''500cc Grand Prix'', one of the first French-made games, is a motorcycle

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a motor racing, racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more re ...

developed by Microïds and released in 1987 on multiple platforms, including the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

, Microsoft DOS,

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

, and the

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

. The game included a multiplayer mode, considered by magazines to be the technology of the future.

Gameplay

The game provides a two-player split-screen mode and three levels of general difficulty. Players can choose between the training mode, a single Grand Prix, or the World Championship. During a race, the screen is split into two vertical halves showing the point of view of two racers. In single-player mode, one screen has the player's motorcycle, while the other has a motorcycle controlled by the computer. In two-player mode, each player is given one side of the screen. The camera is positioned in the third person perspective behind the bike, with a Heads Up Display showing various indicators. The controls consist of accelerating, braking, steering (pushed at two different inclinations), and gear changing between the four available gears. In the event of an accident or crash, the player is penalized and will restart immediately from a stationary position where they crashed. In training mode, there are only two laps and two racers per circuit; contrary to a single Grand Prix, there are nine laps and six racers — four racers for the C64 version — for each circuit. The game contains a total of twelve available circuits, inspired by those of real life. In the

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

and

versions, there is a save mode after every race. In the World Championship mode, the player or players must run all twelve circuits with the aim of obtaining a final classification or score based on their placements across all twelve races. Similar to the Grand Prix mode, each circuit contains nine laps with six participating motorcycles — again, with the C64 having four — and there is a save mode after each race in the DOS and Atari ST versions.

Reception

The first French-produced game was mentioned twice in the French magazine ''Jeux & Stratégie''.

References

External links

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MicroïdsPlay ''500cc Grand Prix'' online

''500cc Grand Prix''
at thelegacy.de/Museum 1987 video games Amstrad CPC games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games DOS games Europe-exclusive video games Grand Prix motorcycle racing video games Microïds games Multiplayer and single-player video games Racing video games Split-screen multiplayer games Video games developed in France {{motorcycle-racing-videogame-stub