Rally Cross 2 (PS1)

This video was captured using the actual game on an actual Sony Playstation. Loading times have been removed for your consideration and enjoyment.

A week before this capture I really sat down with this game to get to know it better to be able to finally compare it to the nothing short of amazing first installment. Like many my first impressions of this game were very good. Being made by Sony's 989 Studios it's no surprise that this game has an awesome sound track just like the first installment. It's not legendary like the first game, but still very good. The track designs in this game are spectacular and the graphics are easily some of the best the Playstation has to offer. Then there is the sound which is a massive downgrade from the first installment. The engine sound is absolutely atrocious. I can't decide if the engine sound in this game is better or worse than the most awful engine sound I know which would be Virtua Racing on the Saturn. I think Rally Cross 2 wins because the tone of the engine is more annoying even when the music is turned up. Also the suspension creaking and crunching of the first Rally Cross did not carry over this installment. The only time you hear your suspension is when you come off a steep jump. Truth be told, while the sound is disappointing it is not game breaking.

Last week when I was playing this game I stumbled upon on something that very few people know about this game because most who post video of this game play the rookie stages and talk while playing it so they tend to play very badly so gauging how difficult the game actually is from already bad gameplay is impossible. Unlike the first Rally Cross your car has settings that can be tweaked to effect the car's behavior. Using the stock settings I found myself consistently getting spanked by the A.I. I found the controls to be extremely floaty and somewhat disconnected with the addition of my car frequently flipping over the slightest bump in the track. After getting frustrated I decided to significantly soften the suspension and all of the sudden I began to dominate until I completed the rookie season and moved on to veteran. Much to my dismay I found that I got absolutely shellacked with the A.I. pulling away from me at the starting line never to see them again. So I started making small adjustments to my gear ratios and put more appropriate tires on the car and still got dusted. I found that my sliding around corners was slowing me down, but the sort of twitchy controls were causing me to slide in the first place. Getting extremely frustrated I planned to capture this game and stomp on this game in my description. Today I decided to give it one last go because I really wanted to like this game because the rest of the game is so well designed so I made some rather extreme adjustments which I show in the beginning of this video. A big part of gaining control over your car in this game is to significantly knock down the steering sensitivity as well gear the car completely to acceleration over max speed. What kind of made this game unnerving for me was that gear shifting was very unrealistic as I hardly ever shift down and only shift down into 5th when I do. However after I accepted this the game while still very challenging became fair and fun. So in conclusion unlike the first installment this game has a pretty steep learning curve and stock settings are your enemy if you ever want to progress past the rookie stages and unlock all the cars and tracks.

Normally I play the beginning stages leaving you to discover the rest of the game yourselves, however I thought I would show the veteran difficulty and tracks so you can see something other than what is already all over You Tube. So would I recommend this game? Well if you haven't played the first Rally Cross you should pursue that game first. If you have played the first game then you should approach this one with extreme caution as this game plays completely different from the first game and not in a good way. If you're willing to deal with the game's quirks and steep learning curve then this game can be quite enjoyable and as well as very nice to look at. I would say buy at your own risk. Again if you haven't played the first installment, make the first Rally Cross your priority because that is definitely a game you should not miss.