The title proved to be a success for Gaelco, managing to sell 23,000 arcade units in Europe and earning an award from Gamest magazine.

[1][2][3][4] Every location, composed of three stages each, has its own weather conditions and hazards that change how the car is controlled through the track, as well as shortcuts to gain time advantage.

[11][12][13][14] Jorge Granados stated that the team wanted to make a racing game about Carlos Sainz and the World Rally Championship.

[13] The car, which was a Toyota Celica GT-Four, was a scale model created and painted by the team before being digitized into the game, using 360 photography.

[13][14] World Rally was first released in Spain and Japan by Gaelco and Sigma in July 1993, before being launched in North America as a kit by Atari Games on August of the same year.

[9] In a 1995 interview with Spanish magazine Hobby Hi-Tech, Jorge Granados claimed Zigurat Software were in talks with Sony about a potential conversion of the title for PlayStation, but this version was never released.

[18] It became notable in recent years due to being extremely difficult to play on emulators like MAME, as the arcade hardware implemented an advanced anti-piracy system until Gaelco co-founder Javier Valero provided unencrypted keys for the PCB in 2008 at a Spanish gaming conference, allowing it to be emulated and played.

[20][21] World Rally is planned to be included as part of the Gaelco Arcade 1 compilation for Evercade, marking its first console debut.

[8][9][18][26][36] Santa Ragione designer Pietro Righi Riva stated that World Rally served as inspiration for the 2016 title Wheels of Aurelia.