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Sega Touring Car was released back in 1996 in the US, but the game had very poor distribution. The people who were lucky enough to play it complained about its steep learning curve and realism.

Graphics: 7.5/10

The cars are extremely detailed and the trackside detail is pretty good. Just like what everyone says, your car feels like it really is going 200 mph unlike Rage Racer where it seemed like you were going 30 mph. It looks like the game runs in low-res. The frame rate is 30fps if there aren't any cars around, but when you get to certain places on a track, the frame rate keeps changing from 15- 30. Pop-up is not a problem in this game. 2-player mode runs a little slower and the pop-up horizon is closer.

Sound: 8/10

This game has one of the best engine sounds out there. Everything else is just average.

Music: 9/10

The game's soundtrack was done by 3 groups from aves trax. All three of them sound good, but if you hate techno then you have a choice of 2 other sets of music which seem out of place to me. The ones done by Sega Sound sound too happy and some of them sound like they belong in a shooter. The music by Trance sound decent, but most of the songs from Trance aren't good.

Control: 8.5/10

When you first play, you'll be frustrated with the controls, but after some practice, it's easy. Kinda like Sonic R, but it takes more time to practice. I haven't tried the analog controller with Touring Car yet, but the digital pad works fine.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

To tell you the truth, I think this is the 2nd best racing game ever created next to Super GT. Despite the criticism it received from ALL the video game mags(who think Ridge Racer is actually a good game), it's one of the best console racers out. There's 3 tracks when you start out, but there's 2 hidden tracks and 3 global net event tracks. If you have a Netlink or a PC with Internet access, you can see how high you rank up with the world. The only complaint that I have about this is that it only ranks the Championship mode in the Arcade Side. The other secrets include: AI Data(you can race against your own AI or let it race by itself), the proto car, the Sega Rally cars, Exhibition Mode, GrandPrix Mode, and alternate paint jobs. This game is actually pretty difficult but that's a good thing since it keeps the little kids from beating you.

Overall: 9/10

If I had a choice between Sonic R or this, Sega Touring Car would win. It's nice to see that Sega finally realized that putting a bunch of extras in a game makes it better. If you don't like racing games then you really won't like this game, but if you consider yourself good then I recommend you try this game.