Colin McRae Rally is Codemasters' rally game, released for the PlayStation in Europe on 15 July 1998 and for Windows on 9 October 1998. North America had to wait: Sony Computer Entertainment published the PlayStation version there on 16 February 2000.
The game is built around rally driver Colin McRae, who advised on development. He and his co-driver Nicky Grist voiced themselves, and McRae also teaches the Rally School tutorial. There are 12 laser-modelled cars, from front-wheel-drive kit cars such as the SEAT Ibiza to World Rally Cars such as the Subaru Impreza WRC, plus bonus cars like the Audi Quattro S1. The championship covers seven official rallies of the 1998 season and Indonesia, whose real event was cancelled that year, though every stage is fictional.
Codemasters cited Sega Rally Championship as a strong influence. The game sold more than 4 million copies by late 2002 and won a Gold prize at the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes for European revenues above €30 million.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Colin McRae Rally | PlayStation | Feb 16, 2000 | Sony Computer Entertainment | 1 |
| NA | Colin McRae Rally | Windows | Apr 18, 2000 | Codemasters | 1 |
| EU | Colin McRae RallySpanish Wikipedia says late 1998 in the UK. | PlayStation | Jul 15, 1998 | Codemasters | 1 |
| EU | Colin McRae Rally | Windows | Oct 9, 1998 | Codemasters | 1 |
| EU | Colin McRae RallyGame Boy Color version developed by Spellbound. | Game Boy Color | Sep 21, 2001 | THQ | 1 |
Box art by region
NA Colin McRae Rally 
EU Colin McRae Rally
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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ContentPlayStation (NA)
The North American release has 11 cars instead of 12 because the Renault licence for Novice mode was lost, and every driver except Colin McRae has a fictional name; the European release used real drivers.1
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ContentPlayStation (Value Series / Bestsellers)
The budget Value Series and Bestsellers re-releases renamed Rally Monte Carlo to Rally Austria, changed the year on the loading screens from 1998 to 2000 and removed some logos; the later Bestsellers edition also cut the intro.1
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ContentWindows
The PC version includes four unlockable tracks that are not tied to real-world locations.2
Reception
Colin McRae Rally sold more than 4 million copies worldwide by late 2002 and was Codemasters' most successful boxed game in the UK. It holds 82% (PlayStation) and 77% (PC) on GameRankings; Edge and IGN gave the PlayStation version 9/10, while GameSpot was much cooler on both versions.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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