Sega Rally Championship

Sega Rally Championship
Promotional arcade flyer
Developer(s)	AM5 AM3 (Saturn port) United Game Artists (PlayStation 2 port)
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Kenji Sasaki
Designer(s)	Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Composer(s)	Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (Arcade version) Naofumi Hataya (Saturn version)
Series	Sega Rally
Platform(s)	Arcade, Sega Saturn, PC, N-Gage, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2
Release	October 11, 1994 Arcade JP: October 11, 1994 NA: October 18, 1994 EU: October 25, 1994 Sega Saturn JP: December 19, 1995 NA: December 28, 1995 UK: December 1995 EU: January 26, 1996 JP: September 20, 1996 (Plus) JP: June 20, 1997 (Plus (Saturn Collection)) NA: 1998 (NetLink Edition) PC JP: January 31, 1997 NA: February 19, 1997 Game Boy Advance JP: December 19, 2002 NA: March 10, 2003 EU: May 02, 2003 N-Gage AU: 2004 NA: Cancelled PlayStation 2 (as part of Sega Rally 2006) JP: January 12, 2006 KOR: March 30, 2006
Genre(s)	Racing game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Cabinet	Sit-down
Arcade system	Sega Model 2
Display	Raster, standard resolution horizontal orientation

Review scores
Publication	Score
CVG	95%
EGM	17 / 20
GameFan	288 / 300
Game Informer	8.5 / 10
GamePro	4 / 5
GamesMaster	95%
	96%
Maximum
Next Generation
	98%
Sega Power	97%
Sega Saturn Magazine	97%

Sega Rally Championship is a 1994 arcade racing game developed by AM5 on the Sega Model 2 board. It was ported over to the Sega Saturn (by AM3) in 1995 and PC in 1997. The unique selling point of Sega Rally was the ability to drive on different surfaces (including asphalt, gravel and mud), with different friction properties, with the car's handling changing accordingly. As the first racing game to incorporate this feature, Sega Rally is considered to be one of the milestones in the evolution of the racing game genre. It was also an early rally racing game and featured cooperative gameplay alongside the usual competitive multiplayer.

The music for the arcade game was composed by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, while the Sega Saturn port's soundtrack consisted of a combination of newly composed music by Naofumi Hataya and arrangements of the arcade originals arranged and produced by Takayuki Hijikata previously released on the album Sega Rally Championship Ignition. Sega Rally has been listed among the best games of all time by various publications.

The player can enter a "World Championship" mode consisting of three stages: Desert (which resembles African savanna), Forest (which resembles South American forests) and Mountain (which is based on a shortened Circuit de Monaco), where their finishing position at the end of one course is carried through to the starting position of the next course. In this mode, it is impossible to reach first-place position by the end of the first track; thus, the player must try to overtake as many opponent cars as possible on each track (while staying within the time limit), and gain the lead over several tracks. If, at the end of the third round, the player is in first place, they are able to play a fourth secret circuit called "Lakeside" (on the Saturn version, this course may then be played in time attack and split-screen multiplayer modes).