Old School Rally PS5 Review. Channeling the PSOne rally games of yore including Colin McRae Rally, Tommy Makinen Rally and Gran Turismo (the rally portions of course), Frozen Lake Games presents to you Old School Rally, and it’s here to remind us of the exhilarating thrill of driver really fast while following instructor directions at high speed through a cornucopia of courses spread across various countries and weather conditions. Does Old School Rally rekindle the arcade pleasures of PS1 rally games or is it time for this old school to close down?
Old School Rally Review (PS5) – Rallying Its Way To Success
Right from the off, Old School Rally impresses with its authentic PSOne-style presentation. The menu includes simplistic icons you can scroll through in a circular motion, and the game’s soundtrack includes an ensemble of easy-going instrumental tunes to ease you into this nostalgic rally experience. Likewise, the visuals are very reminiscent of PlayStation One titles, even going so far as including draw-distance issues! However, though you might think the graphics and draw distances are poor, they’re actually brilliantly authentic and represent everything in the name Old School Rally.
Don’t go into Old School Rally with the idea you’ll be racing iconic classic rally rides from manufacturers such as Lancier, Subaru Impreza, Ford Sierra and Toyota Celica, this is because authentic licensing is out, but quirky and original names are in. Get ready to blaze through courses with the Libra Omega (1992 Lancia Delta) Taurus RS (1998 Subaru Impreza WRC), Gemini T1000 (1987 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth), and the Zeta GRT (1993 Toyota Celica GT4) among a litany of others. There are barely any differences between the made up versions and the genuine articles, so you can rejoice in racing your favourites with only silly names attached on them to avoid licensing squabbles.
The Stage For Rally Is Set
The rally stages are thankfully named after the real-life locations they take place in. Featured courses take place around the world in the United States, Greece, Kenya, China, Japan, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Australia and the UK, so there’s an appreciable breadth any rally-racing fan will certainly enjoy here.
Course designs range from tight and technical, to sprawling and wide-open, and are prone to varying weather conditions and take place at different times of the day. One stage can see you trekking through the snow-laden forests of Finland, streaking along the rocky cliffsides in Arizona, taking on the British country roads in the wet weather, and wrestling with both the nighttime and China’s narrow and snaking course design, giving you no other alternative but to drift tightly around its technical corners like it was a Touge race track instead of a rally stage.
As you can tell, there is a pleasing variety of tracks that vary in challenge and technicality. You’ll find yourself constantly challenged by the ebbs and flow of each course courses are littered with a range of short and long corners, as well as tight chicanes and hairpins with the occasional puddle or jump to keep the rallying ticking along in a lively fashion.
The car handling is pleasingly nimble, and each car has its own statistical advantages and disadvantages. Types like the Jupiter Ram (2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII) are buttery smooth through corners and can slide with a satisfying level when you push the handbrake button. Smaller compact breeds like the Lionne S (1985 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16) and Totem 400H (1985 MG Metro 6R4) are zippy and reliable, though they don’t flow quite as gracefully and aren’t quite as fast as their longer-bodied peers. No matter what car you drive, the handling is accessible and every car feels pleasurable and easy to drive.
The course variety brings with a diverse challenge. Sometimes you may blaze through a course a lot sooner than predicted, or you may struggle repeatedly and find it difficult to achieve the target completion time. Nothing is too insurmountable though, usually the reason for failure is due to slow entries and exits through corners, making contact with barriers and rocks, or generally not being adequately acclimated to a stage.
The good news is the handling, speed and sense of control of each car provides you with the grip you need to achieve the best times possible, even despite the trickiness and taut design of some of the courses-like the aforementioned China stage, which demands technical precision and the course is as tight as Monaco. Some tracks, especially in Germany and Finland are long and packed with an array of short and long corners, as well as obstacles like trees and log stacks you’ll need to do your best to avoid. There’s a course in jolly old England which crosses terrain from dirt and dust to slick tarmac, so generally there is plenty of variety to enjoy and endure, no matter how many times the stages repeat themselves.
A Well-Packed Old-School Rally-Racer
In terms of modes and options, you can participate in class-based championships such as Group A, Group B, Classics or Open-Class, and you participate in a series of rally stages. You goal is to beat the target time in each stage so that you can advance to the next one, and once you’ve completed a series your reward is a sparkly new rally car to add to your collection. There are over 30 unlockable cars, and they can be viewed on display in the Collections menu.
The championships and their disciplines are great for bite-sized sessions. Completing a championship shouldn’t take longer than 20 minutes, though this depends largely on your performance in each stage. Being rewarded with new rally cars is an excellent way to feel a sense of progress, and building your collection makes you feel like you have your own virtual classic rally collection.
Other modes include Time Trial, which is a self-explanatory mode where you pick a rally car, select a stage and aim to beat the target time. You can also face a human or A.I player in Head-To-Head. Unfortunately, the Head-To-Head mode didn’t work during review as the game froze and returned us to the start screen, which is the only significant problem we’ve encountered during our time with Old School Rally.
If you crave rally games from the original PlayStation, you will fall in love with Old School Rally. The slick PSOne menus, the fast paced instrumental soundtrack, and the quick bursts of rally gameplay make Old School Rally an ideal option if you just want to challenge yourself on a selection of varied rally stages. The variety and diversity of the courses is impressive, and the handling is very accessible and slick, making it easy to whip around turns with ease.
There may not be as much meat as modern rally games, and on a technical level it’s not going to wow you at all. Nonetheless, Old School Rally pays gracious homage to the past and is definitely a rally-racing game for those who love late 90s and early 00s titles such as Colin McRae Rally and the early WRC titles.
Old School Rally is out on December 4 for PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Review code was generously provided by the publisher.