The Greatest Saturn Racer, Arcade Memories And Getting Serious
My first time playing an iconic Saturn exclusive... and something deeper
Lately I’ve been going through a serious Sega Saturn phase.
When you own a lot of retro consoles and games, you tend to go through phases (or at least I do) sure, they’re all mostly great and have amazing libraries of games but you can’t play them all at once, from time to time your preferences change and you get in the mood to play one platform a lot more than the rest; I’ve been playing so much Nintendo 64 and Switch over the past year that I’ve been feeling all Nintendo-ed out.
I’ve still not finished DK Bananza because I feel like I’ve done nothing but play Nintendo for ages now; the console for me in this calm before the storm in the gaming calendar has been the Sega Saturn with a healthy dose of Master System and Dreamcast too.
Now, I’ve not always been kind to the Saturn here on the Journal. Back in May, while reflecting on Sega’s 2 final consoles, I said that the Saturn had an amazing library but was just too unaffordable and inaccessible for those outside of Japan, part of this opinion coming from the fact that import gaming with the Saturn for PAL region players like me necessitates a 50/60Hz display console mod and an Action Replay cartridge too, raising the barrier for entry even further. At the time, I was struggling to source a Model 2 gamepad for under £40 as well, which was quite frustrating.
Let’s not forget that Panzer Dragoon Saga is a regular punchline in my articles and for those who aren’t in on the joke, let me show you why.
This is the #1 rated Saturn game and few will ever get to play it in its intended form. Only 1000 copies were printed for the entirety of Europe, it’s a little less rare in Japan and the USA but expect similarly brutal price tags across the board. I only know of one game more expensive: Symphony of the Night on PS1 and even then, you can buy it disc-only for a hefty discount.
I still stand by a lot of my complaints with the Saturn but that article has bothered me a little since I wrote it because to say that you can’t build a good Saturn library without spending hundreds is incorrect.
Today’s game: Sega Rally Championship cost me just £8: two of those being for postage and as you might have guessed, I’ve been having an absolute blast playing it.
From Cabinet To Comfort
Sega Rally Championship had weighty expectations riding on it when it came to the US and PAL Saturn in 1995 and early 1996.
In the West, the Saturn had launched with another racing game: Daytona USA which is widely considered to be a botched port of the arcade original, running at only 20FPS when the new standard was 30 and having significantly worse graphics; not a good look when the console’s entire shtick was to be its library of arcade-perfect conversions.
For those unfamiliar with the technology, the Sega Saturn was primarily developed to be a monster at 2D graphics (and believe me, it was) but a second processor was included to handle the 3D side of things.
This convoluted architecture and Sega’s wrong bet on quads, not polygons being the future of 3D graphics meant that developers struggled to create 3D games for the console, which in turn gave consumers the impression it was weaker hardware when in actuality the Saturn was the more powerful console; the Saturn was $100 dollars more expensive than the PS1 which made this an even more bitter pill for consumers.
But where am I going with this? Well, Daytona USA seemingly confirmed to everyone that the Saturn was crap at 3D and a weaker console (neither of which is true) and Sega Rally Championship was to wipe the slate clean and prove once and for all that the Saturn was an arcade for your living room and could do what Sony… Sonidn’t? Son’t?
There’s a reason I’m not a marketing guy.
Taking The Wheel
Before we even start the game, I want to take this opportunity to tell the world how God-awful PAL region Sega Saturn game cases are.
Over in Japan, Sega Saturn cases look quite similar to those of the PlayStation 1 or Dreamcast, they’re a standard jewel case with a nice gold trim.
Not bad at all… but we’re not at the gold standard yet. That would be the US Saturn cases.
That there is perfection. Would you like to see what we got in the PAL regions instead?
The boxes have no hinge: just a thin cardboard spine in the middle connecting two separate plastic halves, no lamination, no clips to keep the manual in and the disc is held in place by that stupid, fragile little plastic anus on the right; the boxes don’t even have a clip to hold them shut, all of mine have the remnants of tape on them from previous owners.
I own 4 Saturn games as of writing, 2 of my boxes can’t hold the disc still without being stored horizontally, 1 of them has a scuffed up case with water damage and the last is by some miracle, in great condition.
Anyway, let’s play the bloody game, enough of the waffle.
You’ll immediately notice 3 things when you first fire up Sega Rally Championship.
Like any Sega arcade classic, this game is beautifully colourful and Sega were able to get licenses for 2 real life cars: the Japanese Toyota Celica GT-Four and the Italian Lancia Delta HF Integrale; the third thing that becomes obvious is that this soundtrack is amazing! Who is strumming that bass? His wife must have been very happy 30 years ago.
I don’t know what it is about this era of Sega but the way all their disparate franchises manage to still feel connected by a distinct, upbeat, fun atmosphere is something I think only one other company: Nintendo, has ever accomplished in this industry.
Now, this was still early in the PS1’s life so Gran Turismo hadn’t launched yet making the PlayStation version of Ridge Racer Rally Championship’s most direct competition and while that game features nicer 3D models (thanks to polygonal 3D graphics) Rally has more complex terrain, crowd elements and doesn’t heavily feature 2D sprites like that game, so I think comparisons are very favourable for those who might’ve been looking to disparage the Saturn.
Admittedly, Sega Rally Championship isn’t exactly bursting at the seams with content. You have Arcade Mode which allows you to play through the game’s Championship, or to Practice a track individually.
Time Attack has you competing against the in-built best times for each track and yourself to clock the fastest laps and overall completion of a course; I have to assume 2 Player Battle works similarly because while I do own 2 Saturn controllers, I have nobody to play with.
While there isn’t loads on offer, Sega Rally Championship is highly customisable with car setups, handling, number of laps and difficulty all adjustable in the options, it’s also fiendishly addictive in that way only arcade games are. My copy arrived last Saturday and every night since for at least 2-3 hours I’ve been replaying the championship and doing Time Attack over and over just to try and break through the ceiling of my usual lap times, I love it; my current best is a 55.04sec. lap of Desert.
Twists And Turns
Rally is quite a varied motorsport but generally? A driver and navigator follow a pre-determined route: it can be on or off public roads, usually with a structurally reinforced, road-legal car and they have to reach a set of waypoints within a certain time limit; it’s not about crossing the finish line first like Formula 1 or other more traditional circuit races, it’s about setting the fastest times.
Of course, everyone has their own opinions but rally drivers are often considered the most technically gifted and talented competitors at actually driving.
A lot of Formula 1 comes down to effective pit strategy, advancements in technology and following tried and tested racing lines; it’s an unfortunate reality of the sport that some of the best drivers to ever do it won’t get to be champions. Events like Le Mans depend on maintaining the vehicle over a long period whereas in Rally, the driver has to navigate brutal, winding routes while listening intently to the navigator and being careful not to destroy the tyres.
Rally versus F1 onboards to articulate my point, I’m a massive F1 fan, don’t think I’m trying to disparage the sport. I will however disparage the fact that they’re making you relocate to YouTube to watch this.
So, how does this translate into Sega Rally Championship?
Well, the game has 3 tracks: Desert, Forest and Mountains and you’ll be bossed around throughout by your navigator “EASY RIGHT.” “EASY LEFT.” “LONG RIGHT, MAYBE!” These are voice lines that ooze that choppy charm of early CD-based gaming and they’ll be burned into your brain after just 1 session.
These 3 tracks provide a good mix of both off and on road rallying with Desert being pretty much exclusively off-road, Forest having a bit of both and Mountains being almost entirely on-road rallying; they are supposed to be ordered by difficulty but I can’t help but feel an extra track would have helped because Desert is trivial, Forest is hard and Mountains requires that you have trace amounts of Finnish DNA to drive on it.
The most impressive part of Sega Rally Championship is how in a title that’s 30 years old, using controllers that don’t vibrate or have an analogue stick, it still manages to have some of the best feeling traction and handling I’ve ever experienced in a racing game. I’ve always loved how you can feel the road under you through the controller’s vibration in Forza but Rally Championship is even more impressive because the feel and traction of the road is entirely communicated via sound, animations and the feel of driving.
The game does only feature 2 cars but you get to pick between automatic and manual, which are controlled by pressing the left and right bumpers on default controls. As for differences between the two vehicles? I haven’t looked this up to confirm but from what I can feel, the Toyota is more stable and easier to drift but is generally slower, while the Lancia is a lot faster but easier to spin out and harder to control.
I’ve played a fair bit with both and I prefer the Lancia, it feels like the car with the higher potential for great runs if you can wrestle it down the road; none of my top times were achieved in the Toyota.
The game controls brilliantly but unfortunately, both the Model 1 and Model 2 Saturn gamepads feature really gross shoulder buttons so I’ve mostly been playing in automatic and trying to keep an eye on when to switch while rally racing and using those pathetic bumpers is something I’m practising but it’s not ideal. Thankfully, there are several control schemes available if you’re not a lazy git who doesn’t want to change them now like me.
Leaving Tracks
I can imagine to those who love this game reading right now and for those who might be interested in playing it that it seems like I’m selling Sega Rally Championship short.
Truthfully, there’s not much more to say: it’s an outstanding arcade racer, an excellent port to the Saturn and has a catchy as hell soundtrack; it plays, runs, sounds and looks excellent. But as with any game like this with a long-lasting legacy, Rally Championship really adds up to more than the sum of its parts.
As I’ve mentioned before, Sega was the traditional champion of the British market with the Master System narrowly outselling the NES and the Mega Drive (Genesis) outselling the SNES 2:1 by some estimates, of course, this all changed with the arrival of Sony’s PlayStation. Regardless, at the time of release, Sega Rally Championship became the fastest selling disc-based video game ever in the UK and really got Saturn consoles into homes.
The UK is the birth place of motorsport staples like F1 and the Isle of Man TT and growing up here, motorsport is the default for boys who don’t like football or rugby and anecdotally, I can tell you that everyone’s uncle here is into motorsport; I’m an uncle and I love F1, so I guess I’m keeping this all going.
You’re never too far from motorsport here, so it makes sense that racing games have always been system-sellers in the UK.
Now… for something a bit more personal.
If you grew up working class in the UK like me, then I can almost guarantee you’re filled with nostalgic feelings and fond memories when I mention caravan and camping site holidays and the arcades at these places.
For someone born in 2000 like me: after the arcades had largely met their demise in the West, these short, blissful bursts on holiday were my only exposure to that slice of classic gaming culture.
I’m not sure if this is really a thing in other countries but here in Britain, the great seaside holiday and the often accompanying caravanning are a major cultural touchstone; every Summer we’d go on holiday in the caravan and every night on that holiday we’d be up the club for the night’s entertainment, my parents and extended family having a good time while me and the other kids would be fed a seemingly endless supply of 50p and £1 coins to play in the arcade and grab sweets and cans of pop. Some of my fondest memories come from these holidays, I’m pretty sure we impulse bought a Wii since it was the peak of the fad and my first time playing might have been Red Steel in our caravan.
House of the Dead 3, Street Fighter, Time Crisis 2, Afterburner Climax, these are just some of the franchises and titles I was exposed to on these holidays, I even remember some random kid getting mad at me for hogging the House of the Dead 3 machine; it was insane to finally get those at home on the family Wii not long after, I still have an intense fondness for light-gun games today.
But getting back to Sega Rally Championship… it always gives me a little bit of a pit in my stomach to revisit these arcade classics because this type of game and the experiences I described above are going extinct.
Not only are arcades mostly dead here… but these caravan and camping sites and the once thriving seaside towns of old Britain are dying too.
In the 25 years since I was born, the UK has gone from possessing huge cultural clout in the noughties and the average wealth briefly surpassing our brethren in the USA, to crippling austerity, brutal poverty and an economy so horrendously mismanaged wages have been frozen for 15 years.
According to research conducted by the DWP (Department of Workplace and Pensions) 31% of all children in the UK are living in poverty: that’s over 4 million, home ownership is at its lowest for 30 years and austerity has caused at least 300 000 excess deaths.
I feel for Gen Alpha and other kids who grew up later than me, they’ve almost certainly never seen a caravan holiday, cheap arcade machines or the days where you could get 3-4 second hand games from the shop. Everything costs too much now.
We can blame cheap tickets to Spain, Covid and the wars abroad for the decline of the UK’s wealth, coastal towns and urban centres all we want but when most of your politicians were in the same handful of shady Oxbridge societies, people are locked up for supporting the wrong protests, MP’s have 2-3 extra corporate jobs outside of their responsibilities to the constituency and are caught partying and fondling each other during lockdown, it becomes pretty fucking obvious who’s really giving us all the shaft.
I hope one day the young can make the arcade memories we all did but I doubt it.
Thank you very much for making it to the end of today’s post. That section at the end isn’t a sign of more things to come: this isn’t a politics Substack but it’s something I really wanted to get off my chest.
As always, I’d love to chat with you in the comments below and if you enjoyed today’s post, please give it a like and consider subscribing; I also have a Ko-Fi page you can donate to via the Support Scanlines button for as little as £1 (or $1.36.)
With the Saturn, I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it looking back now. I was a probably around 12 when I traded my Mega Drive and games in to afford a Saturn, and I debating with myself now whether it was worth it at the time.
For all the highs it had - Sega Rally is definitely one, Virtua Fighter 2, and so on - I think what I feel ultimately is let down by Sega. It probably could have been better except Sega made too many mistakes, which obviously cost them dearly.
Sega Rally though probably did have the best handling I can think of any racing game I've played (not many like my son, he upholds the UK tradition of a racing fanatic like you said). You didn't mention the 4th secret track too, which I forgot what it was called now, but the hardest of them all.
A great read winding down memory lane, thanks.
My heart goes out to all my friends in the UK, what's happening to your country is outrageous. Thanks for sharing your story.
Also... Sega Rally rules