Classic Colin McRae Rally stages in new DiRT game?

OK, you read/heard it here first – new DiRT game, which I presume will use the name DiRT 4, will use some of the classic stages, first seen in the original Colin McRae Rally series of games. Before you grab your wallet and throw it at the screen, allow me to temporarily disappoint you – the truth is, I have no idea whether this can even happen due to possible licensing and other conflicts (if such conflicts exists, that is), but if it is possible, then I say “do it”. Don’t rehash all stages and call it a new game, we know Codemasters are better than that, even though some of their classic games are really freaking awesome. But perhaps, maybe, some of the most memorable stages could be remade and put into this new member of the DiRT dynasty.

For me, the most memorable stages are those found in the original Colin McRae Rally game, not 2, or 3, but 1, the first one. Greek stages were great, Monaco stages were awesomely tricky and I won’t even mention the slippery bits on the Indonesian stages. Basically, every country had something very special up its sleeve and I remember how sometimes grip changed considerably when you switched from one surface to the other (if I remember correctly, there were such stages in CMR, right?). Picking one or two favourite stages from CMR1 would be tough, though. Maybe Stanos aka SS1 from Greece, or anything Australia or New Zealand. Narrow and grippy Corsica, muddy UK?

Granted, some if not all of those stages could end up looking quite funny even after conversion to new tech, but perhaps there is some substance in all this. Narrow(er) roads, maybe even a slightly altered physics for these retro stages, to make it more in line with what we had back then (with the exception of trying to emulate keyboard steering, please), a touch of humour so often present in anything Codies throw at us… why not. This could be a side show, a candy if you like, and not interfere with the real deal which is DiRT 4 (or whatever the name).

Or am I just feeding off my nostalgia? People who played the crap out of CMR1 just might understand the power of it.