''Sega Rally 2006'' is an arcade oriented racing game developed and published by

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

. It is the third installment in the decade running ''Sega Rally'' series, and it was released in Japan on January 12, 2006. This version is the first non-arcade-version–based ''Sega Rally.'' Its action footage was used in

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

Development

Sega initially planned the PlayStation 2 release date for 2005 as a 10-year anniversary celebration version, and was to be named "Sega Rally 2005", but the launch date was postponed. Several features have been removed from the previous ''

Sega Rally 2 ''Sega Rally 2'' is an arcade racing game developed by Sega AM Annex for the Model 3 arcade hardware. It is the sequel to 1994's ''Sega Rally Championship''. The game was first released in arcades in February 1998, and was later ported by Smilebi ...

'' for

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...

, both Network Battle and two-player Battle multiplayer modes are not available anymore. The music genre has been changed from instrumental Hard Rock with classic tunes such as "Conditioned Reflex" (the 1996 "Plus" edition BGM being performed by the Japanese act "X-BAND") to Lo-Fi synthesizer driven pop becoming a key change in the series. When ''Sega Rally 2'' offered 3ch Surround sound, the 2006 edition is only Stereo/Mono, which is a surprising backstep on a 6ch Dolby Digital/Pro Logic II capable machine. Additionally, the depicted "fog" effect from ''Sega Rally 2'', which was pointed to be a consequence of the use of

Windows CE Windows Embedded Compact, formerly Windows Embedded CE, Windows Powered and Windows CE, is an operating system subfamily developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows Embedded family of products. Unlike Windows Embedded Standard, which is base ...

devkit, has been replaced by a heavy "clipping" effect. The increased speed in the driver's view can be explained by the removal of the rear view mirror. The change is also noticeable within the car selection. ''

Sega Rally Championship ''SEGA Rally Championship'' is a 1994 racing video game developed by Sega AM3 and published by Sega. Originally released for arcades using the Sega Model 2 board, it was converted to the Sega Saturn in 1995 and Windows in 1997. The unique sellin ...

'' was introduced with '92 & '94 World Rally Championship winner cars, being both

Didier Auriol Didier Auriol (born 18 August 1958) is a French former rally driver. Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, he competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first driv ...

's French flagged cars, the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the su ...

version adding

Sandro Munari Sandro Munari (born 27 March 1940), also nicknamed 'Il Drago' (The Dragon) is a former motor racing and rally driver from Italy. Career Sandro Munari was born in Cavarzere, in the Veneto region. He began rallying in 1965 and won the Italian Ral ...

's hidden Stratos HF Gr4 WRC '77. ''Sega Rally 2 Arcade'' followed this path with four WRC '97 cars: Carlos Sainz's Corolla WRC,

Tommi Mäkinen Tommi Antero Mäkinen (; born 26 June 1964) is a Finnish racing executive and former driver. Mäkinen is one of the most successful WRC drivers of all time, ranking fifth in rally wins (24) and third in championships (4), tied with Juha Kankkune ...

's Lancer Evo IV WRC,

Colin McRae Colin Steele McRae, (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver and the youngest person to win the World Rally Championship ...

's Impreza WRC,

Gilles Panizzi Gilles Panizzi (born 19 September 1965) is a former French rally driver. Panizzi was born in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes. Like many of his fellow rally racing countrymen, Panizzi spent a great deal of his developmental driving years ...

's 306 Maxi plus,

Ari Vatanen Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen (; born 27 April 1952) is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rall ...

's Escort WRC '98 &

's Stratos HF Gr4 WRC '77. The original Celica & Delta from ''Sega Rally 1995'' were hidden in the Arcade version. Due to its "10-year Championship" mode, ''Sega Rally 2 Dreamcast'' had added a large number of cars to the ones already available in the Arcade. Switching from Europe-based FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) WRC (World Rally Championship) to North American–based SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) ProRally, the latter allowing more powerful specs, ''Sega Rally 2006'' abandon all the vehicles from ''Sega Rally 2'' to introduce a brand new selection. The three original 1995 classics, Celica WRC '94, Delta WRC '92 & Stratos WRC '77 being also included as hidden Extra cars. Some ''Sega Rally 2006'' Open Class cars are Mark Lovell's Pikes Peak International HillClimb winning Impreza WRX ProRally '03 (the same model appearing in '' Enthusia Professional Racing''),

Tim O'Neil Tim O'Neil is an American rally racing driver, and the winner of five production-based North American rally championships. He has driven both as a privateer, and as a factory driver for Volkswagen and Mitsubishi. Racing career 1980s O'Neil's ...

's Focus SVT ProRally '03 and the Lancer Evolution VIII MR ProRally '03.

Game modes

''Sega Rally 2006'' features three game modes: Career Mode, Arcade Mode and the classical Time Attack Mode: * The Arcade Mode is based on checkpoints. The driver select between "Series 1" (Easy), "Series 2" (Normal) or "Series 3" (Hard) for a 4-stages championship with the goal to reach the pole position by the end of the series and to become the Champion. The driver starts each series from the 15th position and race on various predetermined weather/daytime conditions in European, Asian, African, North American, Scandinavian or Circuit rounds. It is possible to race the Arcade Mode with Professional, Extra or Career tuned cars. After completing the first Series, another set of stages is unlocked as "Series 4", "Series 5" & "Series 6". Beating this second set of stages unlocks the three "Extra" cars taken from ''Sega Rally Championship 1995''. * Career is ''Sega Rally 2006'''s core with four race types: 1on1 Versus CPU, Race against seven AI controlled cars, Time Attack & Total time series Rally. The Career mode is divided in two steps Amateur and Professional each one with its own "Open", "Class 1" & "Class 2" series. The "Sega Rally Championship" is only available once the driver has become Professional.

External links

Official website, Japan
{{Sega Rally series 2006 video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Rally racing video games Sega video games Off-road racing video games Japan-exclusive video games Video games scored by Hideki Naganuma Video games scored by Hiroshi Kawaguchi Video games scored by Jun Senoue Video games scored by Richard Jacques Video games scored by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi Video games developed in Japan Single-player video games