F1 Championship Season 2000

F1 Championship Season 2000, Published by EA in the year of 2000 and developed by Visual Sciences. Released a mere 6 months after the the game F1 2000 also by EA/Visual Sciences. The game is using a 512x Horizontal screen mode so you may want to aspect correct the video to 16:9 for tv aspect viewing.

Visual Sciences first F1 game was the not so well received F1 98. Studio33 got the F1 licence for F1 99 and then EA got the official licence for F1 2000 and published the next Visual Sciences f1 game F1 2000. I am not sure why F1 Championship Season was developed and published a mere 6 months after, but the game engine has had some slight upgrades in that time and the overall presentation of the game is different. The game is a step up from F1 98 but it seems like they didn't notice that F199 happened. Studio33 made a game that looks pretty slick and smooth running but unless you are really into the sim aspect of the game, there game was largely unplayable in championship mode. Visual Sciences effort while not looking quite as good and massively slower is a much more approachable and playable game. While definitely not going for the realism of the Studio33 game, I wouldn't call it arcady as you still have to worry about breaking early (or too late). One aspect of the game that was a little odd was the fact that on a damp/rainy track, the opposing cars seemed to hold back and I could finish the race with maybe 30 seconds between me and the next car. This is in contrast to F197 where the opposition seemed to get a massive boost on a wet track as if only my car was being affected by the wet.

Sound wise, there is no in game music track for this game. looking back at F1 97 by bizarre creations, that game had choice of commentary or music and even Dolby ProLogic support for. Strangely the f1 games after that dropped all that and even the commentary is quite minimal in the Visual Sciences games. F1 2000 was presented in a way that resembled the Need for Speed games. F1 Championship Season looks more original while resembling other EA Sports titles. One of the menu music tracks is similar to that used in Need for Speed Road Challenge though.

The longplay revolves around the F1 Championship mode. I do a single qualifying lap before each race to try and get a good starting position. While I do mess with car setups, the settings are by no means perfect and often don't work as I expect them to. I am playing in 4 lap short race mode so as the video isn't too long. It is enough to show how well (or not) each track is represented by the game to compare with others. Damage is on, but I don't show much of it as I want to win the races. The game does offer a scenario mode where you race 16 laps but with the addition of a challenge where play as a specific driver and must finish within a particular range. I did not notice if anything was unlocked apart from the trophy gfx from winning each race.

00:03:18 Grand Prix of Australia: Albert Park
00:16:05 Grand Prix of Brazil: Interlagos
00:27:49 Grand Prix of San Marino: Imola
00:38:05 Grand Prix of Great Britain: Silverstone
00:49:15 Grand Prix of Spain: Catalunya
01:00:35 Grand Prix of Europe: Nurburgring
01:12:50 Grand Prix of Monaco: Monte Carlo (Temporary Street Circuit)
01:24:10 Grand Prix of Canada: Gilles Villeneuve
01:34:25 Grand Prix of France: Nevers Magny-Cours
01:46:28 Grand Prix of Austria: A1-Ring
01:57:36 Grand Prix of Germany: Hockenheim
02:10:05 Grand Prix of Hungary: Hungaroring
02:20:35 Grand Prix of Belgium: Spa-Francorchamps
02:34:00 Grand Prix of Italy: Monza
02:45:43 Grand Prix of the United States: Indianapolis
02:55:45 Grand Prix of Japan: Suzuka
03:08:00 Grand Prix of Malaysia: Sepang