game is the lack of any additional features thrown in. Gamers today are all about longevity, and while unlocking hidden tracks and cars might keep them occupied for a while, it's just not enough. You can't do many of the things in Rally Trophy that you could in other games, such as changing the colour of your car, nor can you save any of your replays, which is just plain criminal given the beauty of this game.

While Rally Trophy is a great playing game, I can't help but get the feeling that I've played this before when it was called Colin McRae Rally or Sega Rally. With the exception of the classic vintage cars that you can drive around, the Rally Trophy attempts to do nothing new for the genre, and seems more like a good addition to a rally lover's library.

· · · Reno