In my review of GT64, I touched upon how racing simulation games have aged much worse than more arcade-style ones. F-1 World Grand Prix seems to be a clearer example of that as, while GT64 was always a poor game, F-1 World Gran Prix got great review scores – unfortunately, can’t get into it.

Compared to F1 Pole Position, this is a much, much nicer looking game. The tracks have detail that you can see at a distance, with a good amount of detail of the world beyond the track. There’s still some pop-in, but it’s more for finer details, so you can see the track itself with no issue. There are some options for realism and assists, plus adjusting the amount of tracks.

One great feature is the challenge mode, which pits you in specific situations based on real races. You have to perform in a similar way (or better) than what the actual professionals did, doing things like taking advantage of other cars using the pit stop, maintaining a lead with a broken gearbox and blocking a rival so that your teammate can win.

Sadly, I just couldn’t get used to the driving, with or without assists. I’m not a fan of first person view and in third person, the camera kept tiring to “help” by twisting into turns, which completely threw me off every time it happened as I kept thinking that I was properly aligned (as the camera was looking down the track) while my car was off to the side – of course, it could just be that I’m also a terrible driver.

Even with that, I can see the effort put into the game and that it was probably a great experience when it game out.

Fun

Unsurprisingly, given the graphics behind it, the game plays extraordinarily well too. The handling is realistically ticklish, and almost certainly designed with an analogue steering wheel in mind. There are superb touches as well, like double tapping the throttle button to ‘floor’ the accelerator and double tapping the brake to lock the wheels. Why’s that useful? If you’ve ever seen an F1 driver fling their car through a 180° to right it on the spot after a spin, then you’ll know.

James Ashton, N64 Magazine #20. Review Score: 93%

Remake or remaster?

Newer F1 games are more refined.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get F-1 World Grand Prix