The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
For our latest entry, we shine the spotlight on Sega Rally Online Arcade.
——————-
Developer: Sumo Digital
Region(s) available: North America
Players: 1-2 (offline) 1-6 (online)
Based on the latest arcade entry in the long-running Sega Rally series, Online packs all the trademark components under its hood that you’d expect from the critically acclaimed rally series. That is, superb and intuitive handling, iconic cars, plenty of tracks, not to mention the main highlight of this latest iteration – fresh online modes. And the best part? Whether you’re a newbie or veteran behind the wheel, Online remains as instantly accessible as they come.
Hope into the driver’s seat and you’ll find your car handles incredibly responsively, and you’ll be gliding almost majestically around muddy bends before you know it. While the vehicles themselves are fairly similar to each other, they do offer some rudimentary differences in areas such as acceleration and top speeds. Still, your success is pretty much contingent on learning the ropes of each track as opposed to how much power your car has under the bonnet. Knowing where each circuit’s pitfalls are is key to securing pole position. Fans of Sega Rally Revo will be pleased to know that the deformable terrain also rears its head here, albeit holding slightly less significance than before.
The nucleus of Online’s single-player antics adheres closely to that of Sega Rally 3’s efforts. Championship Battle has you burning rubber alongside AI drivers in a series of themed stages, ranging from lush tropical landscapes to a dusty desert canyon. Here, your objective is to advance from a measly 22nd place to pole position by the final stage. The AI is pretty competent, and adapts to your performance; slow down and they’ll ease off on the gas, but tear up the track and they’ll become increasingly competitive.
Elsewhere, you can also tackle each stage in quick race form or Time Attack, the latter seeing you compete for the fastest lap time for global online leaderboard supremacy. This leads into the multiplayer component itself, which accommodates up to six players, with any leftover spaces filled by AI. You can also opt to race against a mate in the game’s two-player split-screen mode. Once you’ve chewed through the main distractions, there’s also a couple of unlockable goodies to keep you busy, including new cars and tracks, not to mention some pretty tricky Trophies to collect.
Join us again tomorrow for another glance Inside PlayStation Network.