South Park Rally is a 2000 kart-style racing video game based on the American animated sitcom South Park published by Acclaim Entertainment (near the end of the third season of the show) and released for the PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast. Gameplay follows the player in a competitive racing championship set in the fictional town of South Park. Players are given the options for multiplayer, arcade, or championship modes, but only the championship unlocks extra features. Competition begins in South Park's 1st Rally, a circuit race around four checkpoints in the downtown area of South Park. Races get gradually more diverse, with more locations, racers, and elements added as the game progresses.
Following South Park (1998) and South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (1999), the game's development was handled by Tantalus Interactive and includes characters, vehicles, locations, items and other features inspired by or featured on the series. It was developed simultaneously for all major consoles during the time of its release. Version differences include the number of unlockable characters and stages, with the Nintendo 64 version being on the low end of features due to hardware limitations.
South Park Rally received mixed-to-poor reviews from critics. Criticism derived from the differences between the two major home console ports, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation, as well as the general lack of innovation over other kart-style racers such as Mario Kart 64. South Park Rally would become the last South Park game by Acclaim Entertainment and the last home game in the franchise until South Park: The Stick of Truth in 2014. Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone would go on to ridicule Acclaim's games based on their series in later years.
Gameplay
Gameplay in South Park Rally is divided into three game modes: championship, arcade, and multiplayer. Up to 27 playable characters are available depending on which console version is played. Championship: The main focus of the game, which has 14 different races (additional races in the Dreamcast version), all of which have to be done in order. This is the only mode where characters and tracks can be unlocked. Arcade: A practice mode allowing the player to choose any unlocked character on any unlocked track to race. Multiplayer: A race allowing two to four players to choose any unlocked characters on any unlocked track and race. The game features a diverse set of objectives in races that encourage player interaction. According to Acclaim Entertainment manager Thomas Bass, "Unlike other racing games where players avoid the other players in order to win, South Park Rally encourages interaction between players, which makes for some insane and wildly fun gameplay." Original voice actors Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and Isaac Hayes provided dialog for the game.
Plot
The Mayor of South Park has decided to stage a rally series that will take place through the heart and outskirts of the town. Favorite characters from the popular television series are included and are able to make use of destructive automobiles, including police cars, mini Porsches, Big Gay Al buggies, wheat bags, jeeps and dozens of other vehicles.
Characters who appear in power-up form include Mr. Hankey, Saddam Hussein, the Underpants Gnomes, Frida, Sparky and Kitty.
Development
Development on the title – based on Tantalus' own concept – was done on three platforms simultaneously, and took seven months. The game was developed by 20 people. South Park Rally was the third video game based on the series, as Acclaim had also published the games South Park (1998) and South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (1999).
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone had little to do with the development of South Park Rally (as well as the two other Acclaim releases), although they did contribute a number of original lines of voice acting for it, as they do most of the voices on the show.
Marketing
South Park Rally'''s release was accompanied by television commercials, billboards, and print advertisements targeted at older audiences that carried sponsorships of both South Park and Comedy Central's The Man Show from December 1999 through January 2000.