Psygnosis stunned gamers with Formula One upon its release in fall 1996, as the combination of superb graphics, sound, an FIA license for teams and drivers, and realistic gameplay developed by Bizarre Creations raised video-game racing to a new level. The fall 1997 sequel, Formula One: Championship Edition, was even better, as Psygnosis and Bizarre Creations tweaked and improved the original game to create what was then the premier racing sim for the PlayStation. Even now, more than two years after its release, F1: CE remains a superb game. But Psygnosis made an inexplicable mistake by granting development of Formula One 98 to Visual Sciences, which nearly killed the popularity of the series by itself. F1 ’98 was nearly unplayable, with unrealistic gameplay and brutal graphics marred by excessive pop-up and draw-in.
To its credit, Psygnosis realized that Formula One 99 needed to be a vastly improved title to return the series to its past glory. Psygnosis turned to British developers Studio 33 to remove the tarnish from F1. Well, Studio 33 has pulled off one of the PlayStation rescue jobs of the year. F1 ’99 is an excellent game containing superb graphics and fine gameplay that is marred by only one true weakness. Read on to find out why. Gameplay:
The driving model in Formula One 99 arguably is the best of the series and one of the best in any racing simulation on the PlayStation. But the damage model is one of the worst.
Formula One cars have changed quite a bit since Formula One: Championship Edition – the last playable version of this series – was released in 1997. F1 cars now are narrower and use tires with four grooves in them in an effort to control speeds. F1 cars in 1999 rely much more on aerodynamic grip than mechanical (tire) grip compared to 1997, making today’s cars much harder to handle. Many drivers complained in 1999 that it was nearly impossible to save a car from spinning once it started to lose control.
This game captures the twitchy nature of today’s F1 cars very well, thanks to excellent programming by Studio 33 and consultation from former F1 engineer Ewen Honeyman. Cars will suddenly spin if the brakes are applied too hard while entering a corner. Cars also will slip and slide from excessive wheelspin – thanks to the grooved tires -- under hard acceleration, especially over curbs. There’s also a great feeling of the rapid lateral maneuverability that is such a trademark of an F1 car once players pass an annoying, small dead zone in the left steering stick of the Dual Shock analog controller. The hard and somewhat unrealistic braking from simply lifting the gas in F1: CE has been softened to a more realistic rate in this game. That’s a big improvement. Another flaw corrected from F1: CE is the “sticky” grass that would slow cars at an unrealistically fast rate. Cars slow when running in the grass in F1 99, but they don’t look like they’ve just entered a Venus flytrap. The cars also react realistically to varying fuel loads. Cars with full fuel tanks will be more sluggish than those running on fumes. That’s another example of excellent attention to detail.
The artificial intelligence of the drivers also is excellent. Rival cars will dart and weave in an attempt to block overtaking maneuvers, but most will pull away at the last second when approached by a faster car. That kind of gamesmanship is common in an F1 race.
There are only two problems with the physics. First, all of the cars perform fairly equally. That’s unrealistic. This isn’t NASCAR. There is a caste system in F1 of the haves and have-nots. A Minardi or Arrows has no chance of running faster than a McLaren or Ferrari, but I took the promising Marc Gene to victory in a race in a Minardi. Future editions of this game need a class system similar to that used in Eidos’ new F1 World Grand Prix in which cars of similar power and handling are grouped into levels for handicapping purposes. A good driver can overcome a bad car in that game, but it’s not easy at all. Second, the cars have too much grip in the rain with rain tires installed. I ran laps in the high 1:40’s at the awesome Spa-Francorchamps track, rain or shine. F1 cars simply are slower in the rain, even with rain tires.
F1 99 offers two modes of play, starting with the Quick Race mode. Drivers have one flying qualifying lap and can make no car setup changes. There is a relaxed handling and damage model, and the races are only three laps long. Quick Race basically is an arcade mode with a touch more realism. It’s good fun and a nice change of pace.
But where the gameplay of F1 ’99 truly excels is in the accurate recreation of a Grand Prix weekend in the Grand Prix mode. No detail is spared here. Players can choose any driver and compete in a single race on any of the 16 tracks or start in Australia and race all 16 World Championship events through Japan.
Each race includes daily weather forecasts, a great touch that was missing in F1: CE. The first day consists of two practice sessions to tweak the car’s setup. Qualifying day features a morning practice followed by a one-hour qualifying session. Drivers can turn up to 12 laps during that hour, just like reality. And in a great touch, you can accelerate the timing of the session so you don’t have to sit in front of your TV screen for an hour, wondering if your fast lap will hold up for pole. This creates many tense moments in qualifying, as you can try to balance traffic, the weather and rival drivers in an effort to get the pole. Or qualifying grids can be set at each event to exactly mirror those from the 1999 season. It’s all incredibly realistic. Race day is just as compelling. Players can turn on or off options for realistic spins and crashes, damage, fuel usage, tire wear, engine failures, and flags and full rules. Making everything realistic is the only way to go once you get the hang of the driving model. Players also must determine the number of fuel stops they will make during the race, a realistic and vital component of race strategy. Drivers also can be penalized for jumping the start, passing under a yellow flag or passing the Safety Car or for speeding on pit road. In a cool function, players can press the triangle button to shut on and off a pit-lane speed limiter when entering and exiting the pits.
The major flaw in the gameplay of F1 ’99 – the biggest flaw in the game, period – is the damage model. It’s terrible. Cars can slam into barriers and each other without sustaining crippling damage, even with the options set to full damage. Eventually, collisions will cause the front wing to bend, but there’s no discernable difference in handling. Handling will deteriorate rapidly once the front wing is snapped off, but that will happen only after repeated high-speed collisions. In fact, I turned around and drove the wrong way for grins at Silverstone while driving a Prost and slammed into Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren on the front straightaway at 120 mph. My front wing never budged. That’s a joke. Eventually suspension wishbones will break after many impacts and wheels even may fly off, but that happens only after enough hits to make a demolition-derby veteran proud.
I can understand that Psygnosis and Studio 33 wanted to increase the accessibility of F1 99 to more gamers by relaxing the damage model. That’s fine. But they should have incorporated a realistic damage model into the game for F1 freaks like me who crave true realism. When I switch on an option for full damage, I expect realistic, full damage. F1 99 fails miserably in that regard.
Longevity:Considering that most Formula One fans are content with recreating a season and probably nothing more, Formula One 99 delivers plenty of longevity.
All 11 teams from the 1999 season are in the game, including the new and overhyped British American Racing. All 24 drivers who competed in F1 in 1999 are there, including 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve for the first time in a video game. Substitute drivers Mika Salo and Stephane Sarrazin also are available to Ferrari or British American Racing and Minardi, respectively. Those were the teams they subbed for in 1999. That’s excellent attention to detail. All 16 circuits on the series are here, including the new Sepang course in Malaysia. And the combination of the quick race and Grand Prix modes, including the ability to run the entire championship, will provide gamers with plenty of hours of action.
The Test Drive mode also adds longevity and helps accelerate the learning curve of this game for novices. In Test Drive, the proper racing line is marked out by rows of virtual cones. Drivers must try to stay between the cones. The cones are orange in braking zones and white with orange bands everywhere else. That color coding really helps players learn the proper braking areas, a vital component to success in any race. Overall, the Test Mode is an excellent addition to the game.
But Psygnosis will need to add a few wrinkles to its next Formula One game if it’s going to stay atop the longevity heap. After all, EA Sports is releasing an F1 game in a few months. Say what you will about the quality of EA Sports’ games, but just about every one is extremely deep. Psygnosis might consider a Legends Mode that includes such former great drivers as Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Graham Hill and Nigel Mansell. Great past cars such as the Colin Chapman-designed Lotus and the six-wheel Tyrrell could be available. Adding classic tracks such as the long course at Watkins Glen, the Osterreichring, Zandvort and the old Nurburgring (14.17 miles long with 187 corners per lap!) would be an amazing topper that would breathe a Grand Prix Legends-like feel into the game. Adding a career mode that included certain team management functions such as driver contracts, car design and testing, and sponsor negotiations would approach Formula One nirvana.
Controls:The controls are one of the few weak links in Formula One 99. There are plenty of positive aspects about the car control and setup options, but a few nagging flaws detract from the overall experience.
Psygnosis and Studio 33 smartly programmed analog steering and acceleration-braking into this game, as players can use the left stick on a Sony Dual Shock Analog pad for steering and the right stick for gas and brake. The game wouldn’t be a true simulation if that wasn’t offered. But gamers still in the driving Dark Ages can use the digital D-pad for steering and the digital buttons for gas and brake. But that would be a waste, as the sensitivity of the right stick for acceleration and braking is sublime. Proper modulation of the gas and brake is crucial for fast laps in Formula One racing, and the subtlety provided by analog acceleration and braking with the right stick in F1 99 gives players that pinpoint modulation and control. It’s excellent – one of the most realistic gas-brake models I’ve ever played in a driving game. Vibration also is well supported with a Sony Dual Shock Analog controller.
Too bad that subtlety couldn’t have been carried over into the steering model. There’s a small, annoying dead zone in the steering with the left analog stick, and the left stick can’t be recalibrated to eliminate the dead spot and loose steering feel when using a Sony Dual Shock Analog controller. That’s a crucial omission by Studio 33. Formula One cars are among the most nimble racing machines on the planet, and gamers should be able to tailor the steering sensitivity to their tastes. Sure, steering assist is offered in this game, but that’s not the same. I want the car’s steering to be razor sharp, but I still want to be in control of the wheel.
There are two neat features programmed into the controller. One is the clutch for the start of the race. When flags and full rules are used, human drivers simply can’t hammer the throttle on the starting line while waiting for the lights to go out to start the race. That will result in jumping the start, which is good for a 10-second stop-and-go penalty in the pits. That’s a killer. But drivers can simulate pressing in the clutch by pressing the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons on the line. While depressing those buttons, the driver can rev the V10 engine to the max and simply release L2 and R2 when the lights go out. It has the same effect as releasing the clutch, launching the car forward. It’s a very cool feature.
The L1 shoulder button provides a helpful look backward in every camera angle except for the cockpit view. It’s well placed and easy to use. But it also exposes the tip of the proverbial iceberg of one of this game’s major flaws regarding the cockpit view. Graphically and perception- and realism-wise, the cockpit view is the best in the game – hands down. But drivers using the cockpit view receive much less vital race information on the screen in a curious bit of programming by Studio 33. First, the L1 button can’t be used for a quick look back while in the cockpit view. There are functioning rear-view mirrors in the cockpit view, but their images lack definition. Sometimes players need a better look. It’s not available. And there are no graphical overlays showing intermediate time splits, qualifying position during qualifying and race running order in the cockpit view. This information is absolutely vital, and it could have been added to the top of the screen without affecting players’ view of the track or rear-view mirrors. It’s very annoying to have to switch to another view when crossing the finish line to get information, especially if there’s a chicane or turn just after the line. This is a major flaw that must be corrected in future editions of this game.
Finally, the menus are extremely intuitive and easy to navigate. There are symbols for each part of the car or game to tune during the car setup, pit setup and game setup options. Very clean. But that also leads to another flaw. There aren’t nearly as many car-tuning options in F1 99 as in Formula One: Championship Edition. That game gave gamers extensive flexibility in tuning, including plenty of wing-angle adjustments, brake-bias adjustments and suspension settings. F1 99 gives gamers three standard setups – one each for low-speed, medium-speed and high-speed tracks – that are 95 percent perfect right out of the box for the respective tracks, according to the game designers. That only leaves 5 percent leeway for tuning. And the tuning variables are very generic, such as hard-medium-soft instead of actual percentages for suspensions and brake-bias adjustment only allowable in a range of 54 to 59 percent for the front brakes and 41 to 46 percent for the rear brakes. F1: CE allowed almost infinite adjustment. The setup options aren’t enough for F1 freaks like me.
What’s worse, only three custom setups can be saved at once. That’s pathetic. I had different setups saved for each of the 17 races in F1: CE. The ability to save at least the same number of setups as races must be included in future editions of this series.
Graphics:The graphics in Formula One 99 can be summarized easily: Wow, what an improvement.
F1 98 was an absolute mess graphically. Entire sections of grandstands, upcoming track and landscapes would pop up in front of a driver. The framerate was slow, and the cars looked blocky. Even if the gameplay was strong – which it wasn’t – Psygnosis deserved to fire Visual Sciences as the developer of this game due to the shoddy graphics. It’s obvious that Studio 33’s primary task when it started development of F1 99 was to overhaul the graphics. Well, they did more than an overhaul. Studio 33 created one of the best-looking PlayStation racers ever with F1 99.
The framerate is superb. There is absolutely no pop-up or slowdowns in frame rate, even when an entire field of 22 cars streams toward the first corner after the start. Backgrounds are crisp and appear three-dimensional, with superb attention to detail including vivid foliage, clouds and accurate non-tobacco and alcohol track signage. Superb job.
It gets even better. The human-controlled cars look great. There is superb detail, including accurate decals from those races where tobacco advertising is banned. So, for example, the Benson & Hedges Jordan Mugen-Honda car will say Buzzin’ Hornets just like in reality. There are also superb light effects on the cars, including shimmering light on the nose and engine covers of the cars as they drive under partially cloudy skies. Other details including flashes of backfire under heavy braking, puffs of white tire smoke under heavy braking or after a blown engine, scuff marks on curbs in the turns, a TV camera helicopter flying overhead, gravel sticking to the hot, sticky tires when entering a trap during a sunny session and grooved skid marks left on the track from the tires during spins and heavy braking. There’s also an LED tachometer and working rear-view mirrors in the cockpit view.
That’s right: Don’t fall over – working rear-view mirrors finally have been added to this series! The cars in the rear-view mirrors lack definition, but they are proportionally accurate depending on their distance from the rear of the human-controlled car. This is a superb addition that was long overdue.
There are four camera angles in F1 99: Far rear, close rear, cockpit and front wing. The cockpit view is by far the best, offering superb perspective and vision. The cockpit view also provides drivers with the ability to hit their apexes in turns with precision, vital to success in this driving game. The cockpit view also gives drivers a real “seat of the pants” feel for the game that helps them become better more quickly. You can’t see the rear of the car starting to spin like you can in the two rear views, so you develop more feel for the limits of the car in the cockpit view. Players’ car controlling skills gain Michael Schumacher-like status quickly if they stick with the cockpit view. The two rear views are functional; preference is a matter of taste. The front-wing angle shows no part of the car but offers much of the same precision of the cockpit angle. But I don’t like it because it feels like I’m driving a camera, not a car. Others may love it.
My favorite camera angle from Formula One: Championship Edition was the one on top of the airbox on the engine cover. It combined the feel and precision of the cockpit view with the added forward vision and depth perception of the rear views. Sadly, it’s not offered in F1 99. Plus it also would be cool to see working hands on the wheel in the cockpit view. Codemasters has figured out how to pull off this feat in its TOCA series and Colin McRae Rally. Too bad it isn’t sharing its secrets with other game companies.
Replays also are included in this game, a nice touch. The camera angles change way too often in the replays, and they don’t quite have the TV-like appearance of the Gran Turismo series. Still, they’re functional and fun.
Sound:The sound in Formula One 99 is a mix of good and bad. The engine and racing sounds are very good; the commentary is surprisingly poor.
No powerplant in racing has the high-pitched, lyrical scream of a V10 Formula One engine that churns 800 horsepower at a mind-boggling 17,000 rpm. And the engine sound in this game mimics the real engines of F1 very well. The engine sounds rise and fall during acceleration and braking, making the punchy, pounding sound during gear changes that is so characteristic of the semi-automatic gearboxes used today in F1.
But Studio 33 missed a few details with the engine sounds. First, all of the engines sound alike. That’s a bit unrealistic, as astute F1 fans can tell the difference between the subtle growl of a Ferrari engine and the higher whine of a Mercedes engine. It’s not a major oversight, but it would have been cool to hear the subtle differences. Another flaw is the lack of tonal pitch change in the various camera views. The engines sound the same in all of the camera angles, slightly unrealistic. An engine screams much louder when sitting in the cockpit than from behind the rear wing. Plus I miss the sound of the wind buffeting the windscreen and the driver’s helmet from the cockpit view that was in Formula One: Championship Edition. It was a realistic touch that Studio 33 should have picked up from Bizarre Creations.
The racing sounds also are realistic, for the most part. Screeches of wheelspin are heard when cars accelerate too hard when exiting a corner or when accelerating over a curb at any time. That’s excellent. And the resounding thud heard when a car hits a barrier or tire wall during a crash is convincing. But collisions between cars on track sometimes produce a sound that resembles the crunching heard when eating Captain Crunch or Cocoa Puffs. That’s fine for cereal, but collisions between F1 cars at more than 150 mph don’t sound like that. Quite peculiar.
The commentary of the legendary Murray Walker and Martin Brundle always was one of the highlights of the F1 series for me. Walker has been the English voice of F1 races for the BBC and now ITV for more than 50 years. His high-pitched, over-the-top commentary, sprinkled with the occasional Yogi Berra-like word fractures, is an acquired taste, but I love dear old Murray. The man knows the sport. Former F1 driver Brundle has offered insightful commentary alongside Walker since his F1 career ended, and that insight was carried over to F1: CE and F1 98.
But Psygnosis and Studio 33 waste Walker and Brundle’s talent in this game. For starters, Brundle only speaks during the course overview segment. He describes a flying lap of each course, giving the names of each turn and offering helpful driving tips. It’s a great touch that really helps you learn the tracks. But then he is muzzled for the rest of the game, never heard alongside Walker in any other part of the game. Why? Such a waste. Walker mixed handy information into his commentary in the previous games in the Formula One series, often saying that a driver’s last lap was faster than the race leader or that a driver was gaining or losing time at each intermediate split on the track. That’s missing in F1 ’99. Walker gives very basic information like qualifying position, the starting grid and the number of laps remaining. But he offers no perspective about the driver’s performance and babbles on with “Murrayisms” like “I don’t believe it” and “Oh, dear; oh, dear; oh, dear” for no reason. Plus his calls are ill timed or wrong. I once slammed into the back of Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s Jordan at more than 150 mph on a straightaway at Magny Cours in France, and Walker said, “That was just a slight impact.” Uh, that was a wee bit more than a nudge, Murray.
Thankfully, gamers have the option to replace Walker’s commentary with radio transmission from the pits. The race engineer will tell the driver when to pit for tires or fuel and inquire about his safety after a crash. It’s a helpful feature. In past F1 games, I would rather hear Murray than the engineer. Sadly, it’s the opposite in F1 ’99.
Overall:Formula One 99 arguably is the best version of this venerable series, thanks to a fantastic rescue job by Studio 33. Sure, the damage model is bad, but it’s never been strong in this series. It’s really the only flaw that prevents F1 99 from reaching the pantheon of PlayStation racers occupied by Gran Turismo, Gran Turismo 2 and V-Rally 2: Need For Speed. Otherwise, F1 99 is an excellent game.
Psygnosis could face a challenge with future editions of this game. Formula One racing is returning to the United States for the first time since 1991 this September at Indianapolis. That should help increase the popularity of the sport here in the U.S., the world’s largest video-game market. But with the exception of Gran Turismo and GT2, U.S. gamers haven’t shown zeal for ultra-realistic racing sims for the PlayStation. Just look at how many people think the lousy Ridge Racer Type 4 is a great racing game or how many consider the Need For Speed series to be a borderline sim.
So Psygnosis must continue to balance accessibility for the growing American market with gameplay tweaks to satisfy hardcore Formula One fans both here and abroad, where F1 borders on a motorsports religion. If the significant improvements to F1 99 are any indication, Psygnosis and Studio 33 are up to the task.
PC Games | Xbox | Sony PSP | Nintendo DS | Zodiac | Phantom | N-Gage | Playstation 2 | Playstation One | GameCube
Gameboy Advance | Nintendo 64 | Dreamcast | PC Demos | Forums | Cheaters Wanted | Search
Gamers Wanted is © Wewp! Entertainment | Terms of Use | About Us | Links | Advertise | XML RSS Feeds 
