Formula 1

"Now who wouldn't appreciate world-class racing?"

Admit it: do you really have the urge to race head-to-head against a double world champion, along with 25 of the best drivers in the world of motorsport? It's a dream that every aspiring racer out there probably has. Hey, you probably have a hard time taking your Honda Civic up about 90 MPH most of the time. Lucky you, now there's a game called Formula 1 which gives you the full experience of racing with world-class drivers on world-class tracks in world-class cars.

For any of you F1 fans out there, it probably seems funny to see Michael Schumacher NOT driving a Ferrari. ;) The game is based on the 1995 season, which was before present-day drivers such as Villeneuve, Montoya, etc. were even IN the series. There are 13 teams, each with two drivers, such as Ferrari, Benetton, Williams, and Jordan on the high end down to the more humble teams of Ligier, Simtek, Minardi, and so on.

The game's biggest attribute is its ease of play. Formula 1 for PSX offers two game modes, Arcade and Grand Prix for your pleasure. Arcade is much easier when it comes to the control, acceleration, and so on, but gives you the added challenge of having to get through checkpoints placed at the start/line as well as some various points around the track. Quite honestly, though, it really isn't that easy to run out of time, and it's easy to start from 26th on the grid and move up to first by the end of the race. I would know, since I've done it.

Simulation mode, on the other hand, is a lot more difficult. If you put so much as a couple of wheels onto the dirt or grass, because you're running on slicks you lose grip and end up spinning out. From there it becomes a bit of a challenge to get back on the race track, so a good amount of practice is required. Some race information is also provided at the bottom of the screen, similar to the television feed that Formula 1 races provide.

Passing is extremely likely in this game - as a matter of fact, with the right amount of luck you can gain ten or so places off the start by just moving to the middle of the course. Some good acceleration is required too. But since most of the tracks in Grand Prix racing are not wide-open ovals like in North America, you can't just overtake anywhere it pleases you. CPU cars can be a bit of a pain to get around sometimes, and you may very well have to wait until a certain point on the course to get the best opportunity to pass.

But otherwise Formula 1 is probably one of the better simulations for the PSX (keep in mind that this was released in 1996, when the PlayStation was still a pretty new system considering the date of its release). It allows you to customize several of the parts on your machine depending on the circuit - for example, the speed of Hockenheim requires that you set your downforce to the lowest possible setting in order to get the most speed on the long straights. The twists and turns of Monaco, on the other hand, require that speed is less important and just getting around the turns is more critical.

Formula 1 may not have the sharpest graphics ever seen, but they certainly do the job. The game includes several different camera angles for better views down the track, or if you simply want a better perspective of the vehicles around you. The graphics are passable so that you can tell the differences between the cars. The scenery is pretty colourful, but sometimes jagged. Certainly not the best when it comes to graphics, but you can at least see what is going on around the track and that's good enough for me.

By default, Formula 1 includes commentary from well-known F1 commentator Murray Walker. Just for the record, his comments are incredibly witty in real life, but unfortunately because of space limitations the game makes him sound like a complete idiot who constantly repeats what he says on every lap (for example, ''He's lost a place!'' whenever you spin off into the gravel trap and end up getting passed, among some other comments.) While they make sense, it simply doesn't beat a CD's worth of rock tracks that have been included on the disc. Make the following clear: pick an adrenaline-pumping song from the soundtrack. Got it?

Two-player modes are included as well if you have the nerve to go up against a friend of yours to see who really is better. (I like the sound of that.)

Great game.

SCORE: 8.1

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/02, Updated 11/16/02