This is NOT, just another "too fast too furious" overrated copycat! Neither a driving simulator!
And this game easily hits the top 20, from any point of view...
I cant understand why the super biased, American based, gamespot insist on doing advertising on the xbox consoles and some certain (and popular) games publisher companies by degrading games in other consoles, even if there is no direct conflict.
Sega isnt in the right economical posture to properly "advertise" the new version of their legendary racer and this is how it pays of ...
This game is an arcade game, the purpose of its creation is bringing some fun to the players. Not to be a realistic simulator, neither to mimic the bad ass Vin Diesel attitude, there is no nitro, no hot girls, no illegal street racing, no engine upgrades, no gangs, no wars, nothing similar!
It is a different genre of games, most of the racers out there may respect the NFS genre, i respect that, some of the racers may prefer GT, Test drive unlimited or even the "dirt" realistic approach, of rally-ing.
But we cant blame Sega for that, neither rate the whole arcade genre with a maximum 8/10 !
This game has:
-Great graphics, when i first saw the new generation of Sega Rally in the new gen consoles and pc, i thought ps2 tech could never see such a beautiful game and certainly not the inferior sony's portable...and yet...
the psp version is on par with the next gen versions, with great anti aliasing and impressive reflections on the detailed car models and mud/sand sprays!
-good enough sound effects for the psp standards, almost on par with the new gen consoles
-interesting and predictable controls and game physhics, my exp on racing games helped me to beat the first races with the first try, though i have to prefer the digital control for a more precise powerslide, the weels control are not enough to keep the control of the cars, you must also handle the accelator,
there are no paranoic ridge race type of power slides!
-replay value, lots of real life vehicles, some of the most legendary classic rallies are combined with the new generation masterpieces (not the evo x though)
-the mad and snow have a great effect on your shiny car, dirt can be seen how is fulling up your bumpers eventually, not even Gran Turismo had such effects
This game hasnt:
-Damages on cars (another thing GT missed too and its not an arcade)
-upgrades or set up settings (you can choose another type of tyres if you like and thats it)
-nitro and hot chix
Overall the game brings the same fun the new gen consoles have, despite the huge difference in hardware, this means its more successful than these versions, not worse...It doesnt have to look prettier than the xbox360 version to gate the same rate, im sorry for the GS reviewers...
I have grown up with the first Sega rally and i m happy ro see it growing up with me without losing its original flavor, updated cars and graphics can still do the trick today and 10 years from now!