Sega Nerds

Sega Rally 3 video and impressions

Posted by Graham. Filed under Arcade, Europe, G. Tagged with Sega Rally 3.

~Remake of the Desert course from Sega Rally ‘95~ 

Just a day or two ago we reported on an event held by Sega-Amusements Europe (the arcade division of Sega Europe), show casing the brand new Sega Rally 3.  While we didn’t get to attend, the guys at Arcade Heroes did, which is where we got the info about the game from before. 

Well, now the guys at Arcade Heroes have been kind enough to share their hands-on impressions with everyone, and post up some video footage of the game.

The game sounds pretty damn good, and from the above video, I think you guys can agree it certainly looks good.

Read on for some of their impressions, after the break.

Apparently the game is looking better and running smoother than the console versions of Sega Rally Revo on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

The most immediately obvious changes are in the technology and consequently the graphical performance. Sega Rally 3 runs on the brand new and extremely powerful Europa-R board, which sports a dual core Intel processor, 4 gigabytes of RAM and an 8800 series NVidia graphics chipset. This allows the game to run at 60 frames per second at a 720p resolution, as opposed to the 30 frames per second of the console game.

The difference is actually quite staggering, and the higher framerate allows for the design of the game to really shine through - from blue skies and sandy beaches to little flourishes like a rocket launch in the Canyon stage. I really would go so far as to say that it is the best looking arcade game that I have yet seen, and that includes Sega’s own efforts on the Lindbergh board.

Also, unlike what quite a few people on the forums seem to believe, Sega Rally 3 is not a direct port/copy of Sega Rally Revo.

All of these courses are unique to Sega Rally 3, though some elements of Sega Rally Revo are noticeably present - it seems that in many cases, the most memorable turns have been cherry-picked for inclusion (in particular, Canyon’s long easy right on the hydroelectric dam, and Alpine’s multiple hairpins).

Also the cabinet is sounding quite good.  Which is always important for an arcade game, part of the fun is how it all looks and feels!

The cabinet itself is great. The set-up at the event was six linked super deluxe cabinets, with 62″ DLP screens running at 720p. The cabinets feature a dual actuator motion system, which was designed specifically for Sega Rally 3 in conjunction with Sega Japan.

Check out Arcade Heroes for the full impressions of the game and for more gameplay clips.

[Source: Arcade Heroes]
[Special Thanks: Editor (of Arcade Heroes)]