The capital "C" section in Mountian can pass with full gas all the way in the 1st Lap(I guess you already know it). And the small "s" section is really one of the hardest. My method is, before entering the corner, stay in the middle (with a little bit to the right), then release the gas shortly in the meantime while turning to the right. This is stable but possibly not the fastest method, because I did tried one time which can pass through with full gas in top speed. The time is actually by luck while I accidently run on the grass to the right before entering the corner. So bad that, when I try it again later, I found the stablity is very low everytime I run on the grass. And so never tried go through the "s" section with full gas again. Maybe you can try this ultimate "grass turn" also.

Yes, I stay in the 3rd gear in both hairpins of Riviera. Actually I did shift to gear 3 before entering the corners, to slow down the speed. I tried to use the 2nd gear also. In this case, I found that there's no need to use the brake! Release the gas, shift to gear 2, turn right and hold the handbrake all the way in the corner. This is also a very fast method, just depend on which one you found is more stable. (^^)

And of course, consider enter the corners with the 4th gear should be more perfect, but just don't forget to shift down to gear 3 if the outgoing speed is lower than ~185 kilo.

Wow, the culture of TV game was really very different from Asian to European in the past. I never heard of the words Commodore 64, Sinclair Sectrum 48k and Amstrad. I did played the Atari at my uncle's house very very long time ago before the Nintendo system, while I were only aged several years old. The resolution maybe something like several ten pixels but the memory is very sweet and funny. (^^)

This is very hard to say whether the Dreamcast server in UK is more terrible than us or not... because... we actually do not have a Dreamcast server here! (ToT) This is also the condition in Taiwan. Though not very sure, but this is most likely the case that: Except in Japan, America and Europe, there is no Dreamcast server else in the world including all other Asian countries (I can't believe it!). So actually we didn't ever tried the Netwok Play of Sega Rally 2, although this is seems to be the most interesting mode of the game... . (T_T) Because of the problem of server, Deamcast and SRC2 are actually not very popular in Hong Kong. The number of Playstation users still take a large portion... .

But if the server is slow and unreliable, I can imagine and understand this is not much better than us. Because I have similar experience. I also own the PC version of SRC2, and tried the Multi-Player mode with local players(use TPC/IP to play through the internet). But the connection is usually unstable and slow. Normally can only play 1-2 complete games within 2-3 hours... , which often experence sysem hang while playing. Besides, the movement of other players' car are like the track of an UFO. Moreover, when two cars get hit, the speed will slow down a lot and reflected far away which is very different from the 1Play mode. So for myself the PC version is only played for a very short time.

So long for now and wish your time gets faster everytime!

KAY

hi kay, thanks for sharing your src2 technique with me, it has helped me improve mine. i have adopted a less "aggresive" style for mountain especially through "C" and "S" sections, you were right i can easily overtake car before hairpin. one more thing, on riviera do you stay in 3rd gear all the way though both hairpins, i myself use 2nd, i must be losing time if it is possible to stay in 4th gear. more practice is required on riviera hairpins.

on the subject of gradius, it was released on european home computers around 1987 (commodore 64, sinclair spectrum 48k and amstrad.) i used to own nemesis(gradius) on the commodore 64, it was a very good conversion considering the limitations of the hardware, nearly as playable as the nes version(famicom) which i also owned. salamander was also released later but i never played it on european computers, i had life force (salamander) on nes(famicom) which was a great 8bit conversion.

the dreamcast server in uk is terrible, what is asian spec dreamcast like online? it cant be worse than ours, it is so slow and unreliable it is a joke!

ic

Thank you for your letter. This is very hard for me to say because both Mountain and Riviera are my weakest courses. (^^!)

I myself do not use the grass to slide out at the Hairpin Left near the end of Mountain. This is because I found the kilo(km/h) will drop a lot and the control is usually not very stable too. But, use the grass seems to be the fastest method as I heard from some professional players. Maybe you can try both and choice the one suitable for yourself. And also for Mountain, I think there're two points that should pay extra attention. The capital "C" section soon after start, and the small "s" section in the middle of the stage(after the bridge).

For the Riviera, I discovered the "wall turn" skill at the very beginning of playing but I did seldom use it. This is also because of the matter of stablity. Besides, the feeling is not very good. Crash on the wall can result in the shortest racing line and hence the fastest overall speed. But this seems need to have a lot of luck. My method is, stay as close as possible to the wall but didn't really touched it, or maybe this is more difficult than the "wall turn" in some way... . (^^!) You can download the 'movie clip' from the "Ultimate Strategy" section of SRCHK for reference, which is captured from my fastest record 2'40"123(with the 205 Turbo).

Moreover, entering the hairpins with gear 4(slow down before) can keep the kilo higher and make the car more stable than with lower gear. I learn this from some very great/professional players from Taiwan, but after I played all of my records... . So actually I didn't tried it much, because I were practiced too long time with my 'original' gear 3 method and it is so hard for me to change. If your turning skill is not 'fixed' yet, try it!

Thank you for visiting my homepage of Gradius too. As you can see, this is not completed yet because I found not much time to update it recently. Yes, you're right. Vulcan Vernture is the western name of Gradius II. This is one of the most classic and hit chapter. I'll add a new section introducing the US/European versions of Gradius/Nemsis later when have time. But just don't expect much because I don't have much information about them. (^^!)

KAY

Hi ic (ian), I'm sorry my e-mail account(www.astroboymail.com) had some problems in the past few days. I just can connect to it today and so noticed your mail, this is 01/09 Sunday. I will reply you again tomorrow because the time now is too late and I'm just going to sleep.

I did take a glance at your times and... what a wow! You are already very tough in playing SRC2! I'm afraid my limited technique cannot help you much. (^^!) Anyway let's talk later.

KAY

hi kay. i was wondering if you can help me. i want to get faster lap times on mountain and riviera ,my car is 037 rally. what is the technique for wall turns? this would really help me ! my fastest lap times are: desert 56.800 mountain 101.009 (this is poor i know ,but the car blocks my racing line ,i can overtake it on inside of hairpin when i ease off before checkpoint ,also do i use the grass to make me slide out at second hairpin??? help me!) snowy 059.168 rivera 106.053 (poor). my fastest actual time on arcade at the moment is 403.554 not very fast considering some one has gone under 3.59!!! i hope you can give me some info, thanks, ic (ian) p.s your gradius site is really proffesional my favourite game in the series has to be vulcan venture (gradius II i think) salamander was cool as well. --@--.---------.---