Formula 1 97 (1997 season) Formula 1 the best open wheeled racing you can get close to as Formula 1 97 came to the PS1 and PC for those Formula 1 fans
The game was developed by the same company that designed the modern Project Gotham Racing series Bizarre Creations and Formula 1 97 was published by Psygnosis who if I remember correctly made some wonderful PC games.
The game developers and publisher was also the same people who made the very 1st Formula 1 game on the PS1 which was made for the Formula 1 1995 season which turned out to be a great game and I never noticed this when I was younger but I do now as the game was released at the end of the 1995 season meaning substitute drivers were allowed and the grid could have different amount of cars each race which was unique. So in short the very 1st Formula 1 game was a good game nothing brilliant but it earned its a status a one of the best racing games for the PS1 in my opinion.
Formula 1 97 was released and had the official FIA logo (much like the FIFA series) This was also unique. However sadly the game was released with problems that the FIA caught wind of and took action. The FIA did not appear to take it too kindly that the game had the official FIA logo on the game, The game just under 2 months from its release date was then taken off the shelves of game stores and was then sent out again this time without the FIA logo (I was one of the lucky ones who has the game with the FIA logo). More problems then troubled the game and the FIA were clearly unhappy with the game. This was then finally concluded with a trip to the courts but the FIA lost the court battle forcing them to be quiet.
Amazingly despite the problems with the FIA that was looming over them they also had more trouble which to me personally came as a surprise. Jacques Villeneuve to state this DID race in the real 1997 Formula 1 season for the Rothmans Williams Formula 1 Team. However in the game Jacques Villeneuve is not there and infact is called Driverone Williams however in the game when racing commentary legend Murray Walker also points out a slight mistake as he then called him Williams Numberone.
Fortunately that was the only problems with the game release and it finally did get off the shelves and into peoples PS1 machines so without further or do its time for me to review Formula 1 97
GRAPHICS 8Formula 1 97's older successor Formula 1 was a great graphical game though at times when you really thought about it the game did seem pixelfied and sometimes rushed in places. But it was enough for me to still love the graphics.
The developers Bizarre Creations soon made a notable improvements on the graphics engine and this was certainly seen at the most famous circuit on the Formula 1 calender Monte Carlo. There was more detail with the circuits and had more life than they previously did. The cars were also made to look more stunning and sponsor boards were also improved giving the player a real close feeling to the racing action. The graphics was also improved that the actual game engine itself ran faster and the game could have more frame rates per second allowing a more smoother control of the game (No one wants to play a game that lags and has poor frame rates)
Graphical wise this was miles better than the old Formula 1 game made for the 1995 season it was faster better looking and more elegant which for a Formula 1 game deserves to be treated with elegance. The graphics earns a much improved and deserved 8
SOUND 5Sadly this part of the game did not live up to expectations of the previous Formula 1 game
The previous Formula 1 game had the distinctive high pitched Formula 1 car sound which for me I loved and I always hoped that they would of kept the same main sound for the next game. Unsurprisingly going by my rating for the sound they did of course change it for the worse. No high pitch sound at all which was a shame as Formula 1 has always been known for its distinct sound. There was also no other real changes to the game or to improve the sound either. More than anything I do really feel that this was actually made worse which again was a shame. So overall not too much to say on the sound and in truth it was disappointing since you'd think that from its 1st crack you'd naturally think theirs going to be improvements made. The sound department gets no more than a 5 for me
ADDICTIVENESS 8Formula 1 for me is always one of the best racing genre's out there in the motorsport world its amazing to watch, Always filled with drama and at points you really do have to expect the unexpected. A total of 17 official races along with 4 bonus tracks (Estoril was not used in the official real life 1997 calender season) The sheer amount of track
selection and car
selection you can choose from is enough to keep you addicted for hours on end. Any racing game has to be addictive to play or quite simply for me its failed and flawed as a racing game. As a result the addictiveness rating gets a impressive 8
STORY N/ANothing but hardcore racing so of course there is no story for a racing game.
DEPTH 9The depth of Formula 1 97 was the best thing about the game in total general and though Formula 1 had the main expected options like fuel and tyre wear they put a lot more into this so heres the options with a brief description of what the options do
Race length- This had 5 settings Short, Medium, Long, Half, Full I normally found that the Short to Long races were no more than 25 laps long with Half being naturally half of the full race and of course Full was the full length
Skill setting- This setting basically meant how good you were and how quickly the AI cars went round the track. Novice (slowest and easiest) Amateur, Rookie, Professional and Expert (Fastest and hardest)
Steer assist- This setting was either on or off and was really meant for those who wanted to learn the racing line with assisted AI steering
Brake assist- This setting was the same as steer just the only difference with this is the AI system will help you in braking which can on some twisty circuits be difficult to learn when to brake
Sessions- This was for you to decide at which part of the race weekend you wanted to start at and if taken part in the championship mode
selecting the qualifying meant you did not want to take part in practice at all for all of the races
Damage- This was to toggle damage on or off naturally if
selected to the on setting this would enable damage allowing a player car or even the AI cars to lose their front and even rear wings and if enough damage was sustained the player could end up losing a wheel forcing a retirement in the race or session
Failures- This was to toggle if you wanted failures for AI cars (I am pretty sure you can't get a failure on this though which is a shame)
Weather- This setting enabled you to choose what sort of weather you wished to choose this had Sunny, Rainy, Variable and Random (Random
selected any of the 3 settings)
TAKE NOTE: The Formula 1 game also had ''Variable'' however because this was improved this did mean weather could actually change during a session so one moment you could race through a crystal clear sunny day but the next you could be in a monsoon and needing full wets
Tyre wear- This naturally meant if you wanted the tires to degrade over time while racing and grip after a while can force you to pit in which was common for this era of Formula 1 racing
Fuel depletion- This was pretty much the same as the tyre wear setting again the difference is fuel depletes itself and also actually makes the car heavier but lighter as it gets used
Tear off's- This was a very new setting that some would wonder what the setting actually done. This option could only be used in the ''cockpit'' view turning this setting on meant flies and debris from the track would stick to the drivers visor which in real life Formula 1 drivers had to tear off their visors as it became to dirty to see
Flags- This setting was used to toggle if you wanted flags on or off. To give an example driving the wrong way would be a automatic black flag and a DQ from the race or session
Theres a lot of options in this game isnt there? Well that was not the end of the depth either heres the list of the teams along with the drivers
Benetton F1 team Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger
Red Bull Sauber F1 team Johnny Herbert and Nicola Larini
Ferrari F1 team Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine
Prost F1 team Olivier Panis and Shinji Nakano
Minardi F1 team Jarno Trulli and Ukyo Katayama
Jordan F1 team Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella
Stewart F1 team Jan Magnussen and Rubens Barrichello
Arrows F1 team Damon Hill and Pedro Diniz
McLaren F1 team David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen
Williams F1 team Driverone Williams (Jacques Villeneuve) and Heinzharald Frentzen
Tyrell F1 team Jos Verstappen and Mika Salo
Plenty of drivers and heres the circuits as well in championship round order
1) Melbourne Australian Grand Prix
2) Sao Paulo Brazilian Grand Prix
3) Buenos Aires Argentine Grand Prix
4) Imola San Marino Grand Prix
5) Monte Carlo Monaco Grand Prix
6) Barcelona Spanish Grand Prix
7) Montreal Canadian Grand Prix
8) Magny-Cours French Grand Prix
9) Silverstone British Grand Prix
10) Hockenheim German Grand Prix
11) Budapest Hungarian Grand Prix
12) Stavelot Belgian Grand Prix
13) Monza Italian Grand Prix
14) Spielberg Austrian Grand Prix
15) Nürburgring Luxembourg Grand Prix (A FIA ruling got around this so ignore the 2 different country names)
16) Suzuka Japanese Grand Prix
17) Jerez de la Frontera European Grand Prix
They really did put quite literally everything and you thought that was not enough? Oh no thats not it. Psygnosis at the time of doing the game also decided to contact at the time of UK TV rights ITV commentator Murray Walker and he actually signed a contract with them to do commentary for the game for the next few games and also former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle also got into the commentating role when he also joined Murray Walker and done commentary for the game as well.
So yeah as you can tell after reading that this game really was well done and as a result this gets the highest rating of the whole game and scores a impressive 9 points
DIFFICULTY 4Now it is not the controls that will hinder you for doing well in Formula 1 97 put the setting up to Expert and turn everything on and see how well you do. This was a game which the AI even on Professional pushed hard and any sort of mistake can lose you important time. There is some very hard circuits as well with my personal opinion the hardest is Monaco with its twisty city turns you really have to be snapping at the wheel constantly and making sure your not gonna lose control of the car. Of course there was also easy circuits and the easiest for me was a close call with Italy and Belgium as they are both very fast tracks with room for error
OVERALL 8.5So to round of this review this is one well crafted brilliantly improved and well put together Formula 1 game and Formula 1 97 is much improved that than Formula 1 game made for the 1995 season
I hope you've enjoyed reading my review of Formula 1 97 thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy some open wheeled racing
Graphics
8 Sound
5 Addictive
8 Depth
9 Difficulty
4
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