Old School Rally scratched our ‘90s arcade racing itch... then promptly disappeared

As much as we love to get to grips with modern-day greats like EA WRC (RIP) and the DiRT Rally series (also RIP), when we think rally games, there is a corner of a foreign field that is forever SEGA Rally. Well, that and Colin McRae Rally - old is gold in loose-surface racing, is what we’re saying.

Quick quiz, then: guess which of those two virtual racing eras Old School Rally aligns itself with? That’s right. It’s the old school era of rally. If you answered incorrectly, we’d recommend you stop cleaning your ears with that fork.

As you can see from this gloriously low-fi announcement trailer, absolutely no graphics cards were harmed during the development of this title. There are fewer polygons than a primary school maths book, and we love it.

We also love the considerable roster of recognisable vehicles from yesteryear, including an Impreza GC, Peugeot 205 Rally, several Lancias, a Corolla, and a nice boxy Lancer bearing that red and white livery that’s bad for your lungs.

Trouble is, for an unlicensed racing game, Old School Rally’s vehicles might be a bit too recognisable. Just days after delighting the racing community with its announcement trailer, it’s been delisted from Steam. Publisher Astrolabe doesn’t currently have an official announcement regarding the sudden disappearance, but users in the game’s Steam community page (it’s only the Store page that’s disappeared) are reporting the developer is talking to Steam owner Valve about a possible DMCA regarding vehicle appearances.

Whatever’s happened since the trailer dropped and made us want to kick up a very basic dust cloud, we sincerely hope Old School Rally reappears quickly.