Minardi fan
19 Jan 2000, 12:22
Ok, I'll start the reviews off with my personal opinion on Formula One '99 on the Playstation. In the up and coming weeks look out for reviews of F1 '97, F1 World Grand Prix, Gran Turismo etc....
F1 '99
Playstation
£29.99
Psygnosis
Well, I was rather excited at the prospect of a decent new F1 game. After F1 '97, we had the terrible F1 '98 and the below-par Monaco Grand Prix. Then came F1 '99.
At first, I really liked this game. It has many good features.
The graphics are very impressive for a Playstation - the game belts along at a marvellous speed, the graphics are smooth, and the draw-distance is the best I have seen for some time in a racing game. There are also reflections on the cars, and some excellent shadow effects (check out Melbourne or Hockenheim for great examples of this).
Plus there are nice touches such as heat haze on the grid and a helicopter flying above the track.
On the downside, the other cars looks seriously under-detailed, with very little detail on them. Yours has quite a bit, but nowhere near as much as the sponsor bedecked cars of F1 '97 or F1 WGP.
The sounds in this game are generally poor though - the cars whine along at a frighteningly high pitch, and your engine just doesn't sound right.
Now for the gameplay. Unfortunately, this proves to be the start of F1 '99's downfall. The races just aren't realistic. The top four or five cars, always the McLarens, Ferraris and Jordans, are usually seperated by only tenths of a second, and Irvine nearly always wins the races. Very unrealistic. The cars dart about the track ridiculously, and seem to slow down at the most inappropriate moments, or suddenly veer into you damaging your car.
The car damage is another bad aspect - the AI cars cannot get damaged, from what I can tell, but you get damaged very easily.
Other problems include the general difficulty of the game on a higher level and the fact it is way to easy on a lower level. Also add to this the handling of the cars themselves, which is just too arcadey for my liking.
In F1 '99, I was hoping for the consummate F1 sim. I was sadly disappointed. Sure, the game has nice touches, such as cars going in and out of pit garages, and the helicopters flying above the track, but all this graphical niceness cannot hide the fact that F1 '99 eventually gets unenjoyable to play.
If you want an arcade F1 game, then go for this. If however you want an F1 sim which is update to date, go for F1 WGP. Even better, get F1 '97 - still the benchmark for F1 games.
A decent enough effort from Studio 33 and Psygnosis, but sadly it falls short of being the classic we hoped it would be.
Graphics: 8 Sound: 7 Gameplay: 7
Presentation: 9 Lifespan: 7
Overall, 7 out 10. (8 on a good day ;))
[This message has been edited by Minardi fan (edited 19 January 2000).]
F1 '99
Playstation
£29.99
Psygnosis
Well, I was rather excited at the prospect of a decent new F1 game. After F1 '97, we had the terrible F1 '98 and the below-par Monaco Grand Prix. Then came F1 '99.
At first, I really liked this game. It has many good features.
The graphics are very impressive for a Playstation - the game belts along at a marvellous speed, the graphics are smooth, and the draw-distance is the best I have seen for some time in a racing game. There are also reflections on the cars, and some excellent shadow effects (check out Melbourne or Hockenheim for great examples of this).
Plus there are nice touches such as heat haze on the grid and a helicopter flying above the track.
On the downside, the other cars looks seriously under-detailed, with very little detail on them. Yours has quite a bit, but nowhere near as much as the sponsor bedecked cars of F1 '97 or F1 WGP.
The sounds in this game are generally poor though - the cars whine along at a frighteningly high pitch, and your engine just doesn't sound right.
Now for the gameplay. Unfortunately, this proves to be the start of F1 '99's downfall. The races just aren't realistic. The top four or five cars, always the McLarens, Ferraris and Jordans, are usually seperated by only tenths of a second, and Irvine nearly always wins the races. Very unrealistic. The cars dart about the track ridiculously, and seem to slow down at the most inappropriate moments, or suddenly veer into you damaging your car.
The car damage is another bad aspect - the AI cars cannot get damaged, from what I can tell, but you get damaged very easily.
Other problems include the general difficulty of the game on a higher level and the fact it is way to easy on a lower level. Also add to this the handling of the cars themselves, which is just too arcadey for my liking.
In F1 '99, I was hoping for the consummate F1 sim. I was sadly disappointed. Sure, the game has nice touches, such as cars going in and out of pit garages, and the helicopters flying above the track, but all this graphical niceness cannot hide the fact that F1 '99 eventually gets unenjoyable to play.
If you want an arcade F1 game, then go for this. If however you want an F1 sim which is update to date, go for F1 WGP. Even better, get F1 '97 - still the benchmark for F1 games.
A decent enough effort from Studio 33 and Psygnosis, but sadly it falls short of being the classic we hoped it would be.
Graphics: 8 Sound: 7 Gameplay: 7
Presentation: 9 Lifespan: 7
Overall, 7 out 10. (8 on a good day ;))
[This message has been edited by Minardi fan (edited 19 January 2000).]
