Colin McRae Rally 2

Pros

• Arcade Mode
• Three Difficulty Settings
• Intuitive Menus
• Needs Little Space
• Clean Graphics

Cons

• Trial Version
• Requires Windows 95 or Earlier OS
• Old Graphics

Colin McRae Rally 2 is the second game in the Colin McRae racing series that saw tons of commercial success when the original game was launched back in 1998, and it helped spawn a full series of more than 10 incredible games for a number of platforms.

This version of the software is a simple trial version of that game that helped boost this series to a new level of recognition and popularity. Many gaming historians even claim the game series was partially, if not fully, responsible for the innovation of realistic rally sports games. Colin McRae once won the World Rally Championship, and he was integral in the creation of the game thanks to his technical input and knowledge.

The game was originally created by Codemasters and was released in 2000, and it instantly created a splash among the gaming world, especially in the PC department. It helped pave the way for the future of rally car racing games. Despite the game being nearly 17 years old, it is still widely downloaded and played. The small size of the game and the quick game style have made it exceedingly popular in Greece, Hungary, and Poland.

While this version is merely a demo, it gives a good idea of what the game is about. Unfortunately for many users, the game requires Windows 95 in order to function, and new systems do not have the ability to play the game. Only Windows 95 or systems older than that OS are compatible with the software.

As far as the gameplay itself, it is quite innovative. It was one of the first games to incorporate realism into rally car racing, and it has three preset difficulty settings to challenge the player to gain skill. The levels are Novice, Intermediate, and Expert, and each offers a unique playground for the player to grow.

There is also an included Arcade Mode, which pits the player against another live player for local competitions, or it can pair the player against the game's own AI drivers. The menu system is minimalistic and clean compared to the menu system from the original game, and the new optimized menu was kept throughout the majority of the remainder of the series. It wasn't until 2009 with the release of DiRT 2 that the menu was finally redesigned.

The United Kingdom experienced Colin McRae Rally 2 at the top of the gaming bestseller list when it was released, and it reached the top spot again much later in the same year. In June of 2013, the game was updated with a version for iOS. There are few games out there that have earned the high score of 9.4 out of 10 from IGN, and this is one of them.

Pros

• Arcade Mode
• Three Difficulty Settings
• Intuitive Menus
• Needs Little Space
• Clean Graphics

Cons

• Trial Version
• Requires Windows 95 or Earlier OS
• Old Graphics