V8 Challenge (2002) - Every PC F1 Game
0V8 Challenge by Digital Illusions/EA, 2002.
If you think this looks a bit familiar, it's because it is! Digital Illusions basically reskinned their STCC2 (Swedish Touring Car Championship 2) game as a V8 Supercars game, called V8 Challenge. They swapped out the Swedish series cars for ones from V8 Supercars, and swapped Camaro Cup for Utes. But the Formula Dice cars remained!
Track-wise, it's a mix of 4 Australian tracks (Bathurst, Adelaide, Queensland and Melbourne) and a selection of tracks from STCC2 (which I'm sure the Australian target audience had very little knowledge about!), so this definitely feels like a game made on a small budget!
As with STCC2, the Formula Dice cars are only available in Time Trial, hence no other cars being on track.
So, let's take a closer look... none of the tracks listed in brackets are in the game, they're just what I was aiming for.
1. Race Start (Monza): 0:00 The track here is Queensland. Once again, the Formula Dice cars feel much too heavy in braking zones, and enjoy a good oversteer, should you put the throttle down!
2. Spray Effects (Silverstone): 0:38 If you compare this to STCC2, you'll see it's practically identical, even more so, as both feature the Gellerasen track.
3. Tunnel & View (Monaco): 0:53 Thankfully, V8 Challenge does contain a city circuit (of sorts). This one is Adelaide, which definitely seems to have had some care and attention in its modelling.
4. Wet Track (Spa-Francorchamps): 1:10 I've used the reverse version of Bathurst for this clip, as the superb Arctic Circle Raceway from STCC2 didn't make the cut in V8 Challenge.
5. Pitstop (Interlagos): 1:30 Much like STCC2 I've used the Mantorp Park (long) circuit. However it does feel like you are stopping for a pitstop now (screen goes black) but my car still had a damaged front wing afterwards!
6. Huge Crash (Montreal): 1:45 The track is Kinnekulle, but the tendency to flip remains, happily!
This is part of the Every PC F1 Game playlist, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYDobL0b26uiiYP8KdN3AwQmsu7ilzpxL