Rush Rally 3 is a pleasant surprise. Mobile racers that promise ‘console-quality’ graphics and performance rarely deliver on such lofty promises, but in this case, developer BrownMonster mostly pulls it off. It’s a solid rally game that delivers surprisingly authentic 60fps gameplay and throws in a boatload of modes and customisation options to keep you busy.

Featuring a Career Mode as its main ‘campaign’, Rush Rally 3 boasts dozens of different tracks to race on, along with various weather effects and a day/night cycle. You’ll start off by purchasing your initial car, then work your way up the ranks, gaining prize money in the process to buy more and more cars. If the Career Mode isn’t necessarily for you, you can also jump straight into Single Rallys, or go up against AI opponents in Rally Cross.

There’s quite a lot to tinker with off the track, too. In an effort to be as authentic as possible, your cars can be inflicted with crippling damage that will often require repairs in order to function properly. If this sounds a bit too deep for some players, the game features a handy ‘auto repair’ option that largely removes this responsibility. Alongside this, you can purchase upgrades like new wheels, transmission, exhausts and more, and also customise the look of your vehicles with paint and decals.

Despite everything it does right, Rush Rally 3 does stumble along the way, particularly in the graphics department. This isn’t a good-looking game, unfortunately; there’s no getting around that. The visuals are GameCube level at best, and we’ve no doubt that this can be vastly improved for future games without compromising on performance. Elsewhere, the menu system can be a tad confusing for newcomers, and the customisation screen, in particular, is a bit of a nightmare to navigate.

Veteran rally gamers may also have an issue with the game’s overall difficulty. It’s incredibly easy for the most part, even with all the assists turned off. Nevertheless, whilst the game won’t compete with rally behemoths like Dirt Rally 2.0, Rush Rally 3 is a great alternative that won’t break the bank, yet offers an authentic take on the sport that newcomers will really appreciate.