The developers obviously took a "fun over reality" approach to creating Rallisport Challenge. While everything looks authentic and licensed the handling model is extremely arcade like. Fans of Sega Rally will be right at home. There are options to tweak your car's tires etc but there isn't a huge amount of depth to this and it doesn't really require more than cursory attention. Damage modelling is handled in a similarly shallow fashion which may frustrate more "sim-oriented" gamers. You'll notice excellent cosmetic detail changes when you wrap your rally car around some of the games scenery but the effects on handling are minimal. Severe crashes will affect the way your car handles but its still possible to roll the car, park it at full speed on a rock and then go on to win a race.

Four different gameplay modes are on offer including multiplayer. Time Attack and Single Race modes are included and should require absolutely no explanation for those of you smart enough to turn your PC on and read this review. The main part of the game is the Career Mode which, as expected, sees you progressing through a series of increasingly difficult races to unlock new tracks and vehicles. Rallisport Challenge's career mode does little to distinguish itself from other games of this type but when the racing itself is a lot of fun this isn't really a big criticism.

There are twenty five different cars available to drive in the game all of which are based on real-world vehicles. Of course not all of them are available from the get go, when you first boot up the game only eight of the total roster are selectable. Some time spent in career mode is required before you get to check them all out. The full roster includes cars from Audi, Citroen, Ford, Lancia, MG, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Saab, Subaru, Volkswagen and more!