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solid fun rally racer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: December 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most beautiful racers for the mac platform. With DAMAGE! the latest gran turismo doesn't have realistic damage to the cars when they crash. I'm not talking just dented body panels either. The glass breaks bumpers crumple and FALL OFF. Doors can be smashed in and RIPPED OFF. Hood and trunk fly up and can be TORN FROM THE HINGES. The tires can be ripped to shreds and you can drive on the metal rims and sparks fly! Transmissions get toasted, engine overheats. The graphics are absolutely beautiful. With one exception being the spectators on the side of the road. Statics unmoving fans line the streets in some areas. They should have left the people out. The cars are tricky to handle, and they each handle very differently. I havn't got any vehicles to drift yet, my favorite feature from ridge racer. This game is absolutely awesome. If you get tired of racing you can have fun smashing your car to bits and watching the pieces fly off!

haha

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I just wanted to point the finger and laugh at the reviewer below. It's a bit much to expect an integrated graphics solution to play 3D games. I am quite impressed this company has opted to make this game PowerPC compatible. Most of the new Mac games coming out are emulated in some fashion, and not a true port (EA I'm looking at you!).

Now I'm curious, I have a Sony Vaio CR220E, which uses the same processor and chipset as the last revision of the MacBook, and it plays the game just fine (CMR 2005, for windows). I wager that a current MacBook would play this game just fine. The replacement for the GMA965 includes the intel X3100 graphics card (what the vaio and macbook has). But this is a very good integrated graphics card, aimed at making integrated graphics less of a joke (and providing full DirectX 10 support for Win Vista).

To me it's exciting that they're even trying to get games on Mac. For so long they were just the butt of jokes amongst my PC enthusiast friends (I made fun of them too). And obviously it's funny to see this title out 3 years late, considering it's successor DiRT has been out for months. But this is exciting because for quite a while Macs have been shipping with very decent hardware, and no way to show its ability.

Worth the wait and then some!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The current low star rating for Colin McRae Rally Mac is incredibly misleading when one is more about the long time it took to port this game and the other for the fact that this game won't run on all macs. Nearly every Mac gamer had to problems when Apple switched to Intel processors, though this game doesn't require one. Further, graphic intensive games such as this one require large amounts of graphic and CPU horsepower. Laptops often lack both of these because of size and power supply constraints.

Anyway, as someone that has been waiting for a great racing game on the Mac, I feel like CMR has met this challenge in a way that few previous mac racing games have managed to do. For example Ford Racing 2, has great graphics, but very poor control, which might stem from needing a steering wheel or game pad to play. However just by comparison CMR can be played with a keyboard, at least early on. I started with just a keyboard, but purchased a Mad Katz USB gamepad and it does make this game that much easier to use.

I agree with the earlier reviewer, the damage modeling is fantastic, the way each scrape and wreck affects the appearance of your car. It also affects the driving as various internal part of the car are damaged. There is also strategy in adjusting your car before each race for the weather and the road terrain, all of which can make a huge difference in your time. Each vehicle handles differently as well depending on if it's 2WD, 4WD, as well as it's size etc. In some later races, parts of rallies are back to back meaning that you have to makes some tough decisions on what tire to use and also on what parts of the car to repair before the next race. While it is fun to see your car get battered, it can slow you down, especially if this battered car has to go through another course segment.

I was annoyed initially with the testing challenges players are required to complete in order to get a better engine, damper, brakes, etc. but after lots of practice, it is possible to get the upgrades, though some cars it is easier than others. For example to get better shock dampers for a particular car, players have to drive as fast as possible yet also in some cases poorly, to abuse the shocks as the test requires in the time period.

Except for racing against a ghost car in the challenge mode, you will only race the clock. Many of the tracks have routes that are too narrow to pass etc on, so it would be difficult to race against actual cars, though I wouldn't mind the option. I also wouldn't mind being able to change the color of my car etc, like some racing games offer. I'm about halfway through the career mode and feel that this game is well worth $40 and will offer many more hours of game play. I haven't tried the online muliplayer, but hope to soon. Thanks Feral for sticking with this game.

This computer ran well on my 20" iMac with a 2.4 Ghz intel core due processor, a 256 MB Graphic card, and 1 GB memory.

Plenty O Fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a pretty fun driving game.
Good graphics. Cars and conditions all vary.
Well worth buying.

Colin McRae Rally, Mac

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: June 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game overall is very good, crisp graphics and gameplay is very nice. The only problem I had with it is that career mode gets a little tedious but other than that I think the game is a must if you're looking for a good game for your mac.

Worst product release. Ever.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 28
Date: July 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Obviously, since the game isn't out yet I can't review the actual game but instead I thought I would take the time to review Feral Interactive (the company handling the port).

I know that Mac versions of Windows games take time to port, I understand also that since Apple switched in an Intel architecture there are some advantages to help make this easier, but this game has been "coming soon" for 2 years (actually a littler more than 2 years). That is a joke. It has been one of the worst software releases I've ever seen. They can use whatever excuse they want to explain a few extra months - but 2 years? I think I'm not alone when I say that while I was really looking forward to this game - I've actually lost all interest in it.

Perusing FI's website you can see a host of other games they've released since announcing CMR05, and you have to wonder - do we really need another Lego Star Wars? Couldn't games like that be put on hold to make good on your earlier promises? I feel bad being so negative about a Mac game publisher since there are so few, but this is why the Mac platform has become a joke in the gaming market. There are some very good Mac game publishers out there, but companies like this are a black eye to all of us.

I'm glad to see EA promising simultaneous releases of their new games. I think that the Mac platform can be a good gaming market (with it's increasing market share) and I hope that the platform is "worth-it" not only for EA, but for some other really good publishers out there (like id & MacSoft).

What Feral has done with this port is disrespectful and completely self-defeating. Again, I understand the difficulty that can result from porting games - but don't keep saying: "it's coming soon!" because we all know it's not. I'm just curious when they will actually just take it off the market.

Anyway, if you are a casual gamer and are looking for a Mac racing game, wait a few weeks for EA's new NFS-Carbon. It looks pretty good and I'm sure that more Windows game developers will follow soon.

Doesn't work on all Macs

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: January 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Beware! You cannot play this game on many (all?) MacBooks, MacMinis, and as I found out the hard way, on my iMac. Before you buy it, check your "graphics/displays" info in "about this Mac." If you have the Intel GMA 950 chipset model, you won't be able to play the game. Very disappointing on Christmas day to watch my rally racing fans install it and be told: "You can't play this game on this computer." Amazon should include a warning about this probem in the specs, and hopefully will in the future. Amazon should also include a "0" in its rating system for purchases a customer simply can't rate.

Another Mac port gone wrong

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Thought I would finally get a decent rally game on the Mac and was totally disappointed. While everything looks good the steering is absolutely unusable. The dead zone just does not set correctly so you have to throw the wheel back and forth to get any sort of response. This surprises me since the Ford Racing works so well.
I see from other reviews and chat forums that this is a common "feature". Emailed support twice with no response.
Definitely would not recommend this until a patch is released. Then I am sure things will be as promised.

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