| Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developers | Zigurat Software Arcadia Software |
| Publisher | Zigurat Software |
| Producers | Fernando Rada Jorge Granados |
| Programmers | José Miguel Saiz Manuel Rosas |
| Artist | José A. Carrera Merino |
| Platforms | Amstrad CPC,MS-DOS,MSX,ZX Spectrum |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Racing |
| Mode | Single-player |
Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship[a] is a 1990racingvideo game co-developed by the Spanish companiesZigurat Software (previously known asMade in Spain) and Arcadia Software, and published by Zigurat forAmstrad CPC,MS-DOS,MSX andZX Spectrum. Featuring Spanish rally driverCarlos Sainz and themed aroundrallying, the game pit players with races across various locations to qualify for the next course in theWorld Rally Championship and modify characteristics of theToyota Celica to accommodate each courses.
Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship was created in conjunction withSito Pons 500cc Grand Prix by most of the same team at Zigurat who worked on licensed sports titles such asParis-Dakar (1988) andEmilio Sanchez Vicario Grand Slam with co-developer Arcadia, serving as their final release prior to abandoning thevideo game industry. The game originated during a meeting between Zigurat and Arcadia to discuss future projects, where various ideas were pitched. The idea of creating an accuraterally simulator came from motorsports being a hobby among Zigurat staff, with the programmers finding rally as a spectacular discipline and fitting due to graphic and dynamic possibilities. Zigurat hired Sainz, who had yet to become a world champion at the time, and development of the project started afterwards.
Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship proved to be a success for Zigurat and garnered positive reception from critics across all platforms since its release; praise was given to the addictive gameplay, sense of speed, controls and sound but other reviewers felt mixed in regards to the graphics and difficulty, while the limited technical complexity was criticized.Conversions forAmiga andAtari ST were planned but never released. After its launch, Zigurat was contacted byGaelco to work on anarcade game based on the World Rally Championship featuring Sainz before he changed teams fromToyota toLancia near the end of development, being ultimately reworked and released asWorld Rally (1993).
Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship is atop-downrally racing game reminiscent ofParis-Dakar (1988), where players observe from above and race as Spanish rally driverCarlos Sainz driving theToyota Celica Turbo 4WD across locations conforming theWorld Rally Championship such asPortugal,Acropolis,1000 Lakes,San Remo,Cataluña andRAC by participating in increasingly difficult two-lap races to obtain the best time record possible and qualify for the next course to win the championship.[1][2][3][4][5] The game employs anisometric perspective asSito Pons 500cc Grand Prix to portray a television broadcast-style viewpoint.[6]
Every location, composed of six courses each, has its ownweather conditions and hazards that change how the vehicle is controlled through the track.[1][2][3][4][7] Unlike other racing simulators released at the time, there are noAI-controlled opponents participating during races on-screen but their best times are shown when the race is finished.[4] Players have the option to modify the car's characteristics to better accommodate each course and a training option is also available prior to starting a race.[1][2][3][4] Players can resume their progress viapassword as well.[5]
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Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship was created in conjunction withSito Pons 500cc Grand Prix byZigurat Software (previouslyMade in Spain), whose staff worked on licensed sports titles such asParis-Dakar (1988) andEmilio Sanchez Vicario Grand Slam (featuring former Spanish tennis playerEmilio Sánchez), and co-developer Arcadia Software.[6][8][9][10][11] Fernando Rada and Jorge Granados of Zigurat acted as co-producers.[7][10][12] José Miguel Saiz, Manuel Rosas and José Antonio Carrera Merino of Arcadia served as co-programmers and artist respectively.[7][13][14][15][16] The team recounted the project's development process through interviews.[10][12][14][15][16]
Carlos Sainz: World Rally originated during a meeting between Zigurat and Arcadia to discuss future projects, where various ideas were pitched such as a golf game and a car game.[14][16] The idea of creating an accuraterally simulator is becausemotorsports was a hobby among Zigurat staff and the programmers found rally to be a spectacular discipline and fitting due to graphic and dynamic possibilities.[3][10] Zigurat hired Spanish rally driverCarlos Sainz, who had yet to become a world champion at the time, and the project started development afterwards.[14][16] Due to being occupied with development ofSito Pons 500cc, Zigurat assigned the license to Arcadia, supervising production and acting as advisors.[10][12] According to Miguel Saiz, Arcadia received support from Sainz and his team early in production, as well as advising from Sainz's co-pilotLuis Moya through Zigurat to create different terrain effects.[14][16] Sainz also advised the team of Zigurat and collaborated with development, designing the vehicle and race courses.[6][13]
Carlos Sainz shares the same isometric perspective asSito Pons, allowing the team to adequately simulate car movement, as well as easing composition of curves and giving a greater sense of speed unlike several racing simulation titles that made use of different perspectives.[3][6] However Antonio Carrera Merino stated that the graphics proved time-consuming and difficult due to the vehicle having 360 degree movement, requiring help to create the graphics and opting fordigitization.[15][16] Saiz also stated that working with terrain effects like skids and jumps proved complicated, while designing courses was a complex issue as well due to memory constrains and the number of maps needed to be implemented.[16] Saiz claimed that the game made use ofvariables to make driving realistically accurate as possible, with Zigurat providing documentation of car behavior to Arcadia in order to program the driving physics.[14] Saiz also claimed that the title used streaming code that modified driving physics depending on the conditions.[14] Both Zigurat and Arcadia spent many testing hours prior to launch, with Rada polishing the driving physics at Arcadia.[10][12][14]
Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship was published exclusively in Spain byZigurat Software forAmstrad CPC,MS-DOS,MSX andZX Spectrum on December 3, 1990.[3][6] Both the CPC and MSX versions were also distributed by Erbe Software.[4][17] The CPC version makes use of the computer'sMode 0 display resolution.[17] It was the final release of Arcadia prior to abandoning thevideo game industry due to external factors according to José Miguel Saiz and José Antonio Carrera Merino.[15][16] Prior to launch,Carlos Sainz and the development team presented the game to the press at theToyota headquarters inMadrid.[14][16] Versions for theAmiga andAtari ST were planned but never released.[3][6][18] In 1991, the title was included as part of thePack Powersports compilation for all platforms.[19]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Micromanía | (ZXS) 8/10[2] |
| Mega Ocio | (CPC) 8/10[17] |
| MicroHobby | (ZXS) 90%[1] |
| MSX Club | (MSX) Positive[4] |
Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship was met with positive reception from critics across all platforms since its release and proved to be a local success forZigurat.[20] Spanish magazineMicroHobby reviewed theZX Spectrum version, praising the fast movement, visuals, sound, sense of realism and addictive factor.[1] Similarly,Micromanía's José Emilio Barbero also reviewed the Spectrum version, commending the addictive and original gameplay, graphics, difficulty and sense of speed, stating that "Carlos Sainz is a new proof of the absolute dominance of Zigurat in the 8-bit field".[2]
Reviewing theMSX version,MSX Club's Jesús Manuel Montané drew comparison withKonami titles likeHyper Rally andRoad Fighter due to its premise, feeling mixed in regards to the graphical presentation and criticized the limited technical complexity but gave positive remarks to the playability and controls, stating that "Carlos Sainz outperformsSito Pons in many ways, despite being made by the usually mediocre Arcadia programming team".[4]Mega Ocio's César Valencia P. reviewed theAmstrad CPC version and praised the detailed visuals, controls and sound but criticized the excessive difficulty in some sections.[17]
After the release ofCarlos Sainz: World Rally, Zigurat was contacted byGaelco to work on anarcade game based on theWorld Rally Championship featuringCarlos Sainz before he changed teams fromToyota toLancia near the end of development, being ultimately reworked and released asWorld Rally (1993).[8][9][11][21]World Rally proved to be a breakthrough title for Gaelco across Europe and attained "mass success",[22] selling around 23,000 units in the region and achieving similar response worldwide.[11][21][23][24][25]World Rally also gained acult following, with Santa Ragione designer Pietro Riva stating that the game served as inspiration forWheels of Aurelia (2016).[9][26]
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