Xbox 360
There is nothing quite like the thrill of Formula 1. Twenty cars racing at up to 200 MPH for up to two hours a single mistake enough to have any driver out of the race. Add qualifiers, tactics of tire changes and refueling and the occasional splash of rain and you have one of the most exciting spectator sports around.
Sounds like a great basis for a racing simulation right? Well, many have tried but capturing the thrill of Formula 1 is hard. It isn't surprising really, who wants to race for over an hour only to be forced to restart because of a single small mistake? Some developers toned it down my shortening the races or by having a little give in collisions but that often left the games feeling more like go-cart simulators. So if there is a sweet spot between these two extremes it's up to Sumo Digital to find it!
F1 2009 is the official game of this year's Formula 1 season; all the teams, all the drivers and all the Grand Prix in one package. Using Codemasters' tried, tested and near enough perfected racing engine - Last seen in Dirt 2 - F1 2009 aims to provide the experience you want with options to tailor it to your own needs and skill.
Extensive challenge modes and quick race options allow for short blasts, perfect PSP commuting material. You can play a Grand Prix Weekend working through the Friday practice, Saturday qualifiers and on to the race itself on the Sunday. There is the option to play through the entire 2009 season or how about the career mode where you try to get your rookie driver to World Champion in three seasons.
All these modes are further augmented by masses of options. The length of the races can be dropped to just 10% of the real world equivalents. You can choose the team you drive for and reconfigure your car for each race. You can plan pit stop strategy and choose the weather or set it to random. The Wii version even comes with four choices of controller to use; the best tilting the wii remote on its side and pretending it was our steering wheel.
Of all the options the most important have to be the handful of racing assists which can help you through the game if you are lacking an F1 drivers license. The braking assist for example stopped me flying off the track at every corner and the anti-skid assist nicely compensates for having to use digital buttons to control your accelerator and brake in such a powerful vehicle.
I will caution you that this is a hard game. Expect to start with most of the assists on and to have to spend a lot of time getting good enough to start picking up the golds. It is a shame that there is no online multiplayer in either version although the Wii does feature split screen multiplayer and the PSP supports local wireless multiplayer races.
Perhaps Sumo Digital hasn't found that perfect sweet spot between game and simulation but this fully featured package has so many options that with a bit of time any player will be able to find it for themselves.
You can find an interview with Sumo Digital about the development of the game here!