The late 1990s saw rally games become immensely popular on the original PlayStation. Old School Rally by indie developer Frozen Lake Games goes for the nostalgia of that era - you can now wishlist the game on Steam.
Compared to circuit-based racing titles, rally fans are not as spoilt for choice. These days, the conversation centers around accurate driving physics, VR implementation, shaders and many more elements that were hardly on anyone's minds in the late 1990s.
It was the glory days of the original PlayStation, and the arcade station-based SEGA Rally had been released just a few years prior, and Colin McRae Rally was making waves on the PS1 - the game was one of the titles that put Codemasters firmly on the racing game map, the other being TOCA Touring Car Championship. Both would go on to spawn long-lasting series of games.
While the TOCA franchise evolved to GRID over time, the CMR series first morphed into the DiRT series before now becoming EA Sports WRC after EA's acquisition of Codemasters.
Relatively wide roads, relatively low-poly car models and even an optional CRT filter and 4:3 aspect ration certainly make those that played the originals back in the day feel the nostalgia hit. Sure, if you are looking for a hardcore rally sim à la Richard Burns Rally, this is most likely not the title for you.
But from the looks of it, a good bunch of old-school fun should await in Old School Rally. A driver's eye camera perspective is in the works though, so you can get at least some of that in-car feeling.
Frozen Lake Games has released another driving-based game previously, that being Seaside Driving. However, this follows a different philosophy, with the title being an endless driving game also released on mobile. It does feature a nice 80s-style Synthwave soundtrack, though.
What Old School Rally's soundtrack may be remains to be seen (or rather heard). The game can now be wishlisted on Steam and is set for a 2024 release, although no particular date or time frame are available yet.
What is your first impression of Old School Rally? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
Compared to circuit-based racing titles, rally fans are not as spoilt for choice. These days, the conversation centers around accurate driving physics, VR implementation, shaders and many more elements that were hardly on anyone's minds in the late 1990s.
It was the glory days of the original PlayStation, and the arcade station-based SEGA Rally had been released just a few years prior, and Colin McRae Rally was making waves on the PS1 - the game was one of the titles that put Codemasters firmly on the racing game map, the other being TOCA Touring Car Championship. Both would go on to spawn long-lasting series of games.
While the TOCA franchise evolved to GRID over time, the CMR series first morphed into the DiRT series before now becoming EA Sports WRC after EA's acquisition of Codemasters.
Throwback To The Colin McRae Rally Days
Frozen Lake Games sets out to serve players with a large dose of nostalgia, throwing it back to the early days of the Colin McRae Rally series. The aptly-named Old School Rally looks like it came straight out of 1998, so rally fans can expect a very similar experience if the few short videos available for the title are to be believed.Relatively wide roads, relatively low-poly car models and even an optional CRT filter and 4:3 aspect ration certainly make those that played the originals back in the day feel the nostalgia hit. Sure, if you are looking for a hardcore rally sim à la Richard Burns Rally, this is most likely not the title for you.
But from the looks of it, a good bunch of old-school fun should await in Old School Rally. A driver's eye camera perspective is in the works though, so you can get at least some of that in-car feeling.
Frozen Lake Games has released another driving-based game previously, that being Seaside Driving. However, this follows a different philosophy, with the title being an endless driving game also released on mobile. It does feature a nice 80s-style Synthwave soundtrack, though.
What Old School Rally's soundtrack may be remains to be seen (or rather heard). The game can now be wishlisted on Steam and is set for a 2024 release, although no particular date or time frame are available yet.
What is your first impression of Old School Rally? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
