On this day 10 years ago, Colin McRae: DiRT was released for PlayStation 3 in North America. That was slightly later than the PC and Xbox 360 releases, as it came out in June of 2007 for those platforms, but the wait was definitely worth it. The rally racing game managed to redefine the genre, and was 2007’s most polished racing game.
While DiRT might be 10 years old today, the actual series is much older. It has been around since 1998 (that’s nearly 20 years!), and has appeared on five separate PlayStation systems. Take a trip through memory lane and view how the rally racing titles have improved over the years.
Take a look at how the series has evolved in the slideshow below:
I hope you enjoyed our look back at the Colin McRae: Dirt series throughout the past 19 years. Codemasters’ ability to constantly reinvent and refine the rally racing genre has been impressive to watch, and it’s quite telling that the latest title in the series is their finest yet.
For even more on the latest installment, check out our DiRT 4 review. Here’s a snippet of what reviewer Paulmichael Contreras had to say:
DiRT 4 encompasses all that it means to race. To spend hours tuning your car, taking it out for a ride to test, bringing it back in to the garage to tweak some more, and repeating until everything is perfect. To have the stressors of the day simply fall away the second the red lights turn off and you are given the “GO” light. To have a perfect run and relish in your victories, as well as to have a devastating setback at the last second, but to learn from your mistakes and carry your head high as you give it another go.
Let us know how long you’ve enjoyed Codemasters’ rally series in the comments below!
Dirt retrospective
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Colin McRae: DiRT Retrospective
We take a look at the series' long history on PlayStation.
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Colin McRae Rally (1998)
The series all began on the original PlayStation. The driving sim was based upon the 1998 World Rally Championship season, and included eight drivers (including the titular McRae). It was only released in Europe in 1998, though, as it took the sim two years before it released in North America.
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Colin McRae Rally 2.0 (2000)
The original Rally was well received for its faithful physics (for the time), and so was the sequel. 2.0 was a more polished version that added events from the 2000 season, and managed to further flesh out the racing.
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Colin McRae Rally 3 (2002)
One thing that held the original games back was the hardware it was on, so Colin McRae Rally 3 was a true revelation. The series' first PS2 entry looked incredible and wowed players with its presentation. The only downside was a limited amount of options (for example you could only play as McRae in the Championship mode).
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Colin McRae Rally 04 (2003)
Rally 04 has a few interesting side-notes: 1) The PS2 version was never released in North America, although the Xbox version was. 2) It was the first game in the series to not feature the WRC license. The biggest upgrade was the totally redone physics, which helped recreate how rally racing really feels.
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Colin McRae Rally 2005 (2004)
Once again, Codemasters opted against a North American release for both the PS2 and PSP versions of the game. The big step forward here was online play, which was a first for the series.
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Colin McRae: DiRT (2007)
The series saw a rebranding once it hit the PS3. The Colin McRae named was removed in North America, and the game was simply known as DiRT. Not only was the series in HD for the first time, it also featured a larger career mode than previous games, and multiplayer was upped to allow 100 players to compete in rally races.
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Colin McRae: DiRT 2 (2009)
DiRT 2 was the first game to be released after McRae's tragic death. The title featured five unique racing disciplines for players to take part of (including hill climbs). Such variety was rarely seen in the rally racing genre, and it introduced the incredible Flashback ability that allowed players to rewind time during races. Our review states that it's "a must own for anyone looking for a racer that mixes arcade and sim so seamlessly."
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DiRT 3 (2011)
DiRT 3 continued the series' status as being a must own title for racing fans. Even those that weren't rally racing fans could enjoy the game due to its new gymkhana mode, which featured elaborate obstacle courses for players to compete in. On top of that, there were several party modes (such as capture the flag) that made it a blast online.
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DiRT: Showdown (2012)
DiRT: Showdown was a very different game when compared to its predecessors. Rather than building on DiRT 3's features, this was a complete overhaul from previous games and wasn't much of a rally game. It was still a lot of fun for those that were looking for something different (it has a great demolition mode), but it became clear that this wasn't what fans really wanted.
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DiRT Rally (2015)
Those that didn't enjoy Showdown got exactly what they wanted with DiRT Rally. This hardcore simulation got rid of all of the silliness and provided a strict rally racing game. This alienated some of the userbase that had liked previous games, but those looking for a serious racing game couldn't do much better.
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DiRT 4 (2017)
DiRT 4 is the perfect balance between the hardcore gameplay of Rally and the accessible gameplay of previous titles in the series. As our review states, it truly does "encompasses all that it means to race."
