Ah Formula One. There was a time when F1 was
still exciting - honestly there was. I remember
growing up and going round to my grandparents
on a Sunday - with my Grandpa sat in his chair
watching the Grand Prix.
They’re some of my earliest memories and
they’ve stuck with me throughout my life
- even as I attempted to become a racing driver
myself.
I didn’t do very well, jumping from series
to series and occasionally getting a bit too
acquainted with the barriers - but that’s
not the point. I love racing and I.. used
to love F1. I’m not saying it has to be
dangerous to be exciting but these days it’s
become so homogenised that it’s difficult
to get any pleasure out of it.
Not like in the 90s. Formula One was always
exciting and full of drivers that actually
had character. I understand that it was also
a bit too dangerous and we’re moving away
from combustion engines coz fossil fuels but
god it was great to watch. However, the Formula
One video games of the 90s - were a bit of
a mixed bag to say the least.
There were games on all consoles but if there
was one company that stood for sports games
in the 90s, it was SEGA.
For 10 years SEGA dipped their toes in the
F1 water but never really took the plunge.
Games like Super Monaco GP didn’t technically
have any Formula One licence - not even F1
Circus MD really had one, and that had F1
right in the title. Just look at some of these
teams: Lotas, Minarbi, Jodan, Ferrali, McRalen...
Wirriams? - okay that one’s just racist.
Although saying all that, there is still no
denying that Super Monaco GP is definitely
still a classic for any F1 fan despite the
fact that it was fairly generic. But then
again, the previous version in the arcade
(just called Monaco GP) has one of the weirdest
promotional posters you’ll ever see for
a racing game - why a gold romper suit with
knee high boots of all things? That’s not
sexy. Not even for 1979.
It wasn’t until 1991 that we actually saw
an F1 licensed SEGA game - and it didn’t
even make it out of Japan.
Fastest 1 technically had the licence to the
1990 season - the tracks are licensed - but
the teams and drivers names are not. In fact,
most of the Formula One drivers who participated
in that season are somewhat present, just
with slightly altered names. For example,
Satoru Nakajima makes an appearance as "S.
Inakajima". And Mika Hakkinenen becomes “M.
Hakkeyo!” With an exclamation mark.
In 1991, however, SEGA went whole hog and
created both the “F1 exhaust note” arcade
game - which to be fair, was pretty advanced
for the time, and also ‘F1 Grand Prix: Satoru
Nakajima’ on the Mega Drive - using Japan’s
own racing hero as the games’ spokesperson.
This is an odd game because it breaks away
from the frankly awful “driving into a too-close
horizon” style with a weird cityscape in
the background kinda game. It instead goes
for a top down view.
It suffers from that annoying thing that all
top down driving games have, where the direction
buttons feel reversed when driving towards
the bottom of the screen.
But despite being semi-licenced, it didn’t
have the rights to use real racing drivers
other than Nakajima himself, so the developers
had to make some up… again.
Now despite the slight technical issues of
being completely and utterly f**ing bulls**t,
there was a sequel - this time called ‘F1
Super License: Satoru Nakajima’. Because
calling it ‘F1 Grand Prix: Satoru Nakajima
2’ would have just been f***ing stupid.
This is more or less the same game, except
it has the 1992 F1 licence, as well as some
scantily clad underage girls and the expert
eye of Satoru Nakajima himself - who gives
his tips for each race in a language different
to most of the game.
Thanks Satoru. For the Western markets, the
jail bait was dropped in favour of a very
different fetish. Konami and Gremlin got the
right to the moustachioed lionheart that was
Nigel Mansell. For this game, you take on
the role of Sir Nige as he attempts to win
the 1992 Formula One World Championship in
good old Red 5.
Who wants a moustache ride?
But that wasn’t the only F1 game released
in ‘92. If you didn’t like Nigel Mansell,
and to be fair I couldn’t blame you, the
guy was a twat back then - SEGA had their
own game in development which didn’t have
the F1 licence, but did have arguably the
greatest driver ever as its spokesperson and
consultant.
The sequel to Super Monaco GP, titled Ayrton
Senna’s Super Monaco GP 2, was released
in July of that year. And unlike Nigel Moustache’s
game - this was an exclusive to SEGA, getting
releases on the Master System, the Mega Drive
and the Game Gear - it also got an arcade
release with Ayrton himself doing the promotional
work.
Also, unlike Nigel Fuzzface’s game, Senna
was actually properly consulted on its development,
even recording new quotes and tips straight
away after getting off track at certain Grands
Prix.
This was also released on the Master System
but that one didn’t have the same polished
feel - the whole thing just feels a bit clunky.
But then having said, for the time that it
was released, the Game Gear version was actually
very impressive. Certainly more impressive
than games being released on the Gameboy at
that time.
There was yet another F1 game released in
‘92 - again in Japan only, and it was another
Nakajima game, called F1 Hero MD but in the
West we got a slightly revised version of
the same game, known as Ferrari Grand Prix
Challenge. It’s pretty much exactly the
same, only with less slightly ludicrous pseudonyms
and an official Ferrari licence.
But that’s just home systems, that’s not
even mentioning games like - the officially
licensed - F1 Super Lap in the arcade.
Virtua Racing also got a Formula One makeover
which went by the name Virtua Racer and Virtua
Formula - and came as part of a huge linked
cabinet where players sat in replica Formula
One chassis. Although it did also come in
smaller cabinets as well.
If ‘92 was the year that turned everything
around, then 1993 was the year that things
got big. SEGA not only had an F1 licence for
their games but they were also sponsoring
a team in the Championship and a Grand Prix
too.
You couldn’t escape SEGA branding at the
1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park.
Not only were they sponsoring the Williams
team, with both SEGA and Sonic branding on
the cars and the drivers - but Donington was
draped in SEGA logos - with the large screens
around the track made to look like SEGA Game
Gears and the grid girls all dressed up like
Sonic. Not to mention they commissioned a
special Sonic the Hedgehog trophy - that wasn’t
even the official trophy - and even floated
a Sonic hot air balloon over the circuit.
Quite rightly they wanted to shout about it.
Just have a flick through the Sonic the Hedgehog
yearbook. You’ve got Sonic passing Damon
Hill a Game Gear in a simulated pit stop,
you’ve got Sonic sat in a Formula One car
flogging the roadshow, you’ve even got him
helping out the mechanics in… oh hey, M
People.
Which for the record, I sent to Damon Hill
and got this response.
So, let’s try a game from the same year
with: Formula One World Championship: Beyond
the Limit on the Mega CD.
Well that’s not the SEGA sting but okay.
Oh come on, you can have a deep voiced sexy
American trailer man voice but you have to
get rid of ‘SEGA’ sting. Really?
No, no. Stop it. Stop it. We can't do this.
As you’d expect, this game has the licensed
teams - the Williams team even has the SEGA
branding.
Let’s see now - oh god that’s twitchy.
Oh, it’s, it’s not going well. Cows. Why
are there cows next to the track? Oh god no.
When you lose they show footage of a pissed
of Alain Prost. Okay.
While the gameplay is horrible, it was notable
for including some full motion video and also
introducing scenario modes that drop you into
true-to-life situations from the 1993 season
and you’re tasked with matching or exceeding
what happened in real life. Not that that’s
easy because the controls are fucking cunt-blasting
bullshit. Might need to bleep that bit.
On the Mega Drive, the Master System and the
Game Gear - there was another game, just called
Formula One or F1. This game was licensed
by the FIA and Fuji Television, which means
all the official tracks are available to play
although everywhere seems to be in the middle
of a field. It’s okay, but underneath the
F1 skin it’s actually a game called Vroom!
for the Atari ST. And while the gameplay is
fairly decent, the narrow tracks and need
to drive through gantries means that it sometimes
feels like it’s more about avoiding a crash
than lapping at a decent pace.
In 1994, F1 Circus made an appearance again,
this time on the Mega CD - or SEGA CD - and
not only did it have licensed F1 Teams, you
could even pick the season in which you wanted
to compete - but it’s almost impossible
to see where you going.
Meanwhile our old friend Satoru was now appearing
in games on the Super Nintendo and dispensing
with any form of humility in games like “Nakajima
Satoru F-1 Hero '94”.
It’s probably worth pointing out that by
1994, he’d actually retired from racing
three years ago. But why mess with a winning
Formula?
Although having said that, he never… you
know.. won a race. In fact, he only even finished
40% of the ones he entered, but you know…
In the space of 5 years there had been over
20 F1 games released on SEGA systems alone.
It’s hard enough trying to keep up with
them all for this video never mind at the
time.
But in 1995 things started to change in the
console market. On the Mega Drive we got what
is one of the best of that era - with F1 world
Championship edition. It feels like a late
release game - with great graphics, fully
licensed teams, drivers and tracks and fun
gameplay. It’s the right mix of simulator
and arcade feel - although the oddly immovable
advertising boards are a little strange. And
weirdly, even if you pick Ferrari, the car’s
still blue.
But with the changes in hardware, there’d
only be a handful more games spread over the
next two console generations. We start, with
F1 Challenge on the SEGA Saturn.
At this point in 1995, SEGA was still the
go-to console for sports games, but with Playstation
on the horizon it wasn’t going to be long
before that mantle was taken away.
Oh wow, those are some square wheels.
Despite the crudeness of the 3D graphics,
and the glitchy audio on my emulator here
- it’s actually pretty good - It starts
to feel like a proper racing simulator - although
it still feels inferior to Sega Rally or Daytona
USA.
While there wasn’t another game on the Saturn
- the Japanese console did get a media disc
containing exclusive interviews with Ayrton
Senna. While it’s a Japanese release and
the interviews are carried out by a Japanese
engineer at Honda, the audio is actually entirely
in English.
For the Dreamcast, is the Monaco Grand Prix
series - which was also available on the Playstation  
and the N64. But in Europe, we actually also
had an online version of the game - although
servers are long gone and the game is quite
rare.
But.. this is what it comes down to the final
set of Formula One Games on SEGA systems - the
F1 World Grand Prix series - and they’re
not even exclusives. It got an N64 and Gameboy
Color release too - but I maintain the Dreamcast
version is the definitive version.
I think it’s only right that I complete
a race in honour of the Dreamcast and SEGA’s
F1 years - racing one of my favourite circuits
in one of my favourite cars.
But, something’s not right. I don’t feel
I’m appropriately dressed for this.
Ah much better.
Well, that’s it. That’s the end of my
journey through the SEGA-era Formula One games.
And despite the overly aggressive AI drivers,
it’s still a great game. While I do like
the modern codemasters games, they’re definitely
more simulators than games. Having raced in
real life, I do appreciate the simulator side
of it but at the end of the day, I still want
to have fun when Im’ playing - a game - and
that seems to be something that’s been lost
these days.
Anyway, until another season - I’ll see
you later.
