''F-1 World Grand Prix'', developed by

Paradigm Entertainment Paradigm Entertainment Inc. (previously part of Paradigm Simulation) was an American video game development company. Paradigm is perhaps best known for its vehicle simulation games. Founded as a 3D computer graphics company in 1990, Paradigm pr ...

, is a

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 ...

racing game/sim first released in 1998 for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

game console and to later platforms including the

Sega Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Sony PlayStation is a Video game, video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of Home video game console, home video game consoles produce ...

, and

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

. The Nintendo 64 version is based on the

1997 Formula One season The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were conteste ...

, featuring each of the 17 circuits from the season and all 22 drivers (as well as two unlockable bonus racers), with the exceptions of

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (; born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian former racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1994 to 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1995, and Formula One from to . Villeneuve won t ...

(licensing reason) and the

MasterCard Lola The MasterCard Lola Formula One Racing Team, often known as MasterCard Lola or simply Lola, was a British Formula One team that contested only one race in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. It quickly withdrew from the sport after failin ...

team (not recognised, as they did not take part in any races during the season). The Dreamcast and Game Boy Color versions are based on the

1998 Formula One season The 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contest ...

and the PlayStation (released as ''F1 World Grand Prix: 1999 Season'') and Windows versions are based on the

1999 Formula One season The 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 53rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1999 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1999 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were conteste ...

. The Windows version is a sequel to the 1999 video game ''

Official Formula One Racing ''Official Formula 1 Racing'' is a racing game developed by Lankhor and published by Eidos Interactive in 1999. A sequel to the game, called '' F1 World Grand Prix'' (the 1999 version), was released in 1999–2000. Reception The game received ...

''.

Gameplay

The game has five gameplay modes: Grand Prix, a course-by-course simulation of the 1997 season; Exhibition, a single race; Time Trial, a race against the clock; Challenge, which comprises real scenarios from the 1997 season, including trying to win the

1997 Hungarian Grand Prix The 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the XIII Marlboro Magyar Nagydij) was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary on 10 August 1997. The race, contested over 77 laps, was the eleventh race of the 1997 Formula ...

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 ...

or beating

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 ...

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster from Scotland who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "DC", Coulthard was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' ...

in the 1997 Italian Grand Prix; and 2 Player, which allows two players to compete in a single, split-screen race. Prior to races, players can tune their car, including tyre tread, amount of fuel and wing angle. As was standard for racing games of the time, weather (and its effects) are also simulated.

Williams F1 Williams Racing, legally known as Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited and competing as Atlassian Williams Racing, is a British Formula One team and constructor. It was founded by Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams (1942–2021) ...

driver Jacques Villeneuve is not featured in the game. In his place is a silhouette of his body. A fictional helmet design is used and his name is simply Driver Williams, but his career statistics are correct. This character's name can be customized by the player, either to personalise their driver or to unlock extras.

Development

''F-1 World Grand Prix'' was first developed as an exclusive for the

console. In order to fit the game's voice clips into the small storage capacity of Nintendo 64 cartridges, the developers employed speech compression technology developed by

Factor 5 Factor 5 GmbH was a German-American Independent business, independent software and video game developer. The company was co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the st ...

Reception

Video System version (1998)

The Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast versions received favorable reviews according to the

Review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

. ''

N64 Magazine ''NGC Magazine'' (''N64 Magazine'' until October 2001 (issue 59)) was a British magazine specialising in Nintendo video game consoles and software. It was first printed in 1997 and ran until 2006. It was the successor to ''Super Play'', a maga ...

''s James Ashton said that the N64 version was "the finest driving simulation the world has ever seen". Peter Jankulovski of ''

Hyper Hyper may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hyper'' (2016 film), 2016 Indian Telugu film * ''Hyper'' (2018 film), 2018 Indian Kannada film * ''Hyper'' (magazine), an Australian video game magazine * Hyper (TV channel), a Filipino sports c ...

'' game the same console version 86%, calling it "a great addition to any racing fan's game library". ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

'' gave the Dreamcast version a positive review, a few months before its U.S. release date. Greg Orlando of '' NextGen'' said of the same console version in his early review as a finest title on Dreamcast, but considered as demanding for the casual gamer. In Japan, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave it a score of 30 out of 40 for the latter console version, and 29 out of 40 for the former. Other magazines gave the Dreamcast version universal acclaim to average reviews while it was still in development. ''

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

'' gave it eight out of ten for the N64 original, and later seven out of ten for the Dreamcast version. ''

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 ...

'' said of the Nintendo 64 version, "All told, you'll love ''WGP'' if you're one of the very, very few N64 gamers looking for an extremely challenging F1 sim—or if you have the enormous patience required to master it. Everyone else should give ''WGP'' a wide berth." At the 1999 Milia festival in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, the N64 version took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above €20 million in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

during the previous year. The same N64 version was nominated for "Best Racing Game" at ''

The Electric Playground ''EP Daily'' (formerly ''The Electric Playground'') is a daily news television show that covers video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, collectibles and gadgets. Created and executive produced by host Victor Lucas, and his Vancouver, British ...

''s 1998 Blister Awards, which went to '' Gran Turismo''.

Eidos Interactive version (1999)

The Eidos Interactive version received mixed or average reviews according to GameRankings. ''

AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...

'' gave the PlayStation version four stars out of five, praising the game's extras such as a fully customizable instant replay. ''GamePro'' said of the PlayStation version, "Even if you're not a huge fan, ''F1 World Grand Prix'' offers enough options and fun gameplay to make it worth a couple of laps."

Sequel

Its Video System sequel, '' F-1 World Grand Prix II'', was released in 1999 for the

and in 2000 for the

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

and

Notes

References

External links