F1 Race Stars: a Threat to Mario Kart's Crown?

When Codemasters unveiled a cutesy take on the F1 license in July, it took many by surprise. A super-deformed Jenson Button? A chibi Lewis Hamilton? Madness, surely! Not an unreasonable thought, and one that Chris Gray, Race Star’s Senior Producer, had himself. “When we went to the Formula 1 management team with this idea we genuinely were expecting to get ejected from the building.”

Look a little closer at Codemasters’ portfolio though, especially since shifting gears to being an exclusively racing-focused developer, and F1 Race Stars makes a lot of sense. With DiRT, it has an over-the-top rally series, one taken into almost super-powered territory with the recent Showdown; in Grid, it has a realistic street racer; and the prime F1 series is an authentic recreation of the sport on every level. A fun-for-all kart racer was the missing element, and luckily Gray’s pitch wasn’t laughed out of the building. Having spent some time with the game, it’s actually a little bit brilliant.

“It’s that classic board-game thing of ‘ages six to sixty’,” says Gray. “I definitely think that compared to our F1 games, which are a little intimidating to younger players and families to play together, we’re offering something that’s a little more accessible. But I think it’s as much of a post-pub game as many of these party games are. There’s skill there - depth to be found in the game - but it doesn’t exclude people who aren’t that good at this sort of game.”

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When we went to the Formula 1 management team with this idea we genuinely were expecting to get ejected from the building.

The elephant in the room – a certain plumber’s automotive adventures – isn’t missed by the developers either: “Most karting games, I think it would be fair to say, are an imitation of Mario Kart [but] we think it plays pretty different,” says Gray. He’s not lying. While Race Stars plays similarly to many karting games – dashing through cartoonish levels collecting power-ups and finding hidden shortcuts dotted around – it has several tweaks that help evoke the spirit of Formula One. For example, take too much damage from collisions or rivals’ power-ups and you’ll need to nip through a pit stop to get back to full speed. Another difference to most karting games will be no power-sliding through corners. “It wouldn’t suit the sport; it’s not just a matter of doing something different to be different,” explained Gray. “F1 cars don’t powerslide. If we made our F1 Race Stars cars do that it would look silly. It wouldn’t be right. It’s still very much a matter of braking into corners and boosting down the straights.”

As well as getting the drivers involved in designing their avatars in-game (Schumacher asked for more of a tan, while Hamilton wanted smaller ears, incidentally), the various F1 teams factor into Race Stars, and whichever one you choose has an impact on how the game plays. “Obviously people are going to have their favourite team and favourite driver, but we wanted the selection to have a gameplay effect, some meaningful relevance,” says Gray. “Ferrari is the only team that can fire homing projectiles backwards. One of the other teams has the ability to drop three mines rather than one. [Another] has the ability to reroll power-ups – every team has a little twist, which makes for some different experiences going down the track.”

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F1 cars don’t powerslide. If we made our F1 Race Stars cars do that it would look silly.

Yet Race Stars still has a lot of humour about it. Tracks represent host nations in loving shades of stereotypes and wild exaggeration, with miko maids bustling around Tokyo while a Godzilla-esque balloon floats over the city, and Germany – the track we played – throws high-speed autobahns and quaint Bavarian villages at you. Those all-important power-ups range from the vaguely realistic – summoning wet weather conditions, forcing opponents to slow down while granting you appropriate tires, to the totally outlandish – a teleport that bumps you several positions forward. It’s hard to imagine that passing FIA approval in the real sport....

Beyond conventional racing for first place, game modes include Slalom, where drivers must pass through marked gates in order; Elimination, when the last place driver is knocked out every few seconds, and its opposite, Pole Position, awarding points for staying in the lead; and Total Racing mode, where points are awarded for meeting certain criteria. Sector Snatch reflects the use of checktimes mid-lap in the real sport by having players win sections of a circuit. Add in mirrored tracks and assorted tweaks and customisations, and there’s plenty to keep casual and hardcore players interested. Race Stars also places a huge emphasis on multiplayer, with four-player local split screen and up to 12 players online, all running at a full 60 fps.

Race Stars may still seem an odd proposition but it works, proving an access point to the greater sport and being tremendous fun to boot – and potentially the first real threat to Mario Kart’s dominance.

Matt Kamen is a freelance games journalist. When the revolution comes, he's putting anyone who didn't buy a Dreamcast up against the wall first. You can follow him on IGNand Twitter.

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F1 2012: A Real Winning Formula

When Codemasters picked up the Formula One license, it marked a return to prominence for the legendary racing franchise. Having been exclusive to Sony’s consoles for a time, its re-emergence as a multi-format title with F1 2010 proved a huge success, shifting an astounding 2.3 million units worldwide.

However, last year’s follow-up, despite having numerous improvements on its forebear, sold slightly less and was generally considered to be a much tougher game. “I think the problem that we had in the past was that we didn’t call things out,” said Steve Hood, Creative Director on F1 at Codemasters’ Birmingham Studio. “It’s really galling for developers when there’s that blood, sweat and tears, we’ve put all that work into this title, there’s all those new features from 2010... But we didn’t always call stuff out, so if there was a new feature in there, players didn’t always find it. This year it’s a very simple thing that we never got around to doing; little tags that just saying ‘new feature in here!’ It just makes the player a little more inquisitive about ‘what is this new thing? Oh, Champion Mode? I think I’ll try that out.’”

The mode in question reflects the staggering line up of talent competing in the sport this year. Each of the six current superstars has specific events calling you to beat them. The first is Kimi Raikonnen, starting a half dozen positions ahead of you but on worn tires. To advance, you have to chase him down in your freshly kitted vehicle and complete the circuit ahead of him. Beat him and it’s Lewis Hamilton’s turn, taking him on in a wet weather race – and as much of a cliché as it is for the British racer to be caught in the rain, it makes for superbly thrilling race material.

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Yes, we’re working on the physics engine [but] we want the players to experience the beauty of Formula 1, which differentiates it from other racing series.

Another new addition is the Season Challenge, targeted at players who don’t necessarily have the time to commit to a lengthy F1 gaming session. Breaking a drivers’ career down to ten races, it brings all the essential F1 elements together in bite size chunks. Conversely, the full career mode will take you from the Young Drivers Test out in Abu Dhabi, serving as a brief tutorial, through to joining one of the premier sponsor teams and becoming the best driver in the world. In the course of the lengthy mode, you’ll do a fair bit of globetrotting. Tracks include old favourites such as Silverstone, and new locations – notably, the upcoming Austin, Texas ‘Circuit of the Americas’, due for completion later this year.

The weather system is one of the areas that’s had significant improvement this year. Deemed revolutionary in 2010, it’s operating at a whole new level now. “We spent a lot of time working out on the console what we could do with the weather systems,” Hood says. “We’ve made these storm-fronts which can sweep across the track, and that’s awesome.” The dynamic weather patterns can produce localised effects on different parts of tracks, depending on your location. A longer race might see rain sweep over half of it, demanding a change in your tire strategy or when to make pit stops – not to mention the nightmarish effort of steering a precision vehicle while blinded by back-splatter from the car ahead.

Criticism over 2011’s perceived difficulty should be lessened this year by a streamlined control system. “Making the cars easier to drive on the pad was number one priority for us,” Hood explains. “Yes, we build it and developed on the steering because it gives you a clear focus on what’s going on. Yes, we’re working on the physics engine [but] we want the players to experience the beauty of Formula 1, which differentiates it from other racing series. You can only get to that point if you can stay on the track and drive consistently.”

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F1 2012 should come across as a more complete experience, and we’re trying to call out the things that it has got above and beyond from 2011.

As well as being more responsive when playing on a pad, quick access commands on the d-pad allow you to select changes to your tire or engine rollout, applied at the next pit stop, or the type of fuel being used. At a lower level, these are nice bonuses but the more you improve, the more you’ll want to explore their impacts on your race. All these small changes can greatly affect the outcome of any race, and along with the likes of KERS and DRS – recent technologies added to the FIA’s rule set since 2009 and 2011, respectively – combine to make F1 2012 ever closer to fully replicating the motorsport.

“F1 2012 should come across as a more complete experience, and we’re trying to call out the things that it has got above and beyond from 2011,” says Hood. “It’s obvious to players what they’re spending their money on this year.”

Retaining the authenticity devoted fans crave while being just a touch more accessible for newcomers has seemingly paid off. The new tracks look to be a joy, and the precision given to the player – especially on a pad – is much improved. All told, F1 2012 is shaping up to be the finest virtual outing the sport has seen yet. A real winning formula.

Matt Kamen is a freelance games journalist. When the revolution comes, he's putting anyone who didn't buy a Dreamcast up against the wall first. You can follow him on IGN and Twitter.

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