Formula 1 Simulator Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]
35Developed by Mr Chip Software and published by Mastertronic in 1985.
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Quite possibly the first racing game that I ever played, the very name Formula 1 Simulator means that the game has a lot to live up to. Of course, it's nothing even close to resembling a simulator, but then nobody really believed that it would be.
The game attempts to simulate the sense of driving a racing car around a track at high speeds and, to give it credit, it does manage this with some aplomb, especially given the year of release.
There are nine different tracks to race on but there is very little to distinguish them, aside from different corners and twists in the road. Each race takes place over eight laps with the objective to complete the lap before the timer in the bottom right of the screen counts down to zero. Completing a lap will rest the timer to ninety-nine seconds, thus securing valuable time to continue the race.
Opposing drivers will block your progress and colliding with their cars will cause your own car to explode in shower of fire. This costs you precious time as you wait for your car to reappear on the track. Higher laps result in cars appearing in more challenging configurations that require you to react more quickly to prevent sudden collisions.
Although there are nine different tracks to select, there is nothing that distinguishes them from one another save for different coloured mountains in the background. I've never been to Silverstone, but I'm pretty sure that there isn't a large, rocky mountain range anywhere nearby!
Despite me nitpicking, the game does sport some novel features. The rotating steering wheel shown at the bottom of the screen is quite innovative, whilst the sprite collision of the cars is fairly accomplished.
The graphics and sound effects are fairly basic and are functional at best, although the sense of speed and the curvature in the track when approaching a bend is quite impressive. Most impressive of all is the title music by none other than Rob Hubbard.
On a personal level, I could have completed a single track and you'd have seen everything there is to see. However, as there were nine different tracks, I felt duty-bound in this case to complete them all, which explains when the video is almost an hour long.
Nine tracks for £1.99 represented pretty good value for money, even if they're all very similar. So, it only remains for me to say, buckle up and start those engines!
#retrogaming