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Formula 1 97

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This article is about the video game. For the Formula One season it is based on, see 1997 Formula One season.
Formula 1 97
Formula 1 97
Cover art
Developer(s)Bizarre Creations
Publisher(s)Psygnosis
Platform(s)PlayStation, Windows
ReleasePlayStation:
North America September 30, 1997
Japan January 15, 1998
PAL September 26, 1997
Windows (PC):
PAL 1998
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single Player

Formula 1 97 (known as Formula 1 Championship Edition in the United States) is the second game in the Formula One game series. This game was more of an evolution of the original Formula One than a brand new game. However, it had several new features, including a cockpit camera view (complete with dirt and flies hitting the visor, with the player having to remove the driver's tear-off strips), if playing on the PlayStation, the use of the joystick and the introduction of a co-commentator (in both the U.K. and U.S. versions, this was Martin Brundle). Setting up the car became more intricate. Formula One 97 was developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Psygnosis.

The game was the first in the series to have a specific driver on the front cover, Michael Schumacher appearing on the front of the '97 cover, however the Prost car of Olivier Panis appeared instead on the cover of the French version, with Jean Alesi's Benetton appearing on the Japanese cover.

Gameplay

Formula 1 97 contained an "arcade" mode which felt like a completely separate game. Handling was totally different, with the emphasis placed on powersliding. In the simulation mode (or "Grand Prix" mode as shown on the menu), it also saw the introduction of more realistic elements such as flags and car failures.

Teams and drivers

  • It is also worth noting that Lola is included in the game's manual; on the back cover with the team logos and also in the drivers and teams lineup, but they are not actually included in the game. Furthermore, the Minardi and Stewart team are pictured with the wrong car in the manual (The Minardi M197 being replaced by the Williams FW19, and the Stewart SF01 being replaced by the Ferrari F310).
  • In the real 1997 Formula One season, car number 20 should be Ukyo Katayama and number 21 should be Jarno Trulli. However, it was made the other way around in the game.

Circuits

The game features 17 official Formula One circuits based on the 1997 Formula One season are:

No. Country Circuit Length (m) Turns
1  Australia Melbourne 5303 16
2  Brazil Interlagos 4309 15
3  Argentina Buenos Aires 4259 15
4  San Marino Imola 4959 17
5  Monaco Monte Carlo 3370 25
6  Spain Catalunya 4727 13
7  Canada Montreal 4361 13
8  France Magny-Cours 4250 19
9  Great Britain Silverstone 5141 17
10  Germany Hockenheim 6825 16
11  Hungary Hungaroring 3975 13
12  Belgium Spa-Francorchamps 6963 24
13  Italy Monza 5770 14
14  Austria A1-Ring 4326 10
15  Luxembourg Nürburgring 4556 13
16  Japan Suzuka 5821 20
17  Portugal Estoril* 4182 13
18  Europe Jerez 4428 15
  • Although the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril is on the game, it wasn't used in the 1997 season.

There are also four bonus circuits the player can unlock: mirrored versions of Aida and Adelaide (titled Adia and Edialeda respectively), a fantasy track called Speedy (titled Sunob) and a 1960s version of Silverstone (track is the same but in black and white with 1960s style cars).

Reception

The game was a bestseller in the UK.[2] IGN gave a rating of 9.0 out of 10 stating the game is a "significant jump" from Formula 1.[1]

It is seen as having achieved the best possible balance between realism and fun. Some[who?] still say that it is the best Formula One game to date. However, this was the last Formula One game to be made by the Bizarre Creations team, who moved on to create the highly successful Metropolis Street Racer and Project Gotham Racing.

The game was hit by legal wranglings with the FIA (Formula One's governing body) objecting to the use of the FIA logo on the game's packaging. The game was withdrawn from the shops six weeks after its release. It was re-released without the offending logo, but the FIA were still unhappy. However, the FIA lost the court case, and the game continued to be sold without the logo.[3] Another problem faced was the use of the name and image of then Williams F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve, after he had copyrighted both. Murray Walker calls him "Williams Numberone", however on the game menu, they list him as Driverone Williams. The game a silhouetted the driver's image (this problem however was easily sidestepped by the addition of a driver name edit function, this idea proved popular and re-appeared in Formula 1 98, but unfortunately was not used for any of the following games). The driver name edit function is also used to enter cheats, such as unlocking 4 extra tracks (60's Silverstone, back-to-front versions of Adelaide and the TI Circuit at Aida and a made-up track called Sunob (bonus spelt backwards). Other cheats are raining frogs and the cars having the ability to hover.

All alcohol and tobacco sponsors are censored.

References

  1. ^ a b "Formula 1: Championship Edition - PlayStation Review at IGN". IGN. Retrieved October 2, 1997. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ Gallup UK Playstation sales chart, January 1998, published in Official UK PlayStation Magazine issue 26
  3. ^ F1 Racing magazine, December 1997 issue, page 20, British edition as imported to America
Preceded by UK number-one PlayStation game
January 1998 		Succeeded by
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