You get the racing of Formula One with an arcade slant to proceedings. You get single races lasting less than ten minutes, with 11 cars on track instead of 22. There are no qualifying sessions or car-setup screens to wade through and you now get time limits and checkpoints to contend with. Out go safety cars, stop/go penalties and pit-stops and in come power-ups and a ridiculous degree of speed. What Formula One Arcade conceeds in complexity it more than makes up for with sheer fun.
There are three main modes of play - Single Race, Stage Mode and Two-Player:
- Single Race and Two-Player are fairly self-explanatory, so on to the main meat of the game, Stage Mode.
- Stage Mode starts off by giving you a limited selection of tracks and cars to begin with, but they can soon be expanded when you gain decent grades in the races. This makes things a little more interesting as its easy enough to win races but you aren't going to get a good overall grade if you ignore power-ups, fail to make time-brackets or generally drive with all the grace of a drunken lorry driver. You get grades between A-F (sounds like my exams) as the game cons iders various criteria; your ability to make certain time-limits, what position you finish, how much damage you took, how well you stuck to the racing line and whether or not you collected the tracks mascot. The mascot is something that is unlocked after you have collected a certain amount of power-ups, and can be found at the end of a lap. Each track has its own stereotypical symbol to represent the country the race track is based in, for example Australia has a Kangaroo and USA has a Statue of Liberty. The real long-term test of Stage Mode is getting A* ratings on all tracks - achieved by getting A grades in all the graded catagories. Not too tough on early tracks but proves very taxing when you get to the short, twisty tracks like Hungary and Monaco.
Races last between three and five laps and have a load of power-ups littered around the tracks. These include the usual speed boosts and time bonuses as well as some slightly more original ideas such as repair spanners, enlarged wheels for extra grip and even a nifty auto-pilot whereby the computer takes over for a few seconds, usually in tougher sections of the courses.
Formula One Arcade can be compared to F12001 yet more as the two appear to have been developed with the same graphics engine, both share similar menu screens and have the same car/driver/circuit line-up. On the whole, it's a great looking game - vivid, colourful tracks are complimented by highly detailed cars and wonderfully presented menu and loading screens. It does however seem a step backwards from its predecessor, as there are half the opponents on track and doesn't have quite as slick a feel and smoothness at speed.
Features:
* Arcade-oriented presentation with simple front end
* Real cars, teams, drivers and circuits
* Forgiving driving model with driving assistance
* Variation in traction between track surfaces eased
* Tyre walls added around sharp bends to make cornering easier
* Track direction indicators show how sharp the next corner is
* Pick-ups include auto-driver, turbo boost, super traction, extra time, invulnerability
* For 1-2 players
Manufacturer's description:
Officially licensed product of the 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship, licensed by Formula One Administration ltd.
- Instantly accessible
- Unique "pick up and play" arcade gameplay.
- Features actual cars, team, drivers and circuits of the 2001 season
Features:
- Third or first person perspective.
- 3D graphics
- Cartoon graphics
- Formula 1 theme.
|
|
- Jewel Case Covers
