Dirt Devils (SEGA 1998)

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Alright. I guess it's worth a few more cups of good coffee to wake this old beast up to rock n roll again! Unfortunately I don't have the game rigged up at the moment so there won't be any movies or hires photos, yet, meanwhile my old screenshots will have to do. I played this game alot around the year 2000-2002 when I had my experimental setup, mostly adapted for Model2 and Model3 games, and I took some shot of the game, however sadly no movies (ancient camera).

This won't be your typical review, we already have that here (thanks outrun2): http://www.gamefaqs.com/arcade/566976-d ... iews/28845 , but this thread will cover anything and everything otherwise about this great game. So ladies with awesome bone structures, I give you DIRT DEVILS!

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Because I'm not too familiar with how the layout works in this forum I'll try to create a flexible enough environment here to allow for occasional jump-ins and questions, and I'll try to keep the posts short so that one post will not span over the whole page, .. if you understand what I mean.

The Dirt Devils cabinet is a typical SEGA steel construction driving rig, starting from Daytona and Sega Rally, here in the twin configuration.

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Well then, let's cut right to the exclusives. Perhaps you will notice some resemblance of the photos here and those at system16 com, it is because I did the shots but Toby only used four, so here's the rest of them.

Let's start with the beetle. It's a well known buggy classic with its shell from the old VolksWagen 1300. Here it's under demo mode showing off some of the great detail of SEGA's Model3 2.X hardware.
and

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Now remember that I'm not stingy with pictures. If I could I'd communicate with picture only, and in particular Dirt Devils because the game is just SO pretty to look at!

Just look ... BAAM goes the exhaust pipe! You can hear it, you can feel it, and you can see it! Thank you SEGA!


.. please take a moment... thank you.


Blazing through the terrain over bumps and rocks you see the suspension working smoothly. I guess SEGA's engineers oiled those bearings up real good, didn't they.

Yes they did. And thank you for this awesome pose! It's not your typical glossy ray-traced reflections, it is however a phong-shaded body with every surrounding detail lightsourced. And please forgive those blocky shadow, it is after all 1998.






Oh yeaaaahh! Show me that awesome ... are those air filters? And behold the wheels, 3D all the way, *and in 60fps*!

And this, this is simply one big MUST DO! It just wouldn't be Dirt Devils without it. Keep your hands on the wheel, you haven't seen half of it yet!

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How many of you remember Kyosho's Scorpion? That must have been some time 1980 .. ish, right? Well, this is something like it - Dirt Devils' Desert Buggy, blazing through Boulder Canyon.

Did I mention there are jumps in Dirt Devils? There are, big ones! I think I may have accidently omitted jumps in my previous review.







Whoaaa!! Now we're talking scenery!One of SEGA's many strong points through the years has been the vistas. Kind of makes you feel like "Grand Canyon? Been there, done that ".

Oh wow, there's our beetle again! Descending from a high jump notice how the dirt flies off its wheels as we're aiming for that puddle of water!

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As it says on the box of any expensive toy: "All moving parts!" - ladies and bonestructures, I **** you not when I say that it applies to Dirt Devils too. Try to obliterate the poor photo image quality and imagine every mechanical part on the car is moving; dampers, axis, springs - the physics are ... well, SEGA. Now we're actually looking at in-race shots where we see our competition as well. It would have been so cool if SEGA had made it possible to select other vehicles than just the five, as there are quite a few extravagant buggies in the game.



Please blast that exhaust in my face together with dirt and fumes of fossil fuel! .. if I could lick that dirt off the tires I would ... I .. well, maybe not literally.

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Looks like we're on to a Buggy - Beetle medley here. The end of the tunnel at Boulder Canyon, with a Toyota pickup on your tail with falling boulders from top left ahead! Sparks flying all around as you struggle to keep that camera in your hand. Must... get .. a good .. shot...

To the right the wobley beetle almost at the finish line. Aahh, look at that advertising, from a time when ads were actually fun and exciting to look at!




Water. WATER! Give me some water! The large water puddle at Boulder Canyon just after the big jump. Often you land right in it with a big splash. Cleans the dirt off the vehicle in a second and makes you look brand new!

... unless you land on the rocks on the side. Here we can see one of the many selectable views in Dirt Devils. This birds-eye view is a far view where you get a good overhead of your competition and the track.

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Smaller wheels means a bumpier ride, as you here have three choices: 1/ follow the dusty road, taking a spin around the mudpool, 2/cutting across the rocky terrain to the right of the mudpool, or 3/ going straight through the mudpool. Any hesitation? It's not called Dust Devils, nor Rock Devils, the game is called DIRT DEVILS!

Onto the next bend we're spinning around the water pool with our honored colleague in the buggy club.



182 km/h is not exactly max speed. In DD you have get a certain handicap depending on what position you're at. As we see here we're on 8th place which is last, this means that we have the potential for max speed on the straights. I think that would be about 200 km/h maximum.

Yes, something like that. Coming off the straight to the bend leading into the tunnel we're at this moment going 198 km/h.

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There's not only terrain handling in Dirt Devils, there's speed as well ... Nah, just kidding. Dirt Devils is ALL about terrain! But in this case there's pretty much speed too ontop of that terrain. I'm talking about this monster here - the Euro Proto-racer. SEGA calls it "tricky", well that's one word for it.

If "tricky" isn't hard enough for you, then try *impossible*. Because that's what you will be sobbing after your first lap with this manic mechanic, that is if you make one lap at all. Just try to stay on the road, don't jerk the wheel too hard or you'll go ballerina into the bush. So keep it straight and careful on the gas!

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Here the beetle flies onto the final stretch before finish. It's been through some mud pits but the wheels have shaken off most of the dirt on the stoney road towards the city in the "Twin City 400" track. And to the right the Euro Proto at about the same spot but in a different view.

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Sparking love at high speed. No shame at all sniffing butts here at Tonatiu Stadium! We're all responsible grownups .. with a slight fetish for exaggerated engines.

To the right, this must be the Humvee. Military beauty at its best. Kind of reminds me of that other game on Lindbergh ... Hummer Extreme Edition. But that's another story.



Oh yes. Humvee for sure. Let us take a moment to admire this greatest of clumsiness bothering the competition with its lack of makeup and style. Then again, who needs all that when you're a superior squasher?

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Yeah! Here's how it's done winning the race by blocking the track. "Get outa my way .. wide-**** freak!" - Not sure if I remember the talks specifically, but something like that.

Which brings us to the sad story of the newbie selecting a way too hard vehicle to handle. Here's where the crane puts you back on track after your sixth outside the track adventure.

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I think it's time to step up a level in difficulty. In the Twin City 400 you're introduced to a completely new hell of bumps and surfaces. This is where you wish you had a tank instead. But that just wouldn't be fair to the other guys, would it.

Both start and finish is on a stretch of regular asphalt which very soon leads off into terrain where you need to handle your vehicle with acrobatic skills.



Starting in daylight pretty soon dusk is upon you, then very quickly you're in a dark place with only your headlights and the occasional city lights to guide you through this stoney labyrinth.



The trick here is not to slam the pedal to the metal on any longer stretch, not without first reading the bumps or pits on the road. Simply burning tires from A to B isn't always the best strategy because the surface will not allow it. You need to maintain contact with the ground to keep your speed and stability.

The off-roads in Twin City 400 are mostly gravel, and very uneven, so pay attention not to go too fast across a jump where there's a bend afterwards. Save it for the tarmac straights.

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The truck is infact one of the better vehicles for Twin City 400, mostly because it's so heavy but also because it has more wheels which seems to give it somewhat better grip.

If I remember correctly, the truck isn't too good on the first two stages where you'd like to look further ahead. Rather it is the better choice for the Twin City track due to the track's winding character where your priority is to stay on the road in the curves.

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I don't know how to give the final stage its proper introduction, because it is a very *final* stage - wheels come here to die. It's heaven and hell at the same time. I guess there is a track somewhere in that pile of rocks, but it's kind of hard to stay on it.

Have a look at the picture to the right, the track overview. The grey area is the "road" you would normally stick to unless you somehow get thrown off it into the brown area which is still part of the arena, just very tricky ground. It's pretty obvious that SEGA ment for you to either keep cool and race within the time limit and boundries of the track, skidding and sliding with your opponents, all hoping to finish the race. Or just go wild in trixter-land!



The outer area is really a back bending vast landscape of traps and challenges for you to get lost in. There is however a sort of large ditch between the road side and the outland, it follows all the way around track. If you're good enough you can use this outer circle to finish the race with speed, without interference of your competition. On the other hand if you're even better you could stay on the road ahead of your opponents, finishing the race that way. But remember, the track isn't walled in here, on the contrary the outer side is open with a ditch for you to fall into. Loose control for 1/10 of a second and you're in trixterland.

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That's it folks! I guess it became a sort of a review after all. Anyway I got to use my old photos which would probably never had been used otherwise.

So to top it off here this beautiful autumn monday, for the fans some final best-of pictures:

Toyota at Tonatiu


Pursuing the Toyota at Boulder.


Car selection


And splashwave! ... only not the one from Outrun.

[trev1976]

Woah

[outrun2]

WOW! So much to take in but so little time to read this lunchtime

First I've noticed is you seem to have the Australian version - I've not seen the region specified in an attract screen of a Sega driving game before.. I wonder if this means the game differs in some way to Export/Japan/US regions..

[andygeezer]

WOW! So much to take in but so little time to read this lunchtime

First I've noticed is you seem to have the Australian version - I've not seen the region specified in an attract screen of a Sega driving game before.. I wonder if this means the game differs in some way to Export/Japan/US regions..

No, it's the same as export version - just "Australian" version thing was part of the Australian operating laws at the time, to combat grey imports.

Scud Race, Dirt Devils, Daytona 2, Rally 2 etc all had Australian versions - some where different eproms, and some where just set in the secret country region menu.

What UT, failed to mention is the music in Dirt Devils is horrendous, so I only spent 30mins with it back in the day - was uncommon then, now is really obscure. oddly enough Sega had lots of artwork left, so my thinking was they didn't produce many cabinets.

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WOW? Now you're talking Rikyia Nakagawa and Emergency Call Ambulance , don't get me started there again.

Andy, where've you been dude? I've been trying to reach you on fazebook for a month now surely, and when I mention Dirt Devils you pop up like some ... dirty little devil? How've you been !?

Anyway, yes, my DD is the australian version. I bought it from Zax Amusement plenty of years ago together with Scud Race and Sega Rally 2. All of them "Australia" versions. And just as Andy says there's little difference in the game, except for that "Australia" text at the splash screen.

The music in Dirt Devils is kind of bad, yes. But nothing compared with the soundtracks of Race TV, or R-Tuned. These games needed modification. Also I should mention that DD doesn't use the external mpeg-board such as often seen with other model3-racers. I didn't buy the game for its music, and however crappy the music may be here I wouldn't say that it interferes with the game.

.. now, aha.. I see that in my review on Game FAQs I've totally suppressed the fact that Dirt Devils has got music. Sorry about that, well, I guess it's what happens when the music isnt' very good. I should have given it at least a 3 of 10 then. Even though the music is bad, it still fills the gap of silence. You need some sort of background noise in a racing game. (Anybody care to discuss the music of Daytona?)