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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