V-Rally 2

V-Rally 2 (Need for Speed: V-Rally 2 in North America for the PlayStation version and Test Drive V-Rally in North America for the Dreamcast version) is a racing video game developed by Eden Studios and published by Infogrames for PlayStation, Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows. It was originally planned for release as a Nintendo 64 title, but was cancelled during the early development phases of the game and was never officially announced.[5]

V-Rally 2
Developer(s)Eden Studios
Publisher(s)PlayStation
Dreamcast & Windows
Infogrames
SeriesV-Rally
Platform(s)PlayStation, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows
ReleasePlayStation
Dreamcast
  • EU: July 24, 2000
  • NA: October 18, 2000[3]
Microsoft Windows
  • EU: September 22, 2000
  • NA: September 27, 2000[4]
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

The game features rally cars that competed in the 1999 World Rally Championship season. There are 26 cars in Championship Edition and 27 in Expert Edition. There are over 80 original tracks which represent all of the rallies of the 1999 season, excluding Greece and Safari. The game modes include a time trial mode, an arcade mode which follows the traditional style of arcade games, V-Rally Trophy where the player competes against 3 AI opponents to see who can get the least time in all of the rallies. The championship mode follows the actual example of rallying with different stages in the rallies featured in the game. V-Rally Trophy and Championship Mode feature 3 distinct championships: European, World and Expert.

Weather conditions like snow, rain, and rallying in daytime, sunset and night are included.

The racing tracks are essentially stored as curved lines in 3D space. Instead of designing and storing the entire track environment as a 3D model, the game engine generates each track segment based on the 3D line and several parameters, such as track theme, weather, incline/decline, degree of curvature etc.

There is also a track editor where the player can design their own rally tracks. There is Multiplayer mode which supports up to 4 Players. The PlayStation version of the game features support for DualShock analog controllers and Namco's neGcon and Jogcon racing controllers.

Development

Interviewed by Official Dreamcast Magazine producer Oliver Raffard said that the development team were inspired by "GP1 for the sensation [of driving], the realism and the choice of tunings; Out Run for the fun and arcade spirit; and Rally Masters for the handling".[6]

Reception

The Dreamcast version received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[10] In Japan, where the PlayStation version was ported for release under the name V-Rally Champion Edition 2 (V-ラリー チャンピオンエディション2, V-Rarī Chanpion Edishon Tsu) and published by Spike on January 27, 2000, Famitsu gave it a score of 27 out of 40.[16]

Max Everingham of NextGen said of the latter console version in its January 2000 issue, "It looks good, it plays fine, and it has a lot of tracks. Only a few annoying quirks keep it from really flying."[27] Ten issues later, however, Jim Preston called the former console version "A colorful, fun, and realistic driving sim."[26]

Edge gave the PlayStation version eight out of ten, saying that it was "Not perfect [...] but certainly closer than most other PlayStation driving games are likely to get."[31] GamePro said that the same console version "walks a fine line of bridging a rally racing sim with arcade fun. The game has some tweaking options available, but mostly it's just about learning the ropes and driving, driving, driving. Easily the top of the class in rally racing games for the home console and not likely to be topped (except maybe graphically by Sega Rally 2 for the Dreamcast)."[32][lower-alpha 4]

Notes
  1. Three critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Dreamcast version each a score of 8.5/10, 9/10, and 7.5/10.
  2. Two critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the PlayStation version each a score of 8/10, and two others each gave it each 8.5/10.
  3. Three critics of GameFan gave the Dreamcast version each a score of 91, 87, and 83.
  4. GamePro gave the PlayStation version three 4/5 scores for graphics, control, and fun factor, and 3.5/5 for sound.

References
  1. "V-Rally 2 sur PSone". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  2. IGN staff (November 17, 1999). "Fighting Dinos, Fighting Motors, and Fighting Irish All on PlayStation". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  3. "Infogrames Press Release". 2001-04-21. Archived from the original on 2001-04-21. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  4. "V-Rally 2: Expert Edition - PC - GameSpy". pc.gamespy.com. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  5. "Promotional N64 footage". YouTube. Google. July 5, 1999. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  6. "In the hot seat with Eden Studios". Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK). Dennis Publishing (8): 106–107. 11 May 2000.
  7. "Test Drive V-Rally for Dreamcast". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  8. "V-Rally 2 for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  9. "Need for Speed: V-Rally 2 for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  10. "Test Drive V-Rally for Dreamcast Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  11. Kanarick, Mark. "Need for Speed: V-Rally 2 - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  12. Mahood, Andy (September 6, 2000). "Test Drive: V-Rally [sic]". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on October 18, 2000. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  13. Mahood, Andy (December 10, 1999). "Need for Speed: V-Rally 2". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  14. Sewart, Greg; Hager, Dean; Davison, John (October 2000). "Test Drive V-Rally" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 135. Ziff Davis. p. 176. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  15. Chou, Che; Davison, John; Hager, Dean; Smith, Shawn (January 2000). "Need for Speed Presents V-Rally 2 [sic]". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 126. Ziff Davis. p. 235. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  16. "V-ラリー チャンピオンエディション2 [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  17. Anderson, Paul (January 2001). "Test Drive V-Rally". Game Informer. No. 93. FuncoLand. p. 123. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  18. McNamara, Andy; Anderson, Paul; Reiner, Andrew (January 2000). "V-Rally 2 [sic]". Game Informer. No. 81. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on May 22, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  19. Van Stone, Matt "Kodomo"; Higgins, Geoff "The Judge"; Ngo, George "Eggo" (October 2000). "Test Drive V-Rally". GamePro. Vol. 8, no. 10. BPA International. p. 17. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  20. Clint (January 2000). "V-Rally 2 Need for Speed Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on February 19, 2004. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  21. Provo, Frank (September 25, 2000). "Test Drive V-Rally Review [EU Import] [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  22. Stahl, Ben (November 23, 1999). "V-Rally 2: Presented by Need For Speed Review [sic] [date mislabeled as "May 2, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  23. Holy Hand Grenade (November 2, 2000). "Test Drive V-Rally". PlanetDreamcast. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 23, 2006. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  24. Schneider, Peer (October 23, 2000). "Test Drive V-Rally". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  25. Nix, Marc (December 2, 1999). "V-Rally 2 Presented by Need For Speed [sic]". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  26. Preston, Jim (November 2000). "Test Drive V-Rally". NextGen. No. 71. Imagine Media. p. 123. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  27. Everingham, Max (January 2000). "[Need for Speed:] V-Rally 2". NextGen. No. 61. Imagine Media. p. 100. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  28. "Need for Speed: V-Rally 2". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 4. Ziff Davis. January 2000.
  29. Walker, John (November 2000). "V-Rally 2 Expert Edition". PC Gamer UK. No. 89. Future Publishing. Archived from the original on July 11, 2001. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  30. Woods, Dave (November 2000). "V-Rally2 [sic] Expert Edition". PC Zone. No. 95. Dennis Publishing. p. 77. Archived from the original on March 17, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  31. Edge staff (August 1999). "V-Rally 2" (PDF). Edge. No. 74. Future Publishing. pp. 82–83. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  32. Uncle Dust (November 24, 1999). "[Need for Speed:] V-Rally 2 Review for GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 20, 2004. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
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