Silicon Fusion >> Reviews >> V-Rally 3

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Review:

21st July 2002:
V-Rally 3
While the next-gen battle between V-Rally and Colin McRae Rally still rages, has the former already secured the trophy for best handheld game?
Posted by Marc Hull - Game Boy Advance - UK and Europe

Although Nintendo was very quick to play down the 3D gaming possibilities of their latest handheld before the launch, we all know by now that it's more than capable of producing the odd 3D effect, at least to the level of the first Doom games. However, many games that have attempted to exploit this have ended up no more than glorified tech demos, with the exception of Mario Kart which, with Nintendo themselves at the reigns, everyone knew was going to be great. So, with Atari attempting to bring the fast-paced action of rallying to the GameBoy Advance, there's an understandable level of doubt in their abilities to pull it off.

Fortunately, the game's developers have managed to squeeze an incredible amount of power from the console, and at the same time avoided lavishing too much of it on graphics instead of making a fun game. Whereas even Mario Kart featured flat courses with a few trackside sprites dotted here and there, V-Rally manages to have full 3D courses which include hills, dips, bridges and tunnels. The polygons which make up the tracks are also texture mapped, allowing you to distinguish between snow-capped mountain stages and densely packed forest ones. Of course, there's always a price to pay for such detail, and V-Rally sacrifices some draw-in distance which results in some noticeable pop-up, but makes sure that the pace of the title stays pretty high (for a handheld game, anyway).

When you first boot up the game, you'll probably be a bit disappointed at the gameplay side of things. Like other racers on the GameBoy Advance, the cars in V-Rally are simple sprites, and have a limited number of animation frames, so it takes quite a long time to get used to the car not always moving in the direction it looks as if it's facing. However, a quick flick through the manual reveals a great in-car view which can be accessed by pressing the Select button, and this handles far more like traditional rally games on next-gen consoles while also showing off some neat effects, such as hands that turn the steering wheel and change gears. Of course, the game does lack a navigator reading pace notes out to you, but some on-screen icons will let you know how tight the next turn is well in advance of reaching it, so overall the next-gen rally effect is preserved pretty well.

Browsing through the main menu, accompanied by neat rotating 3D icons for each option, will reveal two major game modes to be completed; V-Rally and V-Rally Cross. The former is a traditional 'Career mode' where you sign a contract with a particular car manufacturer and then compete in straight, 'A to B' rally stages, gaining points for finishing within the top six cars at the end of each rally. Once you've gained a certain number of points overall, you'll start getting contracts from other companies, unlocking better cars with which you can win against more difficult opponents. As you'd expect for a rally game, you don't actually see your opponents on-screen in this mode, but instead have to complete the stage on your own and then find out how your time compares with your rivals'. However, that doesn't mean that the game's engine isn't powerful enough to show the other cars, as the V-Rally Cross mode testifies. This option plays much more like a traditional race, with three computer-controlled vehicles to do battle with on looped stages. The reality rule book obviously went out the window for this one, since you also get to fill up a boost-bar in the first stage by getting a good start or coming 1st after a lap, allowing you to get some extra acceleration in the second race. Unfortunately, you can't get an in-car view in this mode, which not only makes it a little trickier than it first seems but also hints that the console's already being pushed to its max.

Aside from the main progressive play modes, there is also a Time Attack option where you can select from any of cars and tracks you've unlocked and attempt to beat your previous best time (which is represented by a neat 3D 'ghost' car). Finally, there is the Multiplayer mode where two players can battle against one another alongside two other CPU-controlled cars in the V-Rally Cross mode.

While graphics are obviously a big selling point for the game, sound also seems pretty accomplished too. Aside from the co-driver's pace notes being absent, other noises such as the revving of the engine and crunches as you hit fences are all in there and sound pretty good. While the in-game action doesn't have any background music, the menus and repair paddock have small tunes playing away along with noises of car tyres being changed, giving the game an excellent overall presentation.

However, despite all these great positives, V-Rally also contains some areas that could be improved upon. Although the semi-realistic damage sustained by various components of your car is a nice touch, providing some tactical choices as you decide which parts to repair while under a strict time limit in the repair garage, the way this is represented during the in-car view is very annoying. As you gradually sustain more and more damage, cracks will begin to appear on your 'windscreen' which obscure your view, with a major crash reducing visibility immensely forcing you to switch to using the out-of-car view, for which there is no such penalty. Also, the V-Rally Cross mode, where you race against your opponents in realtime, seems to be unfairly balanced against you. Basically, if you manage to get ahead of the CPU cars at the start you've got the race in the bag, but if you are stuck between them you'll often find that the slightest collision will slow you to a crawl for a moment while pushing them ahead, even if they were the ones who hit you from behind.

Overall, V-Rally is still an excellent game, and definitely one to show off the GameBoy Advance's 'ever-increasing' powers. However, the minor problems and slightly repetitive nature of the title means that Mario Kart is still top of the console's greatest games list.

Marc Hull

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Review Summary:

V-Rally 3 is one of the first games to successfully use a 3D engine AND have a good emphasis on gameplay at the same time. Graphically, it's like playing a PSOne game in your hands, and there are plenty of tracks and real-life cars to choose from promising hours of playtime. However, the game can get repetitive after a while, and sometimes the gameplay can be a bit unfair.

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