is a

racing simulation Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tir ...

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...

based on the actual race car and Ferrari event. It was developed by the

AM2 AM2 can refer to: * Socket AM2, a CPU socket for AMD desktop processors * Sega AM2, a research and development team for the video game company Sega * Arp-Madore 2, an open star cluster * a Fictional elements, isotopes and atomic particles#Fictional ...

division of Sega for the Sega Naomi Multiboard arcade system board under the direction of

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimen ...

, and was later ported to the

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...

and PlayStation 2 home video game consoles under the names ''F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa'' and respectively for both American and European releases. The only model of car featured in the game is the

Ferrari F355 The Ferrari F355 (Type F129) is a sports car manufactured by Italian car manufacturer Ferrari produced from May 1994 until 1999. The car is a heavily revised Ferrari 348 with notable exterior and performance changes. The F355 was succeeded by th ...

Challenge model. The game was considered the most accurate simulation of the F355 possible up until that time. Some versions of the arcade cabinet are noteworthy for having three

screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...

s, allowing the player to look through the side

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mat ...

s as they would in a real car. The three-screen cabinet version also features an H-shaped gear stick and three foot pedals, and presents a tough challenge to any player who decides to use them. The cabinet itself is composed of four NAOMI units: one for each of the three screens and one to sync them all. The game also allows the player to use an

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

or paddle-shift the gears. It also uses a real-time "Magic Weather" system similar to ''

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. '' Shenmue'' (1999) and ''Shenmue II'' (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for Dreamcast. '' Shenmue III,'' developed by Suzuki's company Y ...

''. The Dreamcast version has link cable play for direct competition; however, as of January 2006, the online servers for F355 Challenge are now offline, and the website has gone offline. The game features an original soundtrack featuring

Genki Hitomi (born Noriaki Hitomi, October 1, 1957 in Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its met ...

and

Minoru Niihara is a Japanese singer. He is the original and current lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Loudness. His first band was Earthshaker, in which he played bass and sang. His vocal style was influenced by blues singers, but he adapted quickly ...

that mimics the style of 1980s hard rock/ heavy metal which is integrated into a radio station format during gameplay (some music was later reused for another AM2 game, ''

''). The radio DJ and the announcer are played by Alan J (Alan John Peppler), an American DJ who works at the Japanese radio station Bay FM. Yu Suzuki is a keen Ferrari enthusiast who allegedly used data from his own Ferrari 355 at certain tracks to implement in the game during its development.

Circuits

The 1999 arcade version of the game includes six circuits: * Motegi (Oval Circuit) * Suzuka (Short Configuration) * Monza (1998 configuration) * Sugo * Suzuka (Full Configuration) *

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

In addition, the home console versions of the game include five extra unlockable circuits: *

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

* Nürburgring *

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to: * Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California * Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London * Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California * Laguna Seca, Texas, United States * Rancho ...

* Sepang * Fiorano (real life track used by Ferrari to test their cars) All these circuits can be unlocked by either finishing in certain positions in a certain race or championship, driving over a certain cumulative distance in the game, or by entering a password in a revealable password entry screen. These tracks were also included in the ''F355 Challenge 2: International Course Edition'' arcade machine, released in 2001.

Development

The game was announced at E3 2000.

Reception

''Passione Rossa'' received "generally favorable reviews", while ''Ferrari F355 Challenge'' received "average" reviews, according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. John Gaudiosi of '' NextGen'' said that the former "offers plenty of eye candy and deep gameplay for dedicated, hardcore Ferrari aficionados." In Japan, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' gave it a score of 29 out of 40 for the same console version, and 27 out of 40 for the latter one. Also in Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed the arcade version in their January 1, 2000 issue as the seventh most-successful dedicated arcade game of the past year. The same arcade version won the award for Coin-op of the Year at the ''

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

'' Awards 2000, while ''Passione Rossa'' was a runner-up for ''

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 ...

''s annual "Best Driving Game" award, which went to ''

Test Drive Le Mans ''Le Mans 24 Hours'' is a video game released for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows (in two versions of the latter, one developed by Eutechnyx, like with the PlayStation versio ...

''. It was also a finalist for the "Racing Game of the Year" award at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences'

4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards The ''4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards'' is the 4th edition of the Interactive Achievement Awards, an annual awards event that honors the best games in the video game industry. The awards are arranged by the Academy of Interactive Arts & S ...

, which went to '' SSX''.

Notes

References

External links

Official websites

Official Sega F355 Challenge Website

Official Ferrari Challenge Website

General resources

F355 Challenge Vehicle Specifications, Profile, and Pictures
* * {{Ferrari 1999 video games Arcade video games Dreamcast games Ferrari video games Head-to-head arcade video games PlayStation 2 games Racing video games Racing simulators Sega-AM2 games Sega arcade games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in California Video games set in Georgia (U.S. state) Video games set in Germany Video games set in Italy Video games set in Japan Video games set in Malaysia Video games designed by Yu Suzuki