is a

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 ...

video game endorsed by

Satoru Nakajima is a Japanese former racing driver. He is a five-time Japanese Top Formula champion, and was the first full-time Japanese Formula One driver. Accordingly, he is responsible for several firsts for Japanese drivers in Formula One, including bei ...

that was released in 1992 for the Mega Drive/Genesis,

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

, and Nintendo

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same te ...

. The North American and European versions of the game are known as ''Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge'' in reference to Ferrari, specifically their Formula One team.

Gameplay

Mega Drive/Genesis version

The Mega Drive version of the game includes a

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

mode, a free

practice Practice or practise may refer to: Education and learning * Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition * Phantom practice, phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing * Practice-based ...

mode, and a time attack mode. The team and player names are close to the real thing without violating

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

laws. Either one or two players can compete and the game has a

password A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...

method of saving the game. In addition to traditional tracks used in the season (although both versions of the game features teams from the season), the player can also play in bonus race tracks.

Autopolis is a international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan on the Northeast of Kumamoto. Nippon Autopolis">F1 News - Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Circuits > Nippon Autopolis/ref> Tsurumaki ordered 30 Bui ...

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and na ...

, an oval training course, and a treacherous

road course Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

originally designed by the programmers of the video game used in the Japanese version. It is one of only three Mega Drive games that supports the AX-1E analog controller. The North American version uses the former location of the

Long Beach Grand Prix The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...

, the

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regi ...

, Oyster Bay (as the name of the fictional track), and the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United St ...

as American-specific substitutes for the tracks considered "local" to Japanese audiences. However, the graphics used for the backgrounds are identical to each other in both versions of the game. Additionally, the team names were altered so that

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in reference to their logo. ...

is explicitly named such to match the title of the localized game, and the courses reflected the season instead of the season the Japanese version had.

NES and Game Boy versions

The title ''Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge'' was also ported for the

and

. It was developed by

System 3 System 3, System/3 or System III could refer to: Computing and electronics *Acorn System 3, a home computer produced by Acorn Computers from 1980 * Cromemco System Three, a home computer produced by Cromemco from 1978 *IBM System/3, a low-end busin ...

and published by Acclaim in North America and Europe. Coconuts Japan published the game in Japan under the title . The Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game is a simplified version that allows players to practice up to six laps or qualify for every Formula One race of the season using metric units (kilometres per hour instead of miles per hour). It was one of the few 8-bit Formula One video games to adequately represent the

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing circuit in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the FIA Formula One Canadian Grand Prix. It has previously hosted the FIA World Sportsc ...

as having an urban background along with several other urban race tracks represented in the

1990 Formula One season The 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1990 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contest ...

with the exception that

Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...

is presented in this version as the round in Spain, although

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...

hosted the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix. Tire wear is possible resulting in trips to the pit crew for maintenance and repairs. A

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

allows communication with the crew chief; he will advise whether repairs are necessary. The top speed of the vehicle is 335 kilometres per hour and

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

is not used in the game. Before the first qualifying session can take place, the player must insert his name and his nationality. The name can be up to 10 characters long and the country has to fit into a three-character field. Since the game doesn't verify if the three-letter code matches up to a real

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is th ...

, it doesn't matter if the player makes up a nationality for a fictional country.

References

{{Formula One games 1992 video games Acclaim Entertainment games Coconuts Japan games Formula One video games Game Boy games Nintendo Entertainment System games Satoru Nakajima video games Sega Genesis games Single-player video games System 3 (company) games Varie games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Mark Cooksey Video games set in 1990 Video games set in 1992