F-1 Grand Prix Part II

"Don't let Mansell get ahead of you!"

Don't let Mansell get ahead of you!

Well, Mansell or anyone. I'll explain that later. This is what we could name as the official game for the 1992 season. Sadly, it's only a Japanese release. Anyways, let's start with this review.

Story: 8/10:
Uh...win the F-1 championship, either with a real team or an original one in story mode. But with Mansell and Senna lurking around, it'll be very difficult.

Gameplay: 9/10
Talking seriously, maybe some people don't like bird eye's camera, but this game, like it's predecessor, uses it very well. Those who don't like the camera say that probably because they eat the walls. But actually, racing in this game is very funny. You have every car, driver & track from the 1992 season. Also, those features that were in real life are also here! (Williams uses the reactive suspension, McLaren uses active, etc) Even the engine names are depicted. (Yes, the "great" Judd EV too) I advice you: don't underestimate the other drivers. Well, for example, in Mexico, they look easy, but, to be honest, I found the hardest version of Monaco in this game. Also, engine & transmission failures are possible. (and common in the first laps) The tracks are scaled compared to it's original size, and cars go faster than in real life, so you'll find yourself flying in Mexico, doing 0'25 laps in a short time. That's useful in qualify, so you have more laps to do in 10 minutes, and sometimes in race. (own experience, I was basically running away from Mansell, Senna, Berger, Patrese, Schumacher, Brundle, Alesi and Capelli during 8 laps)

Also, we have the pits. You can choose your car's settings freely (front wing, rear wing, suspension, tires, gearbox and brakes) and it looks cool when the little mechanics change the car's settings.

I didn't put a 10/10 for a little trouble: When you're too far from the first, it'll start going at insane speed and it'll be unreachable. Well, it happened to me last time... and the 1st broke his engine, so never lose hope.

Graphics & sound: 7/10:
They look nice, to say the least. The tracks & drivers are very well detailed, and when the camera zooms, you can see your helmet clearly. (in normal view two cars from the same team look exactly the same)

The sound looks for me like it's taken directly from a F1 race from that year. (don't surprise if they did that)

Also, the introduction to the game looks very similar to the starting of the Japanese F1's broadcast (from FujiTV), and it imitates it very well. Same music and style. The music (if you want to know it, it's Truth by T-square. They remade their own song by that time) has been improved since F1GP.

Overall: 8/10

For me, it competes with F1GP3 for the best F1 racing game in the SNES (actually, they're very similar) and one of the best I've ever seen. It's good, funny and you can make your own team! (Btw, my username came from this game, it was my name in story mode) Too bad that it's in Japanese.

It maybe deserves a 9/10, but 8/10 is very good already.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/14/08

Game Release: F-1 Grand Prix Part II (JP, 02/26/93)