Re-Volt for the Dreamcast Review
The first two paragraphs below were written specifically for submission to www.videogames.com in response to their in-house review of the DC Re-Volt scoring a 5.3, an unnecessarily low rating in my opinion. The rest of the review was written with placement on my Re-Volt website, Maximum Voltage, in mind.

Anyone who has followed the release of Re-Volt and the subsequent reviews has surely noticed the intriguing disparity between what PC and console gamers thought of it. On the PC front, I've read well over a dozen glowing reviews and do not recall seeing anything less than outright praise for the game's look and playability. Console reviewers, however, have been much less kind towards Acclaim's racing simulation. Why the difference of opinions?

Simply put… Re-Volt isn't Mario Kart. If one is expecting the extremely loose and forgiving physics of the various Kart racers or Crash Team Racing, then you'll most likely be frustrated by this game's tight control. Re-Volt was never intended to be another cartoon racer, but instead is a true RC Racing Simulation. When playing this game, one experiences the sense that the vehicle being controlled is very small, very low-mass, and moving at an incredibly fast scale speed. Is it easy to spin out of control when taking a curve too quick? Yes, and anyone who has ever controlled a real-world RC racer has experienced the same. Re-Volt offers one of the most realistic racing physics engines you'll ever encounter, which presents an understandably higher learning curve. But with a little practice, a little patience, you will find Re-Volt to be a far more rewarding game than any of the Karts.

I'd like to spend the rest of this review discussing the differences between the DC and PC versions of Re-Volt, so you DC-only readers should feel free to ignore the rest, or hang around to see how your conversion measures up to what I've generally considered to be the “true” version of Re-Volt, the PC rendition.

First, the graphics. Besides the unavoidable lower-quality image that a television provides compared to a computer monitor, DC Re-Volt pretty looks like you're playing on a PC at 640x480 resolution with all the settings at High, hitting a pretty consistent 30-40 fps. Just imagine you're playing PC Re-Volt thru a videocard with TV-Out and you'll get the correct impression. I don't have one of those SVGA adapters to check out DC Re-Volt on a monitor (which is does support), but it's hard to imagine it looking much better. The only weakness in the graphical power that I noticed was some fade-in at extremely far distances. I don't recall seeing this on the PC version, and I hesitate to mention it since you really need to be sharp-eyed to detect it. On most tracks it's not even present, but it's barely noticeable on “horizon” tracks such as Toys in the Hood 1. This fade-in starts occurring at closer distances when you play the game in multiplayer split-screen mode but isn't close enough to present a problem in foreseeing your next turn. Graphics-wise, if you've seen the PC version, you've seen the DC version.

So what's different about the DC version, you ask? I've already mentioned the multiplayer aspect, with up to 4-player simultaneous racing or Battle Tagging (yep, it's in there!) Playing PC Re-Volt on a LAN is a fun experience, but sitting around a 35” television with three of your friends trying to hang onto that funky green glow comes across as a more social, more fun gaming experience.

Other differences? Well, this at least one new vehicle in the game – a truck resembling Bigfoot is available from the start, and the CD case has a screenshot of what looks like a tow truck (I've not found this vehicle yet, so consider it unconfirmed). [NOTE: since the above was written, the inclusion of no less than 14 new vehicles has been confirmed for the Dreamcast version!] The game also features at least one new track, the infamous “Rooftops” level that we saw in the PC Re-Volt picture gallery. This new level is part of the Silver Cup tracks, and I have managed to unlock this track and give it a test drive. It's visually complex and convoluted to follow, reminding me of the detail that obviously went into the Museum levels.

Keen-eared players will notice that the audible scenery of DC Re-Volt seems to be richer than it's PC brethren. Altho I tend to turn the in-game music off when I'm playing on the PC, I left the music on (but at 80% normal volume) while playing DC Re-Volt. Unless memory fails, the techno music of the DC version is more entertaining and varied. Along with the tunes, there seems to be more ambient noises for the DC version. For example, I recall the birdcalls of Botanical Garden, but it sounds like a veritable zoo now! It's a nice addition to the game, as the sounds in the PC version were sometimes rather sparse.

There you have it - the differences I've noticed in the two best versions of Re-Volt. With so many additions to gameplay while losing so little in the translation, I strongly recommend every PC fan of Re-Volt take a look at it's DC translation.

Re-Volt, Dreamcast Style!
As I've been mentioning on the sega-related newsgroups and on the Forum, I've acquired a copy of DC Re-Volt and will shortly be placing a review piece of the title here. It's looking pretty sweet so far, so have a Merry Christmas and remember to check back here afterwards!

Our Job Here Is Done
I've had many of my fellow Re-Volt fans sending emails my way asking about the rather... irregular updating schedule of MV. It seems most of you had the notion that this site was geared towards a Blues News-eqsue daily newsfest, while all I ever wanted to do was create a site to host my own ramblings about this great game. I guess I should be honored to be assumed to be among the ranks of the Big 2 sites devoted to Re-Volt events (you know who you are!), but that never was the goal. Now that the game is solved, played half to death, and starting to grow old while I await a DreamCast conversion, there really isn't much more for me to say. There might be a coupla new tracks that pop up, and a graphics designer friend who owns 3DS Max might create a few custom cars - who knows? That's the news, folks... I'm outta here!

Still wanting that daily dose of info? Re-Volt Headquarters and Re-Volt @ Racer's Point are the places to be.

I moved all the news over to an Archived Document just to get it out of the way :)