Re-view is our attempt to step back a year and re-evaluate a game from that period to either redress the balance or re-affirm our views of it.

One of the first games to define the 32bit racing genre was Infogrames' wonderful V Rally, and this week last year (FG9, Jan 7, 1999) we reviewed the N64 incarnation called, imaginatively, V Rally 99.

We were impressed with the game but weren't wowed by it. Steve Bradley reviewed it at the time and commented: "...V-Rally is a driving game which requires and rewards perseverance. If you're prepared to spend time and effort learning to control the cars (and if you've spent £40, you will), then the sheer breadth of circuits and cars will keep you at the wheel for a long time. As for playing with friends, racing time trials is more rewarding than choosing the two-player option." Steve awarded the game a creditable 83 per cent.

One year on and the game's lost a significant amount of sparkle and has been bettered by a couple of releases last year, most notably World Driver Championship. These days we'd give the game a respectable but not outstanding 70 per cent.