F1 Racing Championship - PlayStation

Veteran developers of the Grand Prix genre Video System return, albeit belatedly, with yet another variation on their specialist theme. F1 Racing Championship features the sixteen official 1999 Formula 1 season circuits including Sepang, but of course missing the most recent addition to the Grand Prix calendar, Indianapolis. No big deal, you may think, but it’s a reflection on the game as a whole. You can’t help but think that Ubi Soft have missed the boat, especially with the presence of EA’s F1 2000 setting the precedent.

Granted, F1 Racing Championship faithfully reproduces all the drivers and teams, if not the venues, from 1999, including a section on their strategies and performances. A really nice touch is the inclusion of the drivers’ and teams’ website addresses in the accompanying manual, a welcome addition for the connected motor maniac.

Race modes are the usual Arcade and Simulation, options include Solo, Time Attack, Championship, Two-player split-screen, and the Driving School, a tutorial that lets you know when to use the brakes. Let’s face it, if you don’t brake when approaching a corner, you’re off the track. Tutorial over, thankyou.

F1 Racing Championship certainly feels fast enough, and fine-tuning your car does make a difference to the game-play. The presentation is authentic enough during racing, but it looks dated and a little rough around the edges. It’ll sell well simply because there are enough F1 fanatics out there to gobble it up, but it doesn’t honestly deserve to be in pole position.
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