| Sega Rally Revo | |
| Developer: | Sega Racing Studio (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows) Bugbear Entertainment (PlayStation Portable) |
| Publisher: | Sega |
| Composer: | Paul Arnold Andrew Barnabas |
| Platforms: | PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows |
| Genre: | Racing |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
Sega Rally Revo (known in Europe as Sega Rally) is an offroad racing video game, the fourth installment of the Sega Rally series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows in 2007. The game's title is "Revo" as Sega intends it to be a revolution in rally racing games. The game was developed simultaneously with Sega Rally 3.
There are 34 vehicles in total, which are divided into 3 groups: Premier Class (4WD cars), Modified Class (2WD & Super 2000 cars) and Master Class (mostly classic rally cars). There are also several bonus cars—such as Dakar rally types, hill climbers, buggies, etc.—in every class, which can be unlocked with points one as you progress through Championship Mode, plus an overall bonus car for getting 100% in championship mode. The (non-bonus) cars each have 3 different liveries and all have 2 setups. The setup is either off-road, with better grip on loose surfaces, or tarmac, with higher top speed and more grip on hard surfaces. The different environments all feature three tracks (of which some can also be raced in reverse direction - at a different time of day) except for the bonus environment Lakeside that only has a single race track, and again are unlocked as you progress through Championship Mode.
Sega Rally Revo was released in 2007, September 28 in Europe and September 27 in Australia.[1] A demo was released on Xbox Live on September 18 and on the PlayStation Network on September 20. The PC Demo was released September 28.[2] The US PC release date was originally scheduled for October 30, but was pushed back until November 19. The game has now been made available in all regions.
Part of the promotional activity in North America includes a series of three short comedy films that revolve around the antics of two valley girls as a racing partnership.[3] Titled "Tonya & Donya", the films feature the double act of Natasha Leggero as driver and regular comedy collaborator Melinda Hill, as co-driver.
Each of the films ends with the strapline "Drive like a man".
The game was developed at the SEGA Racing Studio in Solihull, England.[4] There are over 30 different rally cars to choose from, and six different environments, with 16 tracks in total. The game was developed with the GeoDeformation engine, which makes the terrain dynamically deformable, with effects to the cars' performances. Multiplayer mode allows two players to race with split-screen, whereas online multiplayer can be set to up six racers.
Sega Rally Revo received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for all platforms, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.
Despite the positive reception, the game did not meet SEGA's financial expectations. According to the NPD Group, the game sold 44,000 units in the United States across all platforms in February 2008. The lacklustre sales of the game ultimately led to Sega Racing Studio's closure on April 8, 2008, which SEGA later confirmed by request of GameSpot staff.[5]