There are three difficulty levels: Novice, Intermediate and Expert.

In Rally mode the difficulty restricts the stages that are available and, in turn, the number of days in each rally.

novice
Day 1 (4 stages) with Day 2 (Super Special Stage) at four of the countries

intermediate
Day 1 (4 stages), Day 2 (4 stages) and Day 3 (Super Special Stage) at four of the countries

expert
Day 1 (4 stages), Day 2 (4 stages), Day 3 (2 stages) and Day 4 (Super Special Stage) at four of the countries

In Arcade mode the only restriction is that Novice level only contains the Class B championship and circuits.

Novice and Intermediate are available when the game is first played. Expert difficulty is unlocked in Rally mode by coming 1^st in the Championship at Intermediate level.

Expert difficulty for Arcade modes is unlocked by coming 1^st in the Class A and Class B Championships at Intermediate level.

When beginning a game you can select your Driver Profile from those saved. If you do not have a profile, you can create a new one. See the Driver Profiles section for more details.

If you do not have a saved profile, or do not wish to create one, then you can play the game as a GUEST. However, a guest cannot unlock bonus cars.

Note that Driver Profiles are not used in Challenge mode since it can support up to eight players.

Six cars are available initially. Other cars become available by progressing in the Rally and Arcade Championships at both Intermediate and Expert levels. When selecting a car you may choose between Manual (MT) and Automatic (AT) transmission. It is advisable to start with AT until you have got used to the feel of the cars.

BHP 300
Weight (kg) 1230
Turbo Y
Drive 4WD

BHP 300
Weight (kg) 1230
Turbo Y
Drive 4WD

BHP 300
Weight (kg) 1230
Turbo Y
Drive 4WD

BHP 300
Weight (kg) 1260
Turbo Y
Drive 4WD

BHP 300
Weight (kg) 1230
Turbo Y
Drive 4WD

BHP 300
Weight (kg) 1230
Turbo Y
Drive 4WD

At the start of, and halfway through, each rally day you can visit a Service Area to adjust the car set-up and replace damaged parts. You can also view information on the coming stages and the weather forecast for the day.

Each Service Area has an allotted time in which set-up adjustments and repairs can be made. The Service Area at the start of the day lasts 60 minutes, as does the Service Area halfway through the day.

At the first Service Area of a rally - before the start of the first stage - the car has a set-up that is adequate for that countryÆs stages. But it is no more than adequate. You should study the stage information at each Service Area and change the set-up where appropriate to get the most effective performance from your car.

Each alteration to the set-up takes up some of the time allotted at the Service Area.

You can set up the following parts of the car:

Changing the gear ratios means a trade-off between acceleration and maximum speed.

Choose from a range of suspension settings between soft and hard.

Tyres may be replaced with alternative types. The following types of tyre can be used: Dry Tarmac, Wet Tarmac, Dry Gravel, Wet Gravel, Dry Mud, Wet Mud and Snow.

Move the power ratio between the front and rear wheels. This adjustment is limited to a maximum of 60% at front or rear.

Moves the brake balance between the front and rear of the car.

Adjusts the strength of the brakes.

Adjusts the steering sensitivity.

Sustaining damage comes with the territory in rallying. Repairing a damaged part means completely replacing it. These replacements are done at the Service Area. Each part replacement takes up some of the time allotted at the Service Area.

The amount of damage a part has sustained is shown on the damage bar for the part. A summary of the damage is shown on the list of parts by coloured hazard symbols: yellow means a small amount of damage, orange means a significant amount and red means a critical amount.

The following parts of the car may be replaced: gear box, turbo, suspension, differential, brakes, body, steering, electrics, exhaust, drive shaft and axles.

Here you are given information on the current rally. An overall description of the conditions in the country is provided, along with individual stage maps and weather forecasts. This will help you to maximise the set-up of your car.

Note that the weather is unpredictable and may change. This will affect your tyre choice, particularly on tarmac stages.

When in Rally Championship mode, you can save your game in the Service Area screen. Note that this does not save High scores, Cheats and Bonus Cars. To save these you must return to the main menu.

There is no Service Area in Arcade mode. Your car will be given a suitable set-up for the current track.

A rally driver relies on his co-driver to give information on the coming sections of the stage. To be able to maximise performance for the fastest possible time, the driver must listen carefully to the co-driver calls - especially on night stages where the driver canÆt see so far ahead.

The co-driver arrows are displayed at the top of the screen, indicating the severity of the coming corners. You will also see warning symbols indicating "Care" or "Caution".

The number is the suggested gear a corner can be taken in. This is a similar system to the one used by Colin McRae and Nicky Grist.

In addition to the symbols appearing on screen, you will hear the co-driver calls. He will call the severity of the corner and then the distance to it. If a corner comes very soon after the current one, you will hear "and" or "into" rather than a distance.

The co-driver will also give you more detailed information where necessary:

care this section is hazardous

caution this section is extremely hazardous

crest a rise in the road that obscures the route beyond

jump a rise in the road that will propel the car into the air if driven over at speed

long this is a long, progressive corner

very long this is an extended, long corner

turn this denotes a corner at a road junction

opens the corner becomes shallower as you drive through it

tightens the corner becomes tighter as you drive through it

narrows the road becomes narrower

donÆt cut do not cut across the apex of the corner

straight take a straight line through the coming bends

Various types of hazard will also be indicated, along with upcoming surface changes.

"100, 4 Right" û a fairly tight turn 100 metres away.

"70, 2 Left And 6 Right" û a very tight left hand bend 70 metres away, followed by a flat out right hand bend.

"30, Turn 3 Left, Care Rocks Outside" û a tight left hand corner at a junction with some dangerous rocks on the outside of the bend.

"6 Crest" û itÆs safe to go flat out over this crest. There is no corner directly after it.

behind car (far)

behind car (near)

in-car view (not available in split-screen mode)

The Behind Car (Far) camera may be set up according to a playerÆs preferences. The height above the car, distance behind car and tilt direction may be altered along with a spring parameter that affects how much the camera swings left or right when the car is turning.

Players can create a saved custom driver profile; this contains their identity and a record of their best performances, trophies, configuration preferences and bonus cars won.

Upon selecting Drivers from the main menu, you can create a new profile, load any saved profiles or view any profiles that have already been loaded.

If you choose to create a new driver profile you must enter a three-letter ætagÆ. This is used as your personal identifier throughout the game (e.g. on high score tables). You then enter your full name and date of birth.

You can look at all the information in the driver profile, including personal best scores and times for Championships, Rallies and individual stages and laps.

You can view all the trophies youÆve accumulated during the course of the game. Trophies are awarded on all difficulty levels by coming 1^st (gold), 2^nd (silver) or 3^rd (bronze) in Rally and Arcade Championships and in Single Rallies.

Your profile is automatically updated whenever you return to the Main Menu.

split-screen: switch between vertical and horizontal split-screen.

ghost car: turn the ghost car on or off.

units: display speeds in MPH or KMH

speedo: set default, digital or analogue speedo

Adjust the music, sound effects and co-driver volumes and switch between stereo or mono output.

View the current high scores and best times. Note that these are overall high scores by any player. A playerÆs personal high scores are stored in their Driver Profile.

Any gameplay data such as options, high scores and any features that have been unlocked can be saved. This data is automatically loaded upon starting the game. Note that this is separate from the Driver Profiles which are saved separately.

Change the preferred language.

A wide variety of controllers are supported, including force feedback steering wheels, joypad, mouse and keyboard. You may need to configure these controllers manually. From the Main Menu, select OPTIONS, then select CONTROLLERS. Choose the controller type then the CONTINUE option to configure that controller. To ensure changes are made, select the CONFIRM SETTINGS option.