Make no mistake, this is a genuine simulation - if the most believable racing game you've played to date is Cruis'n USA, you should stay well away. F-1 is the kind of game that requires several days of play before it becomes second nature, almost the antithesis of Nintendo's usual 'pick up and play' policy. The first time you play, even on the basic Rookie mode with all the in-game help turned on, you'll be lucky to get around the course. As there is not any concession to casual gamers with the inclusion of an Arcade mode, it will take quite a while before players can consider themselves even vaguely proficient with the controls.
F-1 uses an unusual steering method - as well as left and right as you'd expect, up and down on the analogue are also used. The further down you move the stick, the sharper the turn. Until you get used to the idea that the stick can never be left in the neutral position, you'll have a very hard time getting around corners. Practice pays off. F-1 is by far the best racer on the N64, easily outdoing Top Gear Rally, the next best game.
Although it's a very different kind of game to F-Zero X , it's equally good at involving you in the action - not least because you know who the drivers are and you can shout anti-German abuse at Michael Schumacher as he powers past you yet again.
F-1 World Grand Prix Is one of the few racing games on the N64 to offer a control mode specially designed for use with steering wheels. Having a few knocking about the place, it was decided to test them out.
We made a staggering discovery. Most of the wheels added a bit of fun to the proceedings, but didn't make much difference to the game play. All that changed when Interacts Ultra Racer 64 reviewed in issue 11 was brought into play.
Put it this way - if you buy F-1, then it's worth buying an Ultra Racer just to use with it! The small, precise wheel gives absolutely perfect control over the car; no thrashing around, no pedals sliding across the floor, no fumbling with the analogue stick, lust the sight of your car nipping past -the competition and taking the chequered flag! Visually, F-1is rarely short of stunning. If you watch Formula 1 of a Sunday, the courses are all instantly recognisable - it almost looks as though somebody was despatched with a camera around the world to take snaps of real trackside features to use as textures.
Before each race, a flyby of the course fades in through orange filters like the opening shot of a Jerry Bruckheimer production. The cars themselves are loaded with detail, right down to suspension struts, bits of ironmongry in the engine bay and the driver's head bobbing about in the cockpit. There are several viewpoints to choose from - the easiest to use is the 'behind the car' option, but the cockpit view is very impressive, one of the best in any videogame.
All that's washed out by the glare. Although there's some minor depth fogging, it's barely noticeable, and on some tracks it's almost totally absent. While it's a very different use of the N64's graphical power to Banjo-Kazooie, it's just as impressive. Audio effects are just as cool. The engine roar is just like you'd hear while watching a real Grand Prix and to avoid monotony, samples from actual races are mixed into the background to give the effect of cars passing on other parts of the course.
In a 64 Magazine exclusive, we've got top driver Michael Schumacher to talk you around Monaco, the most famous Grand Prix circuit of all. At least, he said he was Michael Schumacher. It could just be somebody doing a funny voice, of course.
F-1 also crams in a lot of speech. Although it's not as though you've got Murray Walker gabbling on hysterically and Martin Brundle quietly correcting him, the voice of the Scottish bloke in the pits is surprisingly informative. Every time the lead changes, someone retires or a driver ahead of you ducks into the pits, you get a report on events. If someone's about to overtake, you get a frantic message that so-and-so "is right behind you! As far as presentation goes, F-1 can barely be faulted.
The official Formula 1 licence makes everything as authentic- I looking as possible, and, Jacques Villeneuve aside, all the drivers are in the game, driving as they actually do. I Schumacher, of course, rarely makes a I mistake, while mobile chicane Ukyo Katayama is most often found chugging away near the back of the pack.
One very smart feature is '97 Events', I which if selected takes drivers off the track at the same point as their real-life I counterparts did in the actual race. You I know that Berger's going to spin off on lap 28?
Stick with him and he'll drop out right when he should. F-1 is a game that should make certain I publishers deeply ashamed of the cack I they've been foisting upon us. If Paradigm can squeeze in 17 real-world I tracks with extreme accuracy, no pop- I up, minimal fogging, high speed, realistic cars, proper driver behaviour and speech by the gallon, why are we still putting up with garbage like GT 64?
F-1's faults are few, but they are there. A couple of tracks have a noticeably slower frame rate in certain areas being real courses, Paradigm couldn't just alter them to take out the complex bits , and why isn't there a rundown of the drivers' and constructors' championships after each race? For that matter, where's the spraying M6et after a podium finish? In fact, where's the podium?
This is just nitpicking, though. If you're prepared to invest the time needed to learn how to handle the cars, F-1 World Grand Prix is an absolutely essential buy for anyone who's ever fancied themselves as a budding world champion. You don't need a PlayStation to play a great racing game any more. Finally a decent terrestrial' racing game for the N64! F-1 is easily the best Formula 1 game currently available for any console and gives most of the top-end PC titles a run for their money!
If you're a Formula 1 fan, then you can't afford to miss out on this game. Everything about it just cries 'buy me! Beautiful isn't the word. Video System has done an incredible job with the graphics on F1 World Grand Prix ; the level of detail in the cars and the tracks is simply stunning, just check out the screenshots. It looks great doesn't it? When you see it with all the weather effects switched on, it has the same visual quality as Sega's NFL 2K. If you go straight to the benchmark course for Fi games, Monaco, you are treated to one of the most realistic racing environments ever produced in a simulation.
Let's hope that the team can ensure the frame-rate does justice to the visuals--the demo version of the game we've played suffers from some severe slowdown. All is not lost though What does this one offer that others don't? Well, for a start it's a full-on simulation of the Formula One season. What's that? The season? No, we're not entirely sure why that is either Apparently the team wanted to be able to simulate all of the events that happened throughout the season to make things as realistic as possible.
So if you want to see some ridiculous Constructors Championship politics in action, and Eddie Irvine getting screwed by Ferrari at the end of the season after Schumacher broke his leg, you'll have to wait until next year's inevitable release. Kudos to Video System for wanting the maximum level of realism This doesn't detract from the overall experience though. Imagine the Psygnosis Fi games on PlayStation, only dummied down a little bit, without Murray Walker's desperately enthusiastic commentary oddly, the version we played only had some seriously condescending pit-radio chatter and no commentary at all , and with some seriously funky drum and bass music which you'll no doubt want to switch off.
It's certainly a better 'serious' racer than Sega's Flag-to-Flag--so real gearheads might want to check this out while they wait for Sega GT. Before you notice anything else about this, it has to be said that the graphics are really quite wonderful. They're certainly a step up from any Fi games that you might have seen before--and they whiz by so smoothly that you really get a keen impression of speed.
As far as features go, it has everything you'd expect, although I was surprised to see the '98 season as the game's focus rather than the ' If you follow the sport though, it'll seem a bit odd racing with all the 'wrong' drivers in the wrong teams.
Oh well, we can live without him. It's nice to see that you can turn all of the '98 season events on too It's all very impressive stuff My biggest worry is the fact that the controls are so damn sensitive. You have to be super gentle with the analog stick It takes some getting used to. Look at it this way, it'll make you a more considerate lover as a bonus side effect.
I'm a bit disappointed in the way F-1 WGP turned out. I thought we were in store for not only the prettiest F-1 sim ever, but the most accurate as well. Two things are holding it back, overly sensitive steering and imprecise handling. As John said, the analog control is way too touchy to work well, I agree with that. I also think these cars handle like they're on a swindle rather than on rails like they should be. Certainly not a bad game but it could be better.
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