Formula 1

Formula 1 is the first racing game in Sony's Formula One series. Published by Psygnosis, Formula 1 is based on the 1995 Formula One season, although it was released in 1996. It is distinct from its sequels because it was made after the end of the season, meaning that it features driver substitutes.

I play through all 17 tracks in Arcade mode. The main difference between Arcade and GP mode in the race length which is locked to 5 laps in arcade mode and a checkpoint timer. Before each race I do a qualifier lap to determine my start position on the grid. You get only one lap to qualify in this mode. I also tried to set the game up in such a way that I could show the whole game while still presenting a challenge. Perhaps I should have also enabled Hard mode, but in tests I found it difficult to catch up to racers in front of me. Tyre ware had to be disabled as otherwise my tyres would be wrecked by the final lap. Yes I could get new ones in pits, but the ai drivers do not have such issues and never go into pits making it impossible for me to compete.

Damage is a little odd in the game in that you cant really do much to the ai drivers which seem to act more like immovable bricks and damage does not seem to cause them to slow down. My car can also take damage, but it does take some punishment in this mode. I set variable weather, but the game seemed to favour wet conditions in this longplay. Sometimes it appeared that the ai racers didn't care what the conditions were and was able to drive erratically and fast regardless of how wet the track was.

For this longplay I used the Greatest Hits release (v1.1). I don't know if it was emulation issues or not, but the Intro and ending would not play in this version and I had to get those from the original release (v1.0). Whilst playing I seemed to think the frame rate was more stable in the 1.1 version. Whilst using the v1.0 release I notice a grid layout scroll before each race which didn't happen while I played through the 1.1 release. Again I am not sure if these are emu issues or not. Once all is said and done, I complete the game, get the ending animation and credits, then procede to show the unlocked Bonus track.

One aspect of the game I regret not really showing is the outstanding soundtrack to this game. Its a nice rock guitar fest which doesn't feel like a cheap production and makes a change from the usual techno stuff in other racing games. It surprisingly fits quite well. Its too bad that you can only select commentary or music and not both together. I do show the unlocked Bonus track at the end of the video with music selected.

00:08:50 Interlagos - Grande premio Do Brasil
00:18:37 Buenos Aires - Gran Premio De Argentina
00:29:25 Imola - Gran Premio Di San Marino
00:40:55 Catalunya Gran Premio De Espania
00:52:00 Monaco - Gran Prix De Monaco
01:02:27 Montreal - Gran Prix Molson Du Canada
01:14:15 Magny-Cours - Grand Prix de France
01:24:28 Silverstone - British Grand Prix
01:36:20 Hockenheim - Grosser Mobile 1 Preis Von Deutschland
01:49:03 Budapest - Magyar Nagydij
01:59:20 Spa-Francorchamps - Grand Prix de Belgique
02:12:43 Monza - Pioneer 660 Gran Premio d Italia
02:23:10 Estoril - Grande Premio de Portugal
02:33:55 Nurburgring - European Grand prix
02:43:50 Aida - Ti Aida Pacific Grand Prix
02:54:37 Suzuka - FUJI Television Japanese Grand Prix
03:07:55 Adelaide - EDS Australian Grand Prix
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03:21:07 Frameout City - Bizarre Grand Prix