10 Impossible Video Games That Shouldn't Exist
7. V-Rally 3 - GameBoy Advance
The GameBoy Advance was a strange one because the home console market had abandoned 2D almost completely during the time of the console’s release and so the system was left in a strange space. Many developers designed games with a 3D look and feel for the GBA but it was V-Rally 3 that was the first watershed moment.
Developed by VD-dev to tie into V-Rally 3’s release on home systems, this handheld port built on the developer’s previous 3D work on the GameBoy Color and pushed beyond the typical Mode-7 affair of other GBA racers like F-Zero and Mario Kart.
V-Rally 3 was gorgeous in 2002: visually striking and packed with complex textures and sprite-work, whether that was from behind the vehicle or even from the surprising addition of the cockpit view. Most referred to the GameBoy Advance as a high-powered Super Nintendo but these graphics were more on par with Sony’s Playstation.
It really says a lot about how impressed the press were with this adaptation that Eurogamer scored the PS2 V-Rally 3 a very middling 5 but this technical marvel was honoured with an 8/10.
Developers took notice and 3D racers started to crop up on the system, but few could hold a candle to V-Rally 3.