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Sega Touring Car is the VF of racing games. Any company thinking about making a racer should be required to play an AM title. If you check out Reviews regularly than you know how high I hold Sega Rally. Well the only area that STC doesn't out do Rally is in graphics and there is a reason for that to. After a 2yr run Rally finally has a worthy successor.

Graphics: B-

Remember how FV and FMM compared graphically to VF2. Well its the same here when compared to Rally. The only difference is that were as FMM and FV IMHO didn't offer anything to justify ( especially after seeing LB and DOA) the low res look. STC offers a big benefit. SPEED. To say this game is fast would be an understatement. Its not done using tricks like tunnels ( Ridge Racer) or stripes ( Extreme G) Not one touch of slowdown. Even when there are up to 5 cars on the screen. Unlike Rally the CPU cars are just as detailed as your car. The only problem with the graphics is that they are a bit pixeled and somewhat grainy. Outside of that they are well designed and flow really smoothly. If Saturn wasn't on its last legs I would have questioned the move to go with the lower res. I can see a look of people taking one look and taking the game back. Their loss. Because the increase in speed isn't a giant "leap" most people probably won't notice. If you play a lot of racers you will be in heaven. . Its good to see gameplay put above graphics. I'd rather go with the STC package than the low detailed, fog laden, blurry, usually slowing moving, and slow down filled racers of N64.

Audio: A

I've never been a big fan of Techno or Rave or whatever its called. But the Wipeout, Scorcher and STC are slowly changing my mind. The Avex Traxx set kick ass. Their are 3 sets of songs to choose from. While the others don't kick like the AT tracks they are well done. For some reason I kept waiting for the copilot to say "easy left". Anyway I liked the music a lot.

Control: A+

Much has been said about the control of Touring Car. To that I say BS. While the game is HARD, it is very controllable. If you were able to play Rally than with a little adjustment you can play STC without problem. The analog pad is without flaw. The game is divided into 2 sections Arcade and Saturn. With the Saturn section being a little easier to control. The one thing I always liked about Rally (and most AM racers for that matter) is the amount of control you have over the powerslides. No difference here. In Rally controlling long powerslides was a must, here you just want to kick the end of the car out and then get it straighten out as fast as possible. I like the fact that the cars responds quickly. Unlike V-Rally when you turn the car turns. The control options are impressive as well. You can set the amount each function reacts. If the car turns to much for your liking. Just lower the turn level, and it won't go past a certain point. Same with the brakes and acceleration. When you run over a bump your car doesn't spin madly out of control. The speed at which the game runs makes driving the cars that much more easier. This is all to important because 1/100 of secs matter a ton in STC. A popular feature these days is the use of buttons to right your car ( if it gets turned over or reversed). Gladly they are not present here. I really hate those things. Most of the time it does nothing more than to handicap you. Also you won't get those 5 sec air borne crashes. Over all STC's control is without per.

Gameplay: A+

Lets see: Arcade mode, Saturn mode, VS, Time Attack, World Tournament (Internet), Grand Prix ( after you finish championship in Arcade mode). There are 4 cars and 3 tracks. Another track is offered in Grand Prix mode ( which is a 20 lap run complete with pit stops). While trying to get info on possible Netlink problems I found out that there are a few more surprises. A Sega Proto type car, both cars from Rally, possible mirror mode, possibly two more hidden tracks. Like Rally the races are linked. Unlike Rally its possible to finish first in each heat. The times from each heat are totaled for final placement. The CPU AI is great. Not only is it fair ( no cheap hits ala Manx TT) but it also has problems in some of the same spots as you do ( even the lead cars not just the losers). Many times the CPU cars jockey for positions and WAIT to make a move. Its as if they know how important time is and are trying to avoid contact. I can't tell you how refreshing that is. The cheapness of Manx TT is what killed that game for me. The AI of that game was beyond bad and played nothing like the arcade, it just seemed to live to run into to you. STC is the perfect example of how racing AI should be. Let it be stated that STC is a very hard yet very playable game. You must learn to be efficient with your driving. Know when to slow down and when to floor it. Learning to control your cornering is a must. Bricktown makes the Lakeside track of Rally seem like a cake walk. Overall gameplay hits high marks on every level.

Replay: A+

While the above options will keep you busy, as well as the overall challenge of the game itself. The World tournament is just a stroke of genius. If you get a high enough score your get a password. With this password you can post your score at the STC site to see your world ranking. Some of the posted scores are very humbling. You can't rest there though, because as fast as you get rank someone beats your score. My first rank was #180. Then I worked 10hrs to shave 2 1/2 secs off my time. I was pleased as I saw my rank jump to #171. Ten secs letter I was #188. The last ranking I had was #160. You'd be surprise how as little as 1/100 of sec can move you 10 to 20 spots. I'm not posting any more until I hit 2:55:00 or lower that will get you in the top 100 ( note this is a reprint of an old review currently I have surpassed the 2':55" mark), So I've got about 5 sec to go ( damn Bricktown track). This is Competition at its best. You must strive for perfection to increase your time. It really sucks you in. Since 11/26 when I got the game I've easily logged in 50+ hrs. Now also throw in the special events races. Right now there are 3 scheduled Internet only tracks to race and post your times. the first being 12/24 I think and the next around Feb or Spring. On those dates a new track opens for you to race and compare times.

Overall: A+

A gem of a racer. The only minor drawback is the graphics which really aren't bad, just not as polished as Rally. STC is a natural follow up to Rally. Like VF it will take time to master the game and if you love a good racer this is a great one. It doesn't try to be so real that you never get to drive but its no arcade racer either. A must have game Period. Hard but worth the challenge.

Note:

Sega did a bad job on the instructions for posting and seeing the rankings. You can use either the Netlink or a PC. For a while I couldn't get the game to see the Netlink. I finally got it to work being holding down the two shift buttons while pressing Y. I haven' had any problems since. Also the read me file says to copy the Ranking.htm and resource folder to your machine if you have Netscape. You must also do this if you have IE. The first time I posted my score I saw a screen that said I was Ranked #1 in the US for the Opel AT. I haven't been able to find that screen again. Also if you just want to check the Rankings you can bookmark that page and bypass a lot of the other junk. Once you enter your password save the address and you can just e-mail all future scores that way. Its a lot quicker than the stated method. I've posted about 7 to 10 scores this way and had no problems.