is an officially licensed

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

game developed by Bell Corporation and produced by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

for the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

. The game contains only three of the many

Formula One circuits Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is currently the highest class of open-wheel car, open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a ...

–

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, and Suzuka – while having another three based on the fictional Neo City, containing three different configurations. While containing a full license (granted by FOCA, not the FIA) of the 1995 Formula One racing season with 12 teams and 24 drivers (not including

Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved i ...

, who withdrew midway through the season), the game only allows the player to play as five drivers:

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

( Benetton),

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill (born 17 September 1960) is an English former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Hill won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 22 Grands Prix acr ...

( Williams),

Jean Alesi Jean Robert Alesi (; born Giovanni Roberto Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alesi won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix with Ferrari. Born and raised in Avignon, Alesi started karting a ...

(

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Katayama participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting at the 1992 South African Grand Prix, making him the sport's most experienced Japanese driv ...

( Tyrrell), and

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968) is a Finnish former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Finn", Häkkinen won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with M ...

(

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

). The other teams and drivers are in the game and the cars are correctly modeled but are unselectable.

Gameplay

The game is very similar to other titles produced by Sega. Its form is that of an arcade-style simulator that carries a variety of courses that range from easy to hard with a small selection of cars to choose from. This format has been followed by Sega games in the past, with such titles as ''

Virtua Racing ''Virtua Racing'' or ''V.R.'' for short, is a Formula One racing video game developed by Sega AM2 and released for arcade game, arcades in 1992. ''Virtua Racing'' was initially a proof-of-concept application for exercising a new 3D graphics plat ...

'' (1992), ''

Daytona USA is a 1994 arcade racing game developed by Sega AM2. Inspired by the popularity of the NASCAR motor racing series in the US, the game has players race stock cars on one of three courses. It was the first game to be released on the Sega Model 2 ...

'' (1994), and ''

Sega Touring Car Championship ''Sega Touring Car Championship'' (セガツーリングカーチャンピオンシップ) is an arcade racing game released by Sega's AM Annex for the Model 2 mainboard in 1996. It was later ported to the Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows. T ...

'' (1996). Unlike other racing titles released by Sega, ''F1 Challenge'' does not rely on powersliding and drifting, and instead attempts to be very simulator-oriented. The game supports the Sega Arcade Racer steering wheel peripheral in addition to the standard Saturn controller.

Reception

Rad Automatic of ''

Sega Saturn Magazine ''Sega Saturn Magazine'' (originally known as ''Sega Magazine'') was a monthly magazine from the United Kingdom covering the Sega Saturn, a home video game console. It held the official Saturn magazine license for the UK, and some issues incl ...

'' gave the game an 80%, calling it "ideal for race connoisseurs with a perfection complex", but inferior to ''

Sega Rally Championship ''Sega Rally Championship'' is a 1995 racing game developed and published by Sega. Originally released for arcades using the Sega Model 2 board, ports were published for the Sega Saturn in 1995 and Microsoft Windows in 1997. The ''Sega Rally Cha ...

'' and ''Daytona USA'' as far as the average gamer is concerned. ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

''s The Axe Grinder agreed that it was "More a hardcore racing game than a 'pop' arcade title", and that despite the above-average graphics the game feels bland and unexciting. He also criticized the weak A.I., generic rock soundtrack, and lack of sound effects. A reviewer for ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' praised the selection of real-life teams and tracks, but like Rad Automatic he felt it compared unfavorably to ''Sega Rally Championship'' and ''Daytona USA''. He scored it three out of five stars. ''

'' gave the four stars out of five for the Saturn version and called it a "truly exceptional" racing game.

References

External links

F1 Challenge at Sega Saturn UK
– review, screens and information (archived) 1995 video games Formula One video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Sega Saturn games Sega Saturn-only games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Richard Jacques Virgin Interactive games {{f1-racing-videogame-stub