New Rally-X

When Rally-X failed to win over the crowds, Namco redesigned the game to address some of the complaints about the difficulty of the game that they had received. They made a number of adjustments, but the change that is the most immediately apparent, besides the slight face lift to the graphics, is the reduction in the number of enemies that you must avoid in the early stages. Namco named the improved version of the game New Rally-X

It seems, however, that New Rally-X's arrival may have been too little, too late. While it went on to sell better than the original game, it did not seem to attract any attention from the home computer or console market. The game would not be heard from again until 1995 when it was included in Namco Museum Vol. 1 for the PlayStation. However, after 2000, two different versions of the game were provided for Windows XP owners in Japan. In 2006, the game was offered for download through Xbox Live Arcade, along with the usual set of achievements.

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  Title screen.

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  Alternate Windows cover scan

Xbox 360 Achievements

• New Rally-X Achievements (Xbox Live Arcade only).

Controls

• Joystick: Press the joystick to direct the car in the four cardinal directions that you would like the car to go. The car will never stop moving, and will automatically turn when it hits a wall. You can hold the joystick down in a new direction in anticipation of a turn. The car will even lean in to either side to indicate that the turn will be performed.
• Smokescreen: Press the button to release three puffs of smoke behind your car. Enemy cars that run into this smoke will be stunned and unable to continue along the path that they were driving along. While this can be a life saver in close situations, using the smokescreen substantially reduces the amount of fuel you have. Using smokescreen more than once every thirty seconds will almost ensure that you will run out of gas before all ten flags are captured.
• 1-2 Players: Press to start a one or two player game.

Elements

Player car

This is your car, the one that you must drive around the stage in order to collect every flag. You are not as fast as the red enemy cars, but you can turn around corners faster. Your car also has one secret weapon against the enemy: smokescreen. But beware, using smokescreen burns fuel much faster than normal. Should your car run out of fuel, you will slow down to a point where escape from the enemy is impossible. One collision with an enemy or a rock will destroy your car and you will lose one chance.

Enemy cars

Enemy cars start out directly beneath your starting position. More get added as you reach higher levels, and eventually enemy cars are added to the stage at the very top of the map. They are faster than your car in a straightaway, and their drivers will attempt to collide by taking the quickest path that they can find. However, they're not as bright as you and they are easy to fool. They won't make a 180 degree turn unless they have absolutely no choice. Driving into your smokescreen, a rock, or another enemy car won't eliminate them from the game, but it will stun them for a second or two, giving you a chance to put some distance between you.

Flags

There are ten flags in every stage. You must collect all ten of them to advance to the next stage. The first flag is worth 100 points, the second is 200, and so on until you collect the tenth flag for 1000 points. The points awarded will reset back to 100 if you lose a life and start the stage over. One flag out of the ten is a special flag. By picking it up, the score that you receive for each flag thereafter doubles. Another flag will be the Lucky flag. Upon collecting it, you will receive a bonus for the amount of fuel that you have remaining, and your car will be completely refueled.

Rocks

Simply put, rocks are a danger to your car. If you hit them, you lose one life. If the enemy hits them, they will become stunned just as they do when they hit your smokescreen or another enemy car.

Differences from Rally-X

• The graphics for the cars have been slightly improved.
• The game has new background music, which many players have found quite enjoyable.
• The stage layouts have been simplified in order to reduce dead-ends that a player could become trapped in.
• The number of enemy cars that appear in each stage has been reduced.
  • Round 1 - 1 units
  • Round 2 - 2 units
  • Round 4, 5 - 3 units
  • Round 6, 8 - 4 units
  • Round 9, 10 - 5 units　
  • Round 12 and above - 6 units
  • Round 14, 18, 22, and every fourth stage thereafter - 7 units
  • Challenging stages (3, 7, 11, and every fourth stage thereafter) - 7 units
• The addition of the lucky flag.
• The position of the special flag is indicated on the radar by the blinking dot.
• By default, you now get an extra life at 100,000 points in addition to 20,000 points.
• The number of rocks and enemy cars is indicated before each challenging stage.