''F1 Race Stars'' is a video game developed by Codemasters, released in November 2012. It is a

kart racing game A kart racing game, also known as cart racing game or go-kart racing game, is a subgenre of racing video games. Kart racing games have simplified driving mechanics while including unusual racetrack designs, obstacles, and vehicular combat. Though ...

loosely based on the

2012 Formula One season The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internatio ...

, with circuits redesigned to feature loops, jumps and short-cuts. It is a spin-off from the traditional ''Formula One'' video games, and is the first kart-racing game developed by Codemasters. The player is able to choose cartoonish versions of

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing drivers, such as

Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...

, Lewis Hamilton,

Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...

, Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber, Michael Schumacher,

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...

, and Pedro de la Rosa. Codemasters have described the game as being designed to emphasise entertainment rather than simulation. A Wii U port under the title ''F1 Race Stars: Powered Up Edition'' was released on 16 January 2014.

Gameplay

All 12 teams and 24 drivers that started the

appear as playable characters, along with two additional fictional teams – one, TecNova-Star, with two female drivers, Ruby Power and Jessica Chekker and another, Satsu-Aceler, with male driver Josh Merit and female driver Kira Hoshihara. The Xbox 360 version allows the option to swap the driver's head to the Avatar's head. There are 11 circuits to choose from by default (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Abu Dhabi, Monaco, Singapore, Australia, United States, Great Britain and Japan), each based on one of the 20 rounds of the season, but with modifications to suit the gameplay (some parts of the Abu Dhabi GP, for example, are based on the adjacent rollercoaster Formula Rossa in

Ferrari World Ferrari World Abu Dhabi ( ar, عالم فيراري أبوظبي) is a mostly indoors theme park located on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is the world’s first Ferrari-themed park and features Formula Rossa, the world's fast ...

). Additional courses and other content are available as fee-based downloads. Each track contains a KERS system around corners and Item Boxes where players can pick up weapons. Getting hit by weapons damages the player's car, which leads to the driver needing to make a pit stop to maintain top speed.

Downloadable content

Four additional tracks,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

have been released.

Reception

''F1 Race Stars'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

'' praised the game's "lavishly produced" tracks, calling the title "enjoyable and solidly made", but criticized the lack of content. ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' wrote that the game was full of visual charm but expressed grievances with the bland power-ups, unfair design, and lack of tracks. '' GameRevolution'' wrote that the game failed to be innovative in any notable way but found the presentation charming and the gameplay modes amusing. '' Push Square'' noted that the title had a complete disregard for skill, citing the luck-based gameplay as a hindrance that canceled out everything else the game did right. '' Nintendo Life'' expressed disappointment with the lack of an online mode and polish in basic areas, stating that the experience was one in which enjoyment outweighed frustration. ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' praised the multiplayer and weapons while taking issue with unmemorable track design, aggressive AI, and uncomfortable use of

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

. '' GamesRadar+'' wrote more positively about the game, giving it four stars out of five, finding the track design, handling, and lack of shallow gameplay despite the family-friendly aesthetics to be a positive, while criticizing the weapons.

References

External links