''Boss Rally'' is a 1999

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed by

Boss Game Studios Boss Game Studios was an American video game developer based in Redmond, Washington. The company was founded in 1994 and closed in 2002. It specialized in Nintendo 64 racing games with releases such as ''Top Gear Rally'' and '' World Driver Champi ...

and published by

SouthPeak Interactive SouthPeak Interactive Corporation, doing business as SouthPeak Games, was an American video game publisher based in Midlothian, Virginia. Founded on March 1, 1996, as a subsidiary of SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina, it was sold and moved t ...

for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. It is essentially a port of the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

game ''

Top Gear Rally ''Top Gear Rally'' is a 1997 racing video game developed by Boss Game Studios and released for the Nintendo 64. A follow-up to Kemcos original ''Top Gear'' game, it features a championship mode where a single player must complete six seasons o ...

'', with extra features such as more cars and tracks and a multiplayer mode that supports up to eight players.

Gameplay

''Boss Rally'' is a

that comprises four gameplay modes: Championship, Time Attack, Quick Race, and a

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

mode. In Championship, a single player must progress through a series of seasons, with each season requiring the player to race against computer-controller opponents on multiple tracks. Points are awarded based on the position the player finishes a race, and if the required quantity is not met, the player will not qualify for the next season. As the player progresses through the Championship mode, new cars and tracks are unlocked. The game features a total of six tracks and 16 cars. Time Attack and Quick Race are single-race challenges where the player must race against their best time and a computer-controlled opponent, respectively. The multiplayer mode supports

LAN Lan or LAN may also refer to: Science and technology * Local asymptotic normality, a fundamental property of regular models in statistics * Longitude of the ascending node, one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in sp ...

null modem Null modem is a communication method to directly connect two DTEs (computer, terminal, printer, etc.) using an RS-232 serial cable. The name stems from the historical use of RS-232 cables to connect two teleprinter devices or two modems in order ...

options. LAN allows up to eight players to compete against one another, while the null modem option is limited to two players only.

Development and release

''Boss Rally'' was developed by

as a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

of their

game ''

''. Because

Kemco Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima. One of its best known franchises is the ...

owns the ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' license and Boss owns the game design, the game's title had to be changed. The game was not meant to compete with more elaborate racing games of the computer market, with the only technical improvement over its Nintendo 64 counterpart being a higher resolution. ''Boss Rally'' also features three more cars and an additional track. The soundtrack features music by a band named Dragline. The game was published by

and first released in North America in April 1999. In the UK, ''Boss Rally'' was released in late July 1999.

Reception

''Boss Rally'' received unfavorable reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

. ''

PC Zone ''PC Zone'', founded in 1993, was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as ''PC Leisure'', ''PC Format'' and ''PC Plus'' had covered games but ...

'' described the game as generic, stating that it does not offer anything new when compared to ''

Colin McRae Rally ''Dirt'' and ''Dirt Rally'' (stylized as ''DiRT'' and ''DiRT Rally'', formerly known as ''Colin McRae Rally''), also known as ''EA Sports Rally'', is a rally racing video game series developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts und ...

'', while ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' criticized the "nonexistent"

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

of computer-controlled opponents and the absence of internet support.

References

External links

* {{Top Gear series 1999 video games Off-road racing video games Racing video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Windows-only games Multiplayer and single-player video games SouthPeak Games Boss Game Studios games