South Park Rally
South Park Rally | ||
---|---|---|
Composer(s) Yannis Brown | | |
Series | South Park | |
Platform(s) | PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast | |
Release | PlayStationWindowsNintendo 64Dreamcast | |
Genre(s) | Kart racing | |
Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
South Park Rally is a 2000
Following South Park (1998) and South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (1999), the game's development was handled by Tantalus Interactive and includes characters, vehicles, locations, items and other features inspired by or featured on the series. It was developed simultaneously for all major consoles during the time of its release. Version differences include the number of unlockable characters and stages, with the Nintendo 64 version being on the low end of features due to hardware limitations.
South Park Rally received poor reviews from critics. Criticism derived from the differences between the two major home console ports, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation, as well as the general lack of innovation over other kart-style racers such as Mario Kart 64. South Park Rally would become the last South Park game by Acclaim Entertainment and the last home game in the franchise until South Park: The Stick of Truth in 2014. Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone would go on to ridicule Acclaim's games based on their series in later years.
Gameplay
Gameplay in South Park Rally is divided into three game modes: championship, arcade, and multiplayer. Up to 27 playable characters are available depending on which console version is played.[5]
- Championship: The main focus of the game, which has 14 different races (additional races in the Dreamcast version), all of which have to be done in order. This is the only mode where characters and tracks can be unlocked.
- Arcade: A practice mode allowing the player to choose any unlocked character on any unlocked track to race.
- Multiplayer: A race allowing two to four players to choose any unlocked characters on any unlocked track and race.
The game features a diverse set of objectives in races that encourage player interaction.[5] According to Acclaim Entertainment manager Thomas Bass, "Unlike other racing games where players avoid the other players in order to win, South Park Rally encourages interaction between players, which makes for some insane and wildly fun gameplay."[5] Original voice actors Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and Isaac Hayes provided dialog for the game.[5]
Plot
The Mayor of South Park has decided to stage a rally series that will take place through the heart and outskirts of the town. Favorite characters from the popular television series are included and are able to make use of destructive automobiles, including police cars, mini Porsches, Big Gay Al buggies, wheat bags, jeeps and dozens of other vehicles.
Characters who appear in power-up form include
Development
Development on the title – based on Tantalus' own concept – was done on three platforms simultaneously, and took seven months.[6] The game was developed by 20 people.[7] South Park Rally was the third video game based on the series, as Acclaim had also published the games South Park (1998) and South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (1999).
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone had little to do with the development of South Park Rally (as well as the two other Acclaim releases),[8] although they did contribute a number of original lines of voice acting for it,[9] as they do most of the voices on the show.[10]
Marketing
South Park Rally's release was accompanied by television commercials, billboards, and print advertisements targeted at older audiences that carried sponsorships of both South Park and Comedy Central's The Man Show from December 1999 through January 2000.[5]
Reception
Aggregator | Score | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Computer Gaming World | N/A | N/A | [18] | N/A |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 3/10[19] | 3/10[20][a] | N/A | N/A |
Game Informer | N/A | 4.5/10[21] | N/A | 4.5/10[22] |
GameFan | N/A | 48%[23][b] | N/A | 40%[24] |
GameRevolution | D[25] | N/A | D+[26] | N/A |
GameSpot | 2.5/10[27] | 2.6/10[28] | 3.3/10[29] | 3.9/10[30] |
GameSpy | 5/10[31] | N/A | N/A | N/A |
IGN | 4.2/10[32] | 5.7/10[33] | 4.9/10[34] | 3/10[35] |
Next Generation | [36] | [37] | N/A | N/A |
Nintendo Power | N/A | 7.3/10[38] | N/A | N/A |
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | N/A | N/A | [39] |
PC Accelerator | N/A | N/A | 3/10[40] | N/A |
PC Gamer (US) | N/A | N/A | 20%[41] | N/A |
South Park Rally received negative reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[11][12][13][14] Greg Orlando of NextGen's March 2000 issue said of the Nintendo 64 version, "Someone shoehorned the South Park license onto a rather (pardon the pun) middle-of-the-road cart-racing game. Rent it if you must, but buy it only if Messrs. Stone and Parker really need to put down payments on solid-gold houses."[37] Six issues later, Jeff Lundrigan said that the Dreamcast version "would make an amusing rental for a party. Otherwise, steer clear."[36]
Mark Green of N64 Magazine gave the Nintendo 64 version 88%, saying that it "has innovation, excitement, and just about every South Park character ever, all rolled into one package."[42] Kevin "BIFF" Giacobbi of GameZone gave the PC version eight out of ten, saying that it was, "For those South Park fans... definitely a title worth adding to your collection."[43] Cam Shea of Hyper gave the PlayStation version 49%, saying, "As wacky as throwing Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls at someone may sound, it really isn't very exciting watching a blob of brown fired at a mess of pixels."[44] Lou Gubrious of GamePro said of the same PlayStation version, "Playing South Park Rally will probably cause pain in most gamers. The worst pain comes from knowing that this game wastes a potentially great concept because of flawed execution."[45][c] The Freshman stated similarly that the Nintendo 64 version "just seems like a shameless attempt to tack South Park's name on a bad racing game to make it sell. With bland graphics, random and repetitive sound samples, and frustrating control, this game gets stomped easily by the much better kart-racers on N64. Unless you love everything with the South Park name, you'd be best advised to take the bypass and skip the town of South Park entirely."[46][d]
Over time, Parker and Stone have publicly criticized Acclaim and the quality of the games as well.[8]
Sales
The game sold more than 1 million copies on the Nintendo 64 alone.[7]
Notes
- ^ In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the Nintendo 64 version, one critic gave it 2/10, another gave it 4/10, and the remaining two gave it each a score of 3/10.
- ^ Three critics of GameFan gave the Nintendo 64 version each a score of 48, 41, and 55.
- ^ GamePro gave the PlayStation version two 2.5/5 scores for graphics and control, 3.5/5 for sound, and 2/5 for overall fun factor.
- ^ GamePro gave the Nintendo 64 version 3/5 for graphics, 3.5/5 for sound, 2.5/5 for control, and 2/5 for overall fun factor.
References
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- ^ Frost, Will (January 24, 2000). "Dude, South Park Rally is Now Available for the PC!". Acclaim Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 1, 2000. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- ^ "Acclaim Confirms Video and PC Games Release Schedule Through Fiscal 2000". Acclaim Entertainment. February 15, 2000. Archived from the original on August 17, 2004.
- ^ Gentry, Perry (July 7, 2000). "This Week's New Releases". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Acclaim Debuts 'South Park Rally' for PlayStation". Multimedia Publisher. Vol. 11, no. 2. February 2000.
- ^ "Product". Tantalus Interactive. Archived from the original on April 22, 2001. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
Based on an original concept by Tantalus, 'South Park Rally' was developed across three platforms simultaneously in the short cycle of seven months for a Christmas release.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Question answered by Matt Stone. In: "News, October 2001". South Park Studios. October 2001. Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ "South Park Rally". Acclaim Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 3, 2001. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
- ^ Heffernan, Virginia (April 28, 2004). "Critic's Notebook; What? Morals in 'South Park'?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ CBS Interactive. Archived from the originalon May 5, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ CBS Interactive. Archived from the originalon May 12, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ CBS Interactive. Archived from the originalon May 30, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ CBS Interactive. Archived from the originalon May 27, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Steinberg, Scott (July 20, 2000). "South Park Rally (DC) [Incomplete]". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Gaudiosi, Peyton (February 23, 2000). "South Park Rally (N64)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 23, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Williamson, Colin (February 8, 2000). "South Park Rally (PC)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Price, Tom (April 2000). "South Park Rally" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 189. Ziff Davis. p. 94. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ EGM staff (September 2000). "South Park Rally". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 134. Ziff Davis.
- ^ Ricciardi, John; Johnston, Chris; Hsu, Dan; Hager, Dean (March 2000). "South Park Rally (N64)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 128. Ziff Davis. p. 143. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Reiner, Andrew (April 2000). "South Park Rally – Nintendo 64". Game Informer. No. 84. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on October 27, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ McNamara, Andy (March 2000). "South Park Rally - PlayStation". Game Informer. No. 83. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on December 6, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ Mylonas, Eric "ECM"; Ngo, George "Eggo"; Weitzner, Jason "Fury" (May 2000). "South Park Rally (N64)". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 5. Shinno Media. p. 14. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ "REVIEW for South Park Rally (PS)". GameFan. Shinno Media. January 6, 2000.
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- IGN Entertainment. Archived from the originalon August 15, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ Dunham, Jeremy (July 6, 2000). "South Park Rally Review (DC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Boulding, Aaron (March 2, 2000). "South Park Rally (N64)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Lopez, Vincent (February 10, 2000). "South Park Rally (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
- ^ Nix, Marc (January 7, 2000). "South Park Rally (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ a b Lundrigan, Jeff (September 2000). "South Park Rally (DC)". NextGen. No. 69. Imagine Media. p. 104. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Imagine Media. p. 89. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ "South Park Rally". Nintendo Power. Vol. 130. Nintendo of America. March 2000. p. 122. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021 – via Nintendo64Ever.com.
- ^ MacDonald, Mark (February 2000). "South Park Rally". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 5. Ziff Davis. p. 93. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- Imagine Media. p. 82. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- Imagine Media. p. 107. Archivedfrom the original on November 24, 2004. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Green, Mark (February 2000). "South Park Rally". N64 Magazine. No. 38. Future Publishing. pp. 54–58.
- ^ Giacobbi, Kevin "BIFF" (February 6, 2000). "South Park Rally (PC)". GameZone. Archived from the original on September 4, 2004. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ Shea, Cam (March 2000). "South Park Rally (PS)". Hyper. No. 77. Next Media Pty Ltd. p. 77. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
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