Colin McRae's name is on the box of eight Codemasters games: five numbered Colin McRae Rally titles from 1998 to 2004, two DiRT games (2007 and 2009) and the 2013 mobile Colin McRae Rally. Count the separate versions for Game Boy, N-Gage, PSP, Java phones and Mac and you get 36 releases on 17 platforms. You cannot buy a single one of those games today. The only thing with his name still sold digitally is an add-on, Colin McRae: FLAT OUT for DiRT Rally 2.0, at $9.99 on Steam.
- 1998: Colin McRae Rally, his own voice and 4 million copies
- 2000: Colin McRae Rally 2.0, a 90 and the high point of the series
- 2002: Colin McRae Rally 3, where you are McRae
- 2003: Colin McRae Rally 04, without a WRC licence
- 2004: Colin McRae Rally 2005, seven platforms and McRae in a Dakar pickup
- 2007: Colin McRae: DiRT, 500,000 in a week and the last game in his lifetime
- 2009: Colin McRae: DiRT 2, the last game with his name
- 2013-2014: Colin McRae Rally on phones and 43% on Steam
- 2015-2023: the name is gone, his cars stayed
- Every Colin McRae game: the table
- Scores and reviews: three charts
- What you can actually play today
Below is every game in order: what McRae himself did on each one, how critics and players took it, and what you can actually play in 2026. Dates and platforms are checked against Wikipedia and the MobyGames catalogue, scores come from Metacritic, Steam reviews and prices are as of 10 October 2026. The full table and three charts are near the end.
A quick word on the man, for anyone who landed here from a search about the games. McRae was born in Lanark, Scotland, on 5 August 1968. He won the 1995 World Rally Championship for Subaru at 27 and stayed the youngest WRC champion until 2022, with 25 rally wins in total. He died on 15 September 2007 when the helicopter he was flying crashed about a mile from his home near Lanark. His five-year-old son Johnny and two family friends died with him.
1998: Colin McRae Rally, his own voice and 4 million copies
The first game came out on PlayStation in Europe on 15 July 1998 and on PC on 9 October. North America had to wait until 2000, and there every driver except McRae got a made-up name. Cars and crews come from the 1998 WRC season over eight rallies, one of which, Indonesia, was actually cancelled that year.
This is the game McRae had the most to do with. IGN reported in May 2000 that he advised the developers on handling, recorded his own voice with co-driver Nicky Grist and runs the Rally School inside the game. His Subaru Impreza is on the European PlayStation cover. A small, funny detail: a later Bestsellers reprint dropped the photo of Colin and Nicky from the back of the box, because by then he was driving for Ford.
![Playthrough [PS1] Colin McRae Rally](https://framesgames.com/wp-content/uploads/yt-covers/l7vxK57_248.jpg.webp)
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyIt sold very well. At Milia in 1999 it picked up a Gold award for more than 30 million euros in European revenue, and by the end of 2002 Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine put sales at 4 million copies. Metacritic has no score for it because there are too few reviews; GameRankings, which closed in 2019, had 82% for PlayStation and 77% for PC.
In 2001 Spellbound made a separate 2D version for Game Boy Color, published by THQ. It rarely gets counted as part of the series, but it has the same name on the box.
2000: Colin McRae Rally 2.0, a 90 and the high point of the series
The second game hit PlayStation in the UK on 9 June 2000 and PC in December. It uses the 2000 WRC season, Grist is the co-driver and voice again, and it was the first in the series with an arcade mode. In Japan it came out through Spike as Colin McRae the Rally 2.
It also has the best score of the whole series: 90 on Metacritic for PlayStation from 13 reviews, 83 for PC from 14. NextGen wrote in February 2001 that it barely gets better than this on PlayStation. I won't argue, although in 2026 the crowds along the road look like what they are, flat cardboard (no joke, that is literally how they are captioned on MobyGames).
![PC - Colin McRae Rally 2.0 - GamePlay [4K]](https://framesgames.com/wp-content/uploads/yt-covers/HrdFJYogNAA.jpg)
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policy
In 2002 the same Spellbound ported 2.0 to Game Boy Advance for Ubi Soft. It turned out surprisingly decent for a handheld, 80 on Metacritic. The clip below is IGN's from that year.
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policy2002: Colin McRae Rally 3, where you are McRae
Rally 3 launched on 25 October 2002 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, with PC following on 13 June 2003. A GameCube version was announced and then cancelled.
The big change is that the championship mode no longer lets you pick a driver. You are Colin McRae, on a three-season deal with Ford Rallye Sport in the Ford Focus RS WRC he was driving at the time. You can see it in the shot above, with him and Grist in the cabin.
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyCritics liked it: 86 on both PlayStation 2 and Xbox, 25 reviews each. GamePro singled out the handling in the PS2 version.
2003: Colin McRae Rally 04, without a WRC licence
04 came out on 19 September 2003 in Europe for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The PC version only arrived on 2 April 2004, and the PS2 version never made it to North America at all. The game had no licence for the world championship teams, so the liveries are invented or borrowed from other series.
The default co-driver is now Derek Ringer, McRae's very first co-driver. Grist is still there, but you have to switch him on in the options.
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyThe Xbox version sits at 84 on Metacritic from 33 reviews. PC shows 87, but from only six reviews, so I would not lean on that number.
2004: Colin McRae Rally 2005, seven platforms and McRae in a Dakar pickup
The last numbered game released on 24 September 2004 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. Career mode got a new final boss: McRae himself in the Nissan Pick-Up he drove on the 2004 Dakar. In championship mode you once again race as Colin.
2005 has more versions than any other entry. Nokia released it on N-Gage, and GameSpot named it the best N-Gage game of 2004. There was a Java version for ordinary phones, and Colin McRae Rally 2005 Plus came to PSP in 2005. The Mac version from Feral Interactive came out on 26 October 2007, six weeks after McRae's death.
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyScores are steady: 83 for both Xbox and PC on Metacritic. The more interesting bit is what happened next. In 2009 the game was on sale at GOG and vanished when the car licences ran out. Since then none of the five numbered Colin McRae Rally games has been sold digitally anywhere. The first three sit in GOG's Dreamlist, where users vote for games they want to see in the store.
2007: Colin McRae: DiRT, 500,000 in a week and the last game in his lifetime
DiRT launched on 15 June 2007 for PC and Xbox 360. It is not pure rally any more: on top of the stages there is rallycross-style crossover, buggies and rally raid trucks. Codemasters built the Neon engine together with Sony. In the US the game was called DiRT: Colin McRae Off-Road, which is where his name started sliding down American boxes.
Codemasters said it sold 500,000 copies in the first week. The game was also the first to feature the McRae R4, his own car project shown at Goodwood in 2007 (Codemasters helped with its 3D model). Whether he had a hand in developing DiRT itself, the way he did in 1998, I could not confirm, so I am not calling him a consultant here.
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyThat is McRae in a 2007 interview promoting DiRT. The PlayStation 3 version came out in Europe on 14 September 2007, the day before he died. After the crash Codemasters, in agreement with his family, pulled a large advertising campaign for that version.
Scores: 84 for PC, 83 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It left Steam in November 2012. It only has 46 reviews there, and 44 of them are positive.
2009: Colin McRae: DiRT 2, the last game with his name
DiRT 2 released on 8 September 2009 in the US and 11 September in Europe for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PSP, with PC in December. It was the first game after McRae's death, and in Europe it was still called Colin McRae: DiRT 2. The US version had already dropped the name.
Codemasters later told The Scotsman that DiRT 2 was very much their tribute to Colin. The career builds up to the Colin McRae Challenge, and winning it unlocks a video tribute to him.
![Colin McRae: DiRT 2 - PS3 [HD] Gameplay](https://framesgames.com/wp-content/uploads/yt-covers/Slt8jzQxNKs.jpg.webp)
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyThe big versions got the best scores in the series after 2.0: 89 on PC, 87 each on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The small ones fared worse, 73 on DS, 55 on PSP and 51 on Wii. On Steam the PC version has 97.3% positive reviews out of 565, the best result of any game in this article, and nobody has been able to buy it since 25 November 2013.
DiRT 3 followed in May 2011 without McRae in the title. Codemasters told The Scotsman that after the DiRT 2 tribute it was time to take the name off the box, while keeping his driving ethos in the series. The paper also noted that fans were not happy about it.
2013-2014: Colin McRae Rally on phones and 43% on Steam
The last game with his name came out on iOS on 27 June 2013, then on Android and Steam in 2014. It is not a remake of the 1998 original, as many assumed. Inside are 30 stages from 2.0 (Australia, Corsica, Greece), four cars and Nicky Grist's voice recordings from the old games. It was the first mobile game Codemasters made in-house, on Unity.
On Steam it was bought by people expecting an HD version of the 1998 game, who got a phone port instead. Eurogamer reported in August 2014 that Codemasters rewrote the store description after complaints and offered refunds for a while. The reviews tell the rest: 43.6% positive out of 2,372. On iOS it holds 69 on Metacritic.
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyToday the Steam page says the game is no longer available, and you will not find it on the App Store or Google Play either.
2015-2023: the name is gone, his cars stayed
DiRT Rally (2015) and DiRT Rally 2.0 (2019) do not carry his name, but in spirit they are closer to the early Colin McRae Rally games than anything released in between. DiRT Rally and DiRT 4 were pulled from sale on 3 October 2022. DiRT Rally 2.0 is still on Steam at $19.99.
On 24 March 2020 DiRT Rally 2.0 got the Colin McRae: FLAT OUT add-on. It brings a new Scottish location, Perth and Kinross, with 12 routes (that is where the Colin McRae Forest Stages of the Scottish championship are held), two cars, the Subaru Impreza WRC98 and the Subaru Legacy RS he started with at Subaru in 1991, and 40 scenarios from his career across nine cars he actually drove. It costs $9.99, and season pass owners got it for free.
![DiRT Rally 2.0 - Colin McRae: FLAT OUT - Scotland 1991 - Gameplay (PC HD) [1080p60FPS]](https://framesgames.com/wp-content/uploads/yt-covers/JV3wtqS6VhA.jpg.webp)
The video loads from YouTube (Google) when you press play. Privacy policyEA Sports WRC from 2023 includes the McRae R4 and the 2003 Citroën Xsara, the car of his last full season. There is no dedicated mode or tribute in it.
Every Colin McRae game: the table
| Year | Game | Platforms | What McRae brought | Buy today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Colin McRae Rally | PlayStation, PC | handling advice, voice, Rally School | no |
| 2000 | Colin McRae Rally 2.0 | PlayStation, PC | name, cars of the 2000 WRC season | no |
| 2001 | Colin McRae Rally (Spellbound) | Game Boy Color | name | no |
| 2002 | Colin McRae Rally 2.0 (Spellbound) | Game Boy Advance | name | no |
| 2002 | Colin McRae Rally 3 | PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC (2003) | you race as McRae in the Ford Focus | no |
| 2003 | Colin McRae Rally 04 | PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC (2004), Java, Mophun | name, Ringer and Grist as co-drivers | no |
| 2004 | Colin McRae Rally 2005 | PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, N-Gage, Java | final rival in the Dakar Nissan | no |
| 2005 | Colin McRae Rally 2005 Plus | PSP | same | no |
| 2007 | Colin McRae Rally Mac | Mac | Feral's port of 2005 | no |
| 2007 | Colin McRae: DiRT | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Java (2008) | name, McRae R4 | no, delisted 2012 |
| 2009 | Colin McRae: DiRT 2 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP, PC, Mac (2011) | tribute, Colin McRae Challenge | no, delisted 2013 |
| 2013 | Colin McRae Rally | iOS, Android (2014), PC and Mac (2014) | 2.0 stages, Grist's voice | no |
| 2020 | DiRT Rally 2.0: Colin McRae FLAT OUT | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Scotland, his cars, 40 scenarios | yes, $9.99 |
Years are for the first platform. The TOCA compilations, where Colin McRae Rally came as the second game on the disc, are left out.
Scores and reviews: three charts
The first chart shows how many platforms each game reached. The peak is 2005 and DiRT 2, seven each.
The Metacritic scores below use the best platform with more than ten reviews. That is why 04 shows 84 from Xbox rather than 87 from PC.
What you can actually play today
- Closest to the man himself. DiRT Rally 2.0 for $19.99 plus the FLAT OUT add-on for $9.99. Scottish forests, his Impreza and Legacy, 40 career scenarios. It is the only thing with his name on sale right now.
- If you already own DiRT. Steam does not take delisted games out of your library. If you bought DiRT or DiRT 2 before 2012 and 2013, you can still download them.
- His cars in a current game. EA Sports WRC for $49.99 has the McRae R4 and the 2003 Citroën Xsara. Steam reviews are mixed, 61% positive.
- The Colin McRae Rally games themselves. Only second-hand discs for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox or PC. There is no digital version anywhere, and the first three are only on GOG's wishlist.
More from this series: every Sid Meier game, where the name on the box also does not always mean he made it, and every Hans Zimmer game.
Sources
Biography and series: Colin McRae on Wikipedia, Colin McRae Rally and Dirt series article, game articles: 1998, 2.0, 3, 04, 2005, DiRT, DiRT 2, 2013.
Press: The Scotsman, 30.05.2011, on dropping the name from DiRT 3, MCV on 500,000 copies of DiRT, Worthplaying on Colin McRae Rally 3, 01.04.2003, GTPlanet on FLAT OUT, 29.01.2020, Traxion on McRae's cars in EA Sports WRC, 08.09.2023, Traxion on DiRT Rally and DiRT 4 leaving sale.
Delisted games: Colin McRae Rally 2005 on GOG, DiRT, DiRT 2 (Delisted Games). Stores: FLAT OUT on Steam, DiRT Rally 2.0 on Steam, Colin McRae Rally 2014 on Steam.
Metacritic scores and Steam reviews taken on 10.10.2026. Screenshots of games up to 2013 come from the MobyGames catalogue, old frames scaled up without smoothing. DiRT Rally and DiRT Rally 2.0 screenshots are official, from Steam. Videos are by players, except the 2007 interview and the IGN clip.
