N64 Game Review: F-1 World Grand Prix

 Formula 1 racing has been around since 1950 and has produced some of the greatest drivers ever.  From Mario Andretti, Niki Lauda, Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Sebastian Vettel to Lewis Hamilton it has produced amazing champions of the sport.  It has also produced a lot of games from different companies.  Currently Codemasters has the F1 games and has for quite some time, but before that different companies made F1 games.  Notably, EA Sports made F1 games for a number of years before bowing out to other endeavors.  When the Nintendo 64 came around, Paradigm Entertainment came around with this game, F-1 World Grand Prix.  This game is also available on Dreamcast and PS1 and Windows but they were a full year later on than the N64 version.  What does this game do well? What didn't do well? Here we go friends!

Positives:

1. Challenge Mode- I love this mode and it is cool to challenge yourself in this rather than just race.  It provides unique experiences with different drivers of different cars and is overall a good representation of the nuances of F1 at the time.

2. Graphics- I thought the graphics were done well, if a bit boxy on the cars.  It's overall a good representation of 1998 with the track layouts and configurations and crowds.  There isn't much in the way of pixelating or polygonal delay, and it flows through the track.

3. Racing- It's actually quite good to be honest, and the presentation of this is noted to be done quite well.  I thought it was good to race on the 1997 calendar or the 1998 calendar as well.  Both were really welcome editions and it was a good thing to do overall.

4. Realism- The drivers, minus Jacques Villeneuve, had accurate representation over their likeness and the game overall does well as I said above with the layouts of the tracks and how well they were done in terms of their layouts and designs from the 1997/1998 seasons.

Negatives:

1. Camera angle- Especially in braking zones, the camera is super wonky and seems to want to stay straight ahead rather than follow you.  Not that it is severely detrimental but it just is really wonky overall.

2. Boxy cars- Yeah when I said the cars are boxy, it just doesn't promote themselves well.  Like I said with the graphics the cars are boxy in ways and they drive oddly in the braking zones.  Every time it feels the car will snap on you and you have to do your best to control it.  Other than that, the cars are fine.

Overall Rating:

I would give F-1 World Grand Prix probably a 8 out of 10.  It's a fine racing game for its time and one of the better games on the seemingly next gen consoles of PS1/N64/Dreamcast. I have only played this game for the N64 however but it was a fine game and one I would recommend still today for those racing game completionists out there.