INTRODUCTION
With Skidmarks, ATR and Roadkill behind us, and Turbotrax and Wheelspin still to come, it seems Amiga developers have forgotten to program anything other than the overhead racer. Many of them boast tried and tested quality gameplay, but this constant rehash of the same product must be tiring even the most dedicated fan of the genre.
A change is long overdue, so the imminent release of F1 World Championship has raised some interest. It’s certainly not a breath of fresh air in terms of originality, but at least it marks the return of the long-absent race simulator with its realistic on-the-track view.
Power ups, wacky cars and off-road scenery have been abandoned in F1 World Championship in favour of realistic racing with pit stop tactics. The question is, can Domark make the old formula shine once more?
SOUND
Racing games just don’t seem to inspire the average developer when it comes to audio effects. Providing they’ve got some impression of the roar of the engine, they don’t seem to bother with much else – the only notable recent exception being Roadkill with its more original background sound.
F1 isn’t terrible but the engine noise is more of a buzz than a ‘vroom’ and crashes sound more like a tinkle than a noise of tearing metal. Other effects include skidding and a tinny clanking when bumping into opposition cars. What is quite satisfying, however, is the convincing sound effect that accompanies a gear change – trivial it may be, but it actually makes the player feel more in control of the car.
48%GRAPHICS
We might have hoped that the Amiga’s capabilities would have been squeezed to push F1 to the forefront graphically – after all visuals are fairly important in such an action-dominated genre – but unfortunately, Domark’s efforts on this front are at best average.
The problem is that it all looks rather dated. In the far distance, buildings rotate as you turn through bends, and signposts and barriers rush by on the edge of the track, but it fails to give the impression of racing through anything remotely like a real landscape.
The lack of detail isn’t entirely a bad thing, however, since it’s allowed the game to run at a high speed. This means that though the scenery is rather basic, it blurs by at such a blistering rate that your attention is firmly centered on just holding onto the road.
Initially, it appears that the tracks are going to be flat, but on later levels players do get the impression of rising and falling over small hills and dips – though since these are based on proper race tracks this effect is not overly dramatic. Furthermore, because the races takes place all around the world, the developers have introduced a reasonable amount of variety from location to location.
There are also appropriate weather conditions for each of the countries, so races can take place in bright sunlight, driving rain or under overcast skies – but though this works well in terms of gameplay, it’s crudely implemented as far as graphics are concerned.
Another complaint can be levelled at the poorly detailed cars – however, at least your driver’s hands move on the wheel and it’s possible to view the action from within or behind the player’s car.
Two-player mode works using the standard horizontally-split screen and appears to maintain all the pace of the one-player challenge – a quality not to be sniffed at when you consider how important human versus human games are in the racing genre.
Other functional but effective graphic features include the track map which shows the player’s car in red in contrast to all the other cars. This facility gives drivers a good idea of how clear they are from the rest of the field – or, more usually, how much work they have to do to catch up.
The introductions, the pit stops, option screens and all the other wrapping material that surrounds the game in F1 are typically unimpressive too, especially when compared to the stunningly rendered introduction accompanying Roadkill. But then at the end of the day, it’s the game itself that counts.
50%PLAYABILITY
No one is going to be impressed with F1 World Championship from the word go – not unless they’ve only just upgraded from a C64 anyway. It’s done nothing to build on the racing game graphics of years past. And initially it seems to offer little more in terms of gameplay either.
Despite these strong criticisms, however, F1 somehow manages to draw the player back for more, thanks to more depth in the gameplay than initially meets the eye. The fact that the tracks are modeled realistically on their real world counterparts is an attractive feature that should appeal, particularly to Grand Prix fans. Even if you’ve never watched motor sports in your life, however, the variety of challenges from simple fast circuits like Brazil San Paulo to the tortuous bends of Monaco add an extra dimension to the challenge.
Unlike most racing games – including the state-of-the-art arcade hit Daytona Racing – this title actually gives some sense of the tactics of motor sport. Passing cars, for example, can be a matter of bidding your time until the right opportunity arises, because on a crowded stretch the player simply won’t be able to overtake as soon as they want to.
Before the race begins, players are advised to consult the weather report and the map of the track as this will affect the way the car should be set up. Drivers can choose different tyres to suit weather conditions and varying drag-factors to trade off speed for grip on the more arduous circuits.
The handling of the car, however, is perhaps the most important matter when it comes to making a successful racing game, and fortunately F1 is reasonably accomplished in this area. Unlike some games which demand the player goes flat out round the circuit to even have a chance of winning, a driver in F1 has to get used to anticipating tight bends by breaking. Other realistic touches include the need to refuel and change worn tyres – otherwise you’ll be forced to retire.
Different game modes allow players to race in knockout contests or go for longer-term championships in which there is both a driver and a car constructors’ scoreboard. This, again, adds a touch of strategy to the action, because the thought of maintaining points will make players think twice about racing on with worn tyres just to snatch first place.
Incidentally, we actually dug out a Logic Freewheel and some foot pedals and connected them to F1. Not surprisingly this wasn’t a totally satisfying experiment, though they did work to a certain extent.
80%OPINION78%
Domark would have done this game a lot more justice if they insisted on having the graphics and sound brought up to date, because deep down there’s actually an enjoyable game to be played.
Unfortunately, a lot of people won’t bother to persevere with F1 because it seems so visually slap dash. Those who are unmotivated by the gloss of most modern games, however, can find a racing challenge that holds more than average levels of tactical depth.
Nevertheless, the Amiga market needed a more rounded title to lift the standard of action gaming at the moment, and F1 just doesn’t deliver. Beating Microprose’s similarly-named racing game was always going to be tough, and unfortunately Domark just weren’t up to it on this occasion.
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