(Originally posted on Sunday, 16 May 2021; updated most recently on 10 June 2021)
In the most recent update I modified the part about the setup of my car (mostly for tarmac) and added 4 new gameplay movies as examples (at the end of the post).
After playing the awesome game Grand Prix 4, that I described here:
Grand Prix 4 (2002) – awesome racing game
I felt the need to play a racing game without overtaking manoeuvres. Why? Because there was too much risk that either my opponent would do something stupid and I would loose time without any fault of my own, OR that I myself would do something stupid and make another driver lose time without a fault of his own.
In what kind of race there are no overtaking manoeuvres? A rally! You drive completely alone, so even if you do something stupid then you can’t “harm” other drivers.
I have returned to a very old game that was practically perfect at that time: Colin McRae 2.0 (from 2000). Even today it is EXTREMELY fun to play! The style of racing is more arcade than simulation, but the difficulty is very high anyway. The best thing about the gameplay is that there is LOTS of drifting!
The game was released in very interesting times – there were so many famous rally drivers and they were driving so many iconic rally cars that it HAS to be among the best times of the World Rally Championship history. It was released right after the end of the 2000 season, which ended in this order:
1. Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot 206) – he also won the title in 2002 and he was 2nd in 2006 and 2007.
2. Richard Burns (Subaru Impreza) – he won the title in 2001 and he finished also 2nd in 1999.
3. Carlos Sainz (Ford Focus) – he won the title in 1990 and 1992 and he was 2nd in 1991, 1994, 1995 and 1998.
4. Colin McRae (Ford Focus) – he won the title in 1995 as the youngest driver ever and he was 2nd in 1996, 1997 and 2001.
5. Tommi Mäkinen (Mitsubishi Lancer) – he won the title in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 – four titles IN A ROW – it was unprecedented at that time!!!
6. François Delecour (Peugeot 206) – he was 2nd in 1993.
7. Gilles Panizzi (Peugeot 206).
8. Juha Kankkunen (Subaru Impreza) – he won the title in 1986, 1987, 1991 and 1993 and he was 2nd in 1992.
9. Harri Rovanperä (Seat Codoba and Toyota Corolla) finished 9th.
10. Petter Solberg (Ford Focus and Subaru Impreza) – he won the title in 2003 and he was 2nd in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
11. Kenneth Eriksson (Hyundai Accent).
12. Didier Auriol (Seat Codoba) – he won the title in 1994 and he was 2nd in 1990.
So, in the 2000 season in the top-12 there were 8 former or future champions!!! EIGHT!!! Totally unbelievable!!!
In the game there is only Colin McRae and all the other drivers' names are fictional, but you can achieve quite similar results with all the cars (after some practice), so you can impersonate any of the legendary drivers! Interestingly Mitsubishi Lancer has the name TOMMI written both on the back bumper and on the engine hood.
The game uses a different scoring system (points: 12, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1) from the one that was used in the real 2000 WRC season (points: 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1). I myself created my own near-perfect scoring system that rewards 11 best drivers (points: 30, 22, 16, 12, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) – I use it in a spreadsheet, just for fun.
The most important thing in the game is the Championship mode. There is no “career mode” crap, so you don’t waste your time to reach the championship level, except for developing your own abilities at the keyboard (or any other steering device). I myself play this game with a keyboard!
You drive 8 rallies that are quite different from each other (I will describe them later with some gameplay videos as examples). Each rally has 10 or 11 stages that are relatively short (from 1 minute to 4 minutes). If there is an 11th stage then it’s a special stage (a stage on some kind of stadium – examples below).
You can repair the car and adjust the setup after every 2 stages. There is a time limit for repairs and setup changes, so in most cases you drive a car that is not in a perfect condition. Obviously it’s better NOT to hit anything, but to achieve good results you have to push yourself close to the limits, so you will hit some things anyway. The crucial thing is not to hit a tree or something like that at high speed.
The Expert difficulty is very challenging, but to unlock it you have to finish the championship at the Intermediate difficulty. Some people criticized this unlocking mechanism, but I think it’s good because the Expert difficulty would be too hard for a newcomer. Even though there is a pilot who “prepares” you for the coming turns, it's much better to memorize some crucial points of each stage anyway.
Some people criticised the high difficulty of the game, but to me the Expert difficulty is perfect. Generally it’s hard, but winnable. Some stages are very hard to win (interestingly all the shortest stages are among them), but still winnable after numerous attempts.
The cool thing is that you can save your game only in the service area (after every 2 stages), so you have to accept some mistakes (it’s very hard to drive perfectly for so long). Even if you have trouble to win some particular stages, your overall consistency will be rewarded.
I have to point out that the setup of my car is almost the same for each rally (with some exceptions) just because I play this game with a keyboard. I set up my car this way:
1. Tires – according to the surface and weather, obviously.
2. Gearbox – long (1) for Kenya* and unchanged for any other rally.
3. Suspension – hard 5 (hardest) for tarmac and hard 2 for any other surface.
4. Power Ratio – front 3 for tarmac* and front 2 for any other surface.
5. Brake Bias – front 3.
6. Brake Power – strong (3) for tarmac* and unchanged for any other surface.
7. Steering (sensitivity) – low 4 (second slowest turning).
The asterisk (*) marks new setup elements that I added in the most recent update. I also added (at the end of the post) 4 new gameplay movies as examples for the new setup for tarmac.
* In Kenya there are lots of very long parts of the road that are almost straight, so the gear ratios have to be a little longer or else you will often reach the maximum speed and lose time because of it.
Harder suspension is very important, especially on tarmac! Surfaces other than tarmac are very uneven, so the suspension can’t be too hard on them.
Steering sensitivity is very low because at very high speeds the car would be very hard to control with a keyboard.
Because the steering sensitivity is very low I have to make up for it in tight corners. I set the brake bias significantly to the front (3), so the back of the car swings when I’m breaking and turning at the same time. I don't use this method in every corner, but I do use it quite often. Everything depends on the combination of my current speed and the sharpness of a corner. Sometimes I use the breaks only for a split of a second just to “activate” the swing and sometimes I use the breaks longer and/or more than once (you can see it on the examples below).
* For tarmac I set the break power significantly stronger (3) to take advantage of the good grip on this surface.
Usually I set the power ratio moderately to the front (2), so when I accelerate right after releasing the breaks the front of the car is “faster” than the back of the car, which makes the car more controllable during drifting.
* For tarmac I set the power ratio even more to the front (3) because for this surface I set the break power significantly stronger, which makes the car swing more strongly.
* The new setup for tarmac makes the hardest rallies (France and Italy) definitely easier, but you have to have lots of experience anyway to get “into the zone”. Please see the last 4 gameplay movies at the end of the post (all the other gameplay movies were recorded with the “old” setup).
This setup is equally good for all the cars, but every car has his own “soul”, so you have to experiment to see which one suits you the best. The cool things is that even though every car drives slightly differently, after some practice you can achieve quite similar results with all the cars!
In my opinion the most “stable” car, so the best car for a newcomer is Mitsubishi Lancer. It's slightly heavier than all the other cars, but the extra weight clearly increases the grip in the corners. With my setup I can achieve great results in EVERY race! Here's a proof – one of the hardest stages in the whole game: stage 10 in Italy:
I recorded all the gameplay movies using the Polish version of the game. The voice of the pilot is actually the voice of Krzysztof Hołowczyc – one of the best Polish rally drivers at that time. I recorded also the cool automatic replays – I have always loved them.
As always, I don't care about graphics, but only about gameplay, so I recorded the movies with very low graphic settings. At max settings the game looks MUCH better.
Back to the Mitsubishi Lancer – here's an example of its greatness on gravel:
Unfortunately in the last two movies above it's hard to see when I use the breaks because the rear lights are on. This is why as the examples for the first 2 rallies farther down the post (search for “1. Finland”) I recorded the second stage instead of the first one.
I recorded most of the following examples while driving Toyota Corolla, my second favourite car in the game. Please notice that for a newcomer it is NOT the second best car, but it's very fun to drive when you are more experienced.
UPDATE:
The second best car for a newcomer is probably Ford Focus, but I don’t like its engine noise, so I have little experience with this car. Peugeot 206 should also be good for a newcomer (I have used it more than Ford Focus), but I am not really fond of its look (bodywork all around the car almost touches the ground). I hardly ever used Seat Cordoba, so I can’t comment on this car at all.
From standard cars there are only two left – Subaru Impreza and Toyota Corolla. From these two the Toyota Corolla should be a little better for a newcomer because it’s a little more stable. Moreover it’s a shorter car, which is helpful in some tight places. In my younger days I set most stage records with this car, so it’s probably the best car overall, but you need lots of experience to max out its abilities.
Subaru Impreza is a quite tricky car to drive. It’s rather long, so you have to be quite precise in tight places. It’s more “jumpy”, especially when compared to the Mitsubishi Lancer, so you have a little less control, especially on very uneven roads. It also has a tendency to over-steer, so it's easier to make a mistake. Probably not a good car for a newcomer, BUT for an experienced driver it’s very fun to drive because it allows more drifting than any other car!
The sense of achievement is probably the best while driving Subaru Impreza – you can achieve times similar to all the other cars, but it feels like “taming a wild horse”. Please, watch how I beat one of the hardest stages in the whole game: stage 10 in Italy again, this time with Subaru Impreza.
When I am “in the zone” I use lots of “swing manoeuvres” to use its tendency to over-steer to my advantage, provoking at the same time more cool drifting! What a great feeling! Please remember that drifting can't be “too much sideways” or else you will lose time, instead of gaining it! Here's a great example – one of the best stages in the whole game: stage 7 in Australia:
END OF UPDATE.
1. Finland.
Relative difficulty: easy
There are lots of trees along the way, so you have to be careful. However, there is also a good side to it – you can see trees from the other side of a hill, so you know more precisely what kind of corner is coming right after the hill. Unfortunately many corners are very fast, which limits the amount of cool drifting.
2. Greece.
Relative difficulty: easy
During this rally the corners are slower, so there is more cool drifting! There are hardly any trees, so it's safer on one hand, but on the other hand you don't know what kind of corner is coming right after most hills.
3. France.
Relative difficulty: hard
It’s like hitting a wall of difficulty after the first two rallies. The crucial thing is to set the suspension at hard 5 (hardest), but it's not enough. The most difficult thing to learn is how to break and drive through corners on a surface with much better traction. First of all you have to break later than on gravel, so you have to more precise. Drifting is very valuable, because it means that you drive at the maximum possible speed in corners, but on tarmac it's MUCH more difficult because you have to be VERY precise or else you will quickly slide off the road.
4. Sweden.
Relative difficulty: very easy
The easiest rally, but you have to be “patient”. On the snow there is very little traction, so in corners you have to slow down significantly, BUT it makes the drifting time longer!
5. Australia.
Relative difficulty: medium
Very fun rally, but also quite difficult. You have to push and cut through some corners and there are numerous tricky places that have to be memorized.
6. Kenya.
Relative difficulty: medium
Quite difficult rally, but slightly less than Australia. There are numerous tricky places that have to be memorized, but slightly less than in Australia. The main difference is that you can't cut through corners as much as in Australia.
7. Italy.
Relative difficulty: very hard
Clearly the hardest rally! It’s similar to France (also on tarmac), but there are many more very tight corners! Driving this rally with a keyboard is real challenge! Or a nightmare.
8. United Kingdom.
Relative difficulty: hard
Clearly the best rally! It’s extremely varied and fun, but also very difficult. There are lots tricky places to memorize.
Here are 4 new gameplay movies recorded with the new setup for tarmac.
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