Game:		Formula One (PAL Version) by Psygnosis
Reviewed by:	Wayne Boxall (Australia)
Date:		15/9/96
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This review was written after about 8 hours of gameplay. 
I mainly played in Arcade mode using QSound options on a 
standard PSX controller. 

Disclaimer: Excuse the typos!
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Well the wait is over. Lets see if the hype matched the actual game.
Let me tell you upfront, that this game is good, but has a few 
things that could have been improved.

About the game
--------------
Formula One has all the real tracks (17), the real teams, drivers, 
graphics and sounds of Formula One racing.

It has two race modes, Arcade and Simulation (Grand Prix). Many settings 
for sound, car setup and race settings.

There is no split screen racing, but using the link cable, two players
can race against each other. Split screen would have been a welcome
addition.

Support for all of the most popular controllers is also included. I have
played it with the Mad Catz as well as the standard controller.

First Impressions
-----------------
I was a little disappointed in the opening introduction. It is plain
boring. I thought that moving cars would have been much more 
appropriate.

On my television I also noticed quite large borders. Graphically it
was good and fast. Sound wise I was amazed!

Load times also were quite long.

To the real review....

Graphics
--------

The level of detail is amazing. Speed is great and I haven't noticed 
any slowdown (but read below about pauses). There are many views to 
choose from but some are unusable (such as the bumper bar view). I 
like the view where you only see your front tyres and nose panel. 
There is no "dash view", no rear vision mirrors and no gauges to 
look at. I have no idea how you know when you are about to run out of 
fuel or need to change your tyres. I have yet to enable these options.

I really like the look behind view, and although this is not as 
realistic as side mirrors, it is adequate.

Overall the graphics are mostly impressive. However there were some
negatives:

1)	There is noticeable pop-up. It doesn't however detract from 
	the game.
2)	There are annoying pauses for no apparant reason. It has 
	nothing to do with the number of cars on the road at all.
3)	There are these black patches on the road that occur every 
	5 seconds or so. THESE ARE NOT THE LINES FOR BEST LINE DRIVING, 
	but are there for no apparent reason. They are plain ugly and in 
	some view modes it really detracts from the game. Maybe they 
	are there to help recreate that sense of speed????

Graphically there a few glitches, but when considering what is being 
pushed around it is impressive. 

You have graphical options such as displaying the best line with faint tyre
marks, a much better option than F1GP's white line, running it in a small 
hi-res window and running it in wide screen. On a normal TV only the
Normal mode is usable.

Graphics Overall:	8.5

Sound
-----
Overall the sound is amazing. Commentary is cool (sometime repetitive,
which is understandable), sound tracks are fine and the car sounds are 
the best. The only thing detracting from a perfect 10 is the lack of 
crashing sounds. All it does is go thump!

Another problem I noticed today, is that you here other car engines 
when there are no other cars around. All of a sudden, you hear a car 
overtaking you and there is nothing there!

Sound options include: Mono, Stereo, QSound (poor mans surround) and 
Dolby prologic surround sound.  I always opt for QSound and was very 
impressed.

Sound overall: 9.5

Control
-------

I actually fealt that the control with the standard controller is 
BETTER than with the analog Mad Katz steering wheel. Maybe I am 
getting use to digital steering???

The extras of steering and braking assistance helps keep the game 
immensely playable. These options can be turned off. I remember 
playing the original F1GP on the PC and I never turned braking 
assistance off, because it used to be unplayable!! On this game 
it increases the challenge, but the game is still very playable.

Stearing assist is fun, as on a straight you can take your hands 
off the "wheel" and let the computer put you in the best line. 
It also allows you to have a look behind you. It DOES NOT corner 
many corners, so it is still a challenge with it on.

The cars respond superbly and I actually use a brake in this game!

Control overall: 9.5

Gameplay/Longterm
-----------------
Arcade mode is fun, but easy. Simulation mode will keep the most 
advanced player invlolved for some time. Spin outs happen 
realistically when in Simulation mode whereas in Arcade mode 
it is sometimes better to "cut corners" and take out the opponents! 
Slipstreaming is present in both modes.

You have the option of racing in the dry or wet (very hard) and 
three skill levels for all sorts of drivers. The levels DO make a real 
difference to the longterm and challenge of the game.

With so many tracks, drivers and options this game is a laster! 
However a serious concern is that it doesn't look like there is anyway 
of saving your fastest lap times!!! This is BAD!!!

There is a high score table, but there doesn't appear anyway of saving any
changes to this. I am not even certain if it is possible to beat these
high scores (lap times). There is no way of entering your name at all. I
hope I am wrong with this. Of course the manual doesn't help!

Why did they not include a "Time trial" mode??? Wipeout and DD have one.

You can practice, qualify and race on each circuit.

As well as normal racing you can race against one car or get involved 
in "ladder" racing, where you have to beat a nominted opponent in a 
race. You have three attempts to win and then you race against a harder 
and harder driver. This adds to the gameplay.

Other problems/ommisions include: the lack of flags (no checkered flag
even), a serious lack of damage during crashes, no car flips, no computer 
car spin outs. It doesn't look like the cars can even gain any sort of air!

I have also yet to see any retired cars from the race or seen any
indication 
of my car taking damage.

It also would have been nice if you got an indication of how many laps you
are meant to do. You have to wait for Murray to let you know. How hard 
would this have been? When driving a percentage of a full race, you get 
no idea of how many laps you have to do. Aggh!

Nice things include options to turn on/off: steering and braking
assistance, best line indicator, damage, fuel usage. You can modify 
downforce and braking balance as well. I couldn't find any setting for
tyre type. I haven't checked out the pit stop feature yet.

You can replay the whole race from many angles, but there is no way of
replaying during a race or saving those classic events.

Gameplay/Longterm overall: 9 (or 8 if no way of saving your lap times)

The Manual
----------
I have to mention the manual beacuse it is appalling! It hardly mentions 
the various options. For example you press start during a race and get 
an options menu. NONE OF THE OPTIONS are explained in the manual. Some 
can be worked out and you can see the difference, such as Arrow on car, 
Screen tilting but there are others which I can't work out:

	Camera Locked
	Surface smoothing

Manual overall: 5 (not used in final calculation)

Other things
------------
Because of the poor manual, I was a little confused what saving default
options actually saves, but after some experimentation it actually saves
everything from in race settings, to pre-race settings. This is a nice
feature as F1 will automatically load these settings from the memory card
when the game starts up.

You will be pleased to know that you can drive around the courses
backwards, but it doesn't allow you to race that way. A pity.

Overall Thoughts
----------------
Basically a slightly flawed masterpiece! With a few extra additions: real
crashes, graphical glitches removed and saving of lap times it would have
been a 10! Hovever with the little problems it has it is still the ultimate
driving experience on any console! Imagine if it also had split screen 
racing?

Now if only the developers would give us a complete manual one day!

Overall ratings:

	Graphics		8.5/10	A few glitches, but fast and sleek
	Sound			9.5/10	A few problems but the good stuff IS GOOD!
	Control			9.5/10	Excellent
	Gamplay/Longterm	9/10	Will be a 8 if it doesn't save lap times!

	Total			9.25/10