Sega Rally

When Sega asked itself whether a faithful mobile version of its popular rallying series could be made, it arguably failed to ask a far more important question: whether it should be made? The arcade and console series upon which this is based has long been synonymous with fluid, instinctive racing. It was always going to be a big ask to convert this particular racing format directly onto our mobile phones, and so it has proved.

Initial impressions are very positive, as your lovingly detailed rally car sets off around a lushly appointed track against a full field of five competitors. You'll gawp and nod in wonderment, thinking for a second that mobile gaming truly has taken a large technical step towards its console brethren. Then you'll reach the first corner and most of these illusions will be smashed like the front-ends of so many of this year's Wales Rally contenders.

The lurching, lumbering pace of it all will strike you first, with progress slowing considerably when things get busy onscreen. Then you'll notice the stuttering reaction when your car makes contact with a competitor, and your heart will drop a little more.

And then there are the controls.

In a rare concession to standard mobile racing practice, your car is set by default to automatically accelerate. All that remains for you to do is steer left and right and dab the brakes (all achieved via the thumbstick) for those tight corners. As such, progress through the various courses is relatively undemanding and you won't we required to slam on the anchors too much to be successful.

Unfortunately, this leads us to the game's biggest problem. The core appeal of Sega Rally games past – and indeed of rallying as a sport – is of tearing around impossibly twisty courses via the skilful use of powersliding. This is the form of motorsport where getting your backend out (so to speak) is done for more than just showing off. In fact, it's downright essential.

Sadly, sending your car into a deliberately induced, 60mph opposite-lock-athon in the mobile version of Sega Rally is something Rockpool Games has failed to even attempt. Of course, limitations in the controls of your average handset mean that you could never fully convey the feeling of being at the limits of traction and control (it's a goal rarely achieved even with a good console joypad).

But what recent Need for Speed games have shown us is that a more than acceptable compromise can be reached with a little imagination. Even a basic version of Need for Speed: ProStreet's supremely satisfying drift meter would have been preferable to the thoroughly uninvolving system that Sega and Rockpool have opted for. Would such a feature have been directly faithful to the console and arcade versions? No. Would it have been more in keeping with the spirit of Sega Rally? Absolutely.

Anyway, the structure of the game is standard racing fare, comprising as it does of a Championship mode, Quick Race and Time Attack. Championship is where you'll concentrate most of your attention, winning races to unlock new levels and cars. It's nicely handled, but not enough to detract your attention from the game's glaring issues.

What we're left with is a cumbersome, chugging experience far removed from the thrills and spills of its subject matter. Screenshots will no doubt make things look impressive, and indeed much of the game stands as quite an achievement technically. But when such fireworks are to the detriment of the experience itself, and when such little attention seems to have gone on how it actually plays, you can't help but wish Rockpool and Sega had focused their resources elsewhere.