The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I really didn't think F355 would be up to much after learning that there would only be 1 in game view, 1 car and incredibly difficult handling - I was quite pleased to have been proved wrong! After some extensive play testing, I am now able to write my review on the 3rd best racing game on the Dreamcast. Metropolis Street Racer and Le Mans 24 being the top 2 (I cannot really decide which order – it’s a matter of personal preference), but Ferrari F355 Challenge ‘Passione Rossa’ is a very impressive racing simulation. However, when Daytona USA Online arrives, I think Yu Suzuki’s game will be removed from the podium. Here goes!
Firstly, only get the game if you are willing to learn how to play it – if you are patient and willing to accept that this will take time to get to grips with then get it, if you aren’t then don’t worry – maybe rallying games are more your sort of thing (V-Rally 2 and Sega Rally 2 are the best rally games on Dreamcast). Now, you may or may not be aware that Sega released the game over here only a couple of months after putting the single player arcade machine in arcades nationwide, but to be honest there were hardly any of them, so you’d have been lucky to have played the arcade version. F355 excels as a single player simulator, but the 2player option is essential in today’s racing games, so it’s good that F355 has this as well.
I’m not going to rave about F355 for the whole opinion, because it isn’t perfect, nor is it anywhere near perfection. Sure, it has its good points, but there are a lot of issues that should be changed if and when the sequel arrives! But let’s start with the basic information! When you put the disc in, you know that it will be something special – that famous prancing horse as the badge, you know that Ferrari must have liked this game, as they don’t let many publishers/developers attain licenses to use the Ferrari name or cars. Start your Dreamcast up, select the frequency (i.e. 50hz/60hz) and watch the stunning starting intro. You’ll see a Ferrari 355 pull away from a posh Ferrari resort (Maranello most probably), trees, a ‘ristorante’ and all sorts all graphically replicated scenery in superb detail – the 355 gets the camera’s full attention – focusing onto the badge alone, and then cutting to an actual race – it all looks so realistic! Then press start of course, listen to the incredible engine sound and find a rather impressive menu screen! Here’s what you can do:
Arcade mode: choose the track you want (1 of 6 to start with, more will be available when you unlock them) select this one to train, drive or race after you select your skill level. In training mode you’ll be treated to the luxury of an on track line – the line where you should really be driving at, as well as an instructor tutoring you ‘step on brakes’ and ‘great timing’ among other things. This is a great place to get to know the tracks inside out – and when you’ve finished you can then drive, race or save your driving data to view it at any point in time whilst playing the game. Firstly, you’ll notice that you cannot change the view – you’re stuck with the ‘cockpit’ view, which isn’t very realistic to be honest. You cannot see anything other than the steering wheel top (which does move though), the driver’s hands occasionally, part of the dashboard and a dash of the car bonnet. However, you’ll forgive them for this – as the cloud effects will truly blow you away! They really do look real, very, very good texturing and visuals I must say. You must try the race though to get a proper sense of speed – the single car experience doesn’t really seem all that fast. Nonetheless, a great mode to get you started.
Next down is the Championship mode: compete for the highest points in 6 races! You can have a test run before each race so that you can select the car settings should you require to. You have to race against 8 AI cars – all of which are of a very high skill level, but you have to start from the back row! It’s possible to win a race, but I (having just played the first race as I type), managed 3rd – not bad! You get 15 points for a win, 12 for second, 10 for 3rd, 4th gets 8, 5th just 6, 6th 4points, 7th 1 and even 8th place gets a point! Out of sympathy probably! You can watch a digest replay – the only time in the game where you’ll be able to see the outside of you car, or continue to the next race. Here’s the order:
Motegi – aim for a 40second lap or under! This is the easiest track of all.
Suzuka Short – very short, very windy, not too difficult and easy to overtake the others, but also very easy to spin off, as I have just found (finishing in a rather splendid 8th place!)
Monza – the Italian track where Ferrari are most welcome – superb track, very good to race 2player in, but you have to brake at the chicanes – this is one point that you should take very carefully – braking is the most essential part of F355! If you mess up a lap, then you’re race is over, try to out-brake the AI cars, but don’t brake too late.
Sugo – the fourth track to be raced on, it’s very hard, but the computer-controlled opponents like to make mistakes. Be careful on the first right hand curve – slow!!
Suzuka – the main Japanese track in all it’s glory – not as difficult as you might think, but you will have to practise first!
Long Beach – the USA track that’s given different lighting effects – hooray! Very good track layout mixing 10 with 200mph.
If you don’t want the hassle of a championship the go for the single play – it’s like a time attack really. A great place to tune your car up!
The ‘versus mode’ is very good though, and irrespective of your skill level – every race is exciting, well most are! You can have a time lag race (after the leading driver passes a checkpoint, the race will only continue until there is a difference that exceeds the set time lag tm – i.e. 9 seconds), but it’s easier to play the standard race.
Ok, so it’s a fairly good offline game – some superb races are there to be had, you could even set up a tournament with some friends if there are more than two of you (or you could get Le Mans 24), but F355 is quite ‘odd’ online. You CAN race online, but it’s not quite right. Basically, Sega didn’t want you to race with a time lag due to the 33.6k Dreamcast modem, so you have to firstly log on, and then choose which track you want to race, you may not necessarily race on the track that you want – it depends on how many players select the same track as you! Either way, get ready to qualify – only the top 8 of 16 qualify for the actual race so be on the edge of your seat and very prepared! If you do qualify you’ll be able to race against 7 of the world’s many F355 players. You won’t actually see them online, but when the race is complete you’ll have to watch the replay – a very impressive replay, with cars going through each other, but it will take a while – the uploading times are very long, so it will take around 10 minutes to complete a race. That’s only 10p, but you will become addicted for a couple of hours online! It’s good, but Daytona USA online will be so much better I am sure…
There aren’t many games that have good in-game music, and unfortunately F355 has awful music! It’s not at all right, very odd rock sounding, but never mind!
Had F355 offered more views, more tracks (there are a few more to be unlocked), and a better choice of music, then it would have probably received the full 5 stars – it doesn’t matter that there is only 1 car available – it just makes it easy to choose from! You can change the car number, colour and settings – so don’t think you have only to be the Ferrari red or yellow. The graphics are very sharp and crisp, the car bounces around very realistically, and the game physics are superb. The online play would have been better with a 56k or broadband modem, but it’s still a bonus mode to play in.
Excellent lightning and reflection effects, a brilliant game cover and helpful manual, and a very reasonable price of just £19.99 (look around for the best deals) make F355 a very worthy purchase, further cementing Dreamcast as the console to own for top quality racing games. I look forward to F355 2.
4stars, but it was close!
Firstly, only get the game if you are willing to learn how to play it – if you are patient and willing to accept that this will take time to get to grips with then get it, if you aren’t then don’t worry – maybe rallying games are more your sort of thing (V-Rally 2 and Sega Rally 2 are the best rally games on Dreamcast). Now, you may or may not be aware that Sega released the game over here only a couple of months after putting the single player arcade machine in arcades nationwide, but to be honest there were hardly any of them, so you’d have been lucky to have played the arcade version. F355 excels as a single player simulator, but the 2player option is essential in today’s racing games, so it’s good that F355 has this as well.
I’m not going to rave about F355 for the whole opinion, because it isn’t perfect, nor is it anywhere near perfection. Sure, it has its good points, but there are a lot of issues that should be changed if and when the sequel arrives! But let’s start with the basic information! When you put the disc in, you know that it will be something special – that famous prancing horse as the badge, you know that Ferrari must have liked this game, as they don’t let many publishers/developers attain licenses to use the Ferrari name or cars. Start your Dreamcast up, select the frequency (i.e. 50hz/60hz) and watch the stunning starting intro. You’ll see a Ferrari 355 pull away from a posh Ferrari resort (Maranello most probably), trees, a ‘ristorante’ and all sorts all graphically replicated scenery in superb detail – the 355 gets the camera’s full attention – focusing onto the badge alone, and then cutting to an actual race – it all looks so realistic! Then press start of course, listen to the incredible engine sound and find a rather impressive menu screen! Here’s what you can do:
Arcade mode: choose the track you want (1 of 6 to start with, more will be available when you unlock them) select this one to train, drive or race after you select your skill level. In training mode you’ll be treated to the luxury of an on track line – the line where you should really be driving at, as well as an instructor tutoring you ‘step on brakes’ and ‘great timing’ among other things. This is a great place to get to know the tracks inside out – and when you’ve finished you can then drive, race or save your driving data to view it at any point in time whilst playing the game. Firstly, you’ll notice that you cannot change the view – you’re stuck with the ‘cockpit’ view, which isn’t very realistic to be honest. You cannot see anything other than the steering wheel top (which does move though), the driver’s hands occasionally, part of the dashboard and a dash of the car bonnet. However, you’ll forgive them for this – as the cloud effects will truly blow you away! They really do look real, very, very good texturing and visuals I must say. You must try the race though to get a proper sense of speed – the single car experience doesn’t really seem all that fast. Nonetheless, a great mode to get you started.
Next down is the Championship mode: compete for the highest points in 6 races! You can have a test run before each race so that you can select the car settings should you require to. You have to race against 8 AI cars – all of which are of a very high skill level, but you have to start from the back row! It’s possible to win a race, but I (having just played the first race as I type), managed 3rd – not bad! You get 15 points for a win, 12 for second, 10 for 3rd, 4th gets 8, 5th just 6, 6th 4points, 7th 1 and even 8th place gets a point! Out of sympathy probably! You can watch a digest replay – the only time in the game where you’ll be able to see the outside of you car, or continue to the next race. Here’s the order:
Motegi – aim for a 40second lap or under! This is the easiest track of all.
Suzuka Short – very short, very windy, not too difficult and easy to overtake the others, but also very easy to spin off, as I have just found (finishing in a rather splendid 8th place!)
Monza – the Italian track where Ferrari are most welcome – superb track, very good to race 2player in, but you have to brake at the chicanes – this is one point that you should take very carefully – braking is the most essential part of F355! If you mess up a lap, then you’re race is over, try to out-brake the AI cars, but don’t brake too late.
Sugo – the fourth track to be raced on, it’s very hard, but the computer-controlled opponents like to make mistakes. Be careful on the first right hand curve – slow!!
Suzuka – the main Japanese track in all it’s glory – not as difficult as you might think, but you will have to practise first!
Long Beach – the USA track that’s given different lighting effects – hooray! Very good track layout mixing 10 with 200mph.
If you don’t want the hassle of a championship the go for the single play – it’s like a time attack really. A great place to tune your car up!
The ‘versus mode’ is very good though, and irrespective of your skill level – every race is exciting, well most are! You can have a time lag race (after the leading driver passes a checkpoint, the race will only continue until there is a difference that exceeds the set time lag tm – i.e. 9 seconds), but it’s easier to play the standard race.
Ok, so it’s a fairly good offline game – some superb races are there to be had, you could even set up a tournament with some friends if there are more than two of you (or you could get Le Mans 24), but F355 is quite ‘odd’ online. You CAN race online, but it’s not quite right. Basically, Sega didn’t want you to race with a time lag due to the 33.6k Dreamcast modem, so you have to firstly log on, and then choose which track you want to race, you may not necessarily race on the track that you want – it depends on how many players select the same track as you! Either way, get ready to qualify – only the top 8 of 16 qualify for the actual race so be on the edge of your seat and very prepared! If you do qualify you’ll be able to race against 7 of the world’s many F355 players. You won’t actually see them online, but when the race is complete you’ll have to watch the replay – a very impressive replay, with cars going through each other, but it will take a while – the uploading times are very long, so it will take around 10 minutes to complete a race. That’s only 10p, but you will become addicted for a couple of hours online! It’s good, but Daytona USA online will be so much better I am sure…
There aren’t many games that have good in-game music, and unfortunately F355 has awful music! It’s not at all right, very odd rock sounding, but never mind!
Had F355 offered more views, more tracks (there are a few more to be unlocked), and a better choice of music, then it would have probably received the full 5 stars – it doesn’t matter that there is only 1 car available – it just makes it easy to choose from! You can change the car number, colour and settings – so don’t think you have only to be the Ferrari red or yellow. The graphics are very sharp and crisp, the car bounces around very realistically, and the game physics are superb. The online play would have been better with a 56k or broadband modem, but it’s still a bonus mode to play in.
Excellent lightning and reflection effects, a brilliant game cover and helpful manual, and a very reasonable price of just £19.99 (look around for the best deals) make F355 a very worthy purchase, further cementing Dreamcast as the console to own for top quality racing games. I look forward to F355 2.
4stars, but it was close!
What I'd really like to know, SR, is: Who writes the official SR reviews of games. Do you have a different writer for each format? Do they work from home and e-mail them in? If so can I have a job? You can send me the PS2 and the games, I'll send you a couple of thousand words on each one. :-).
What do you mean you want them back after?
What do you mean you want them back after?
(Another superb review Dan2K1)
Really? You think it's good?
(No that was a trap to get you back here on the forums...)
What? So you haven't read it?
(I have to go on holiday next Christmas you know)
That was uncalled for...my reviews may be long, but if people read them then they'd hopefully gain a better understanding of the game, and therefor buy it or not if they want it, therefore my reviews can actually help your sales...
(Our sales? Don't be daft, we never have a sale, we just stick a red-splat logo wherever we want! As if we really do offer a red splat saving on the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback wheel with pedals - as it is £97.99 in our catalogue!)
Exactly, that's my point - it's daft, as that isn't really a saving now is it.
(Oh shut up)
I'll shut up if you CONSIDER my reviews for the gameaday. I think they actually DO help people - that's my purpose to help share the information, and maybe I will be rewarded for it...
(That's ridiculous, I don't choose who wins, it's...err...the News Monkey...)
Who?
(.........)
Wah? Where'd he...go?
----- ---- --- -- -
(Dan2K1 - this is Webmaster, Ali tried to read your review on UEFA striker, and a fuse short circuited, he'll need a few days off work, don't worry, someone else will be selecting the gameaday winner from now on)
What? I thought he said...
....... ...... ..... .... ... .. .
connection - lost... ... ... ...
Really? You think it's good?
(No that was a trap to get you back here on the forums...)
What? So you haven't read it?
(I have to go on holiday next Christmas you know)
That was uncalled for...my reviews may be long, but if people read them then they'd hopefully gain a better understanding of the game, and therefor buy it or not if they want it, therefore my reviews can actually help your sales...
(Our sales? Don't be daft, we never have a sale, we just stick a red-splat logo wherever we want! As if we really do offer a red splat saving on the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback wheel with pedals - as it is £97.99 in our catalogue!)
Exactly, that's my point - it's daft, as that isn't really a saving now is it.
(Oh shut up)
I'll shut up if you CONSIDER my reviews for the gameaday. I think they actually DO help people - that's my purpose to help share the information, and maybe I will be rewarded for it...
(That's ridiculous, I don't choose who wins, it's...err...the News Monkey...)
Who?
(.........)
Wah? Where'd he...go?
----- ---- --- -- -
(Dan2K1 - this is Webmaster, Ali tried to read your review on UEFA striker, and a fuse short circuited, he'll need a few days off work, don't worry, someone else will be selecting the gameaday winner from now on)
What? I thought he said...
....... ...... ..... .... ... .. .
connection - lost... ... ... ...
You were expecting another little story, weren't you?
Well I'm not going to.
No.
:D
Well I'm not going to.
No.
:D
I really didn't think F355 would be up to much after learning that there would only be 1 in game view, 1 car and incredibly difficult handling - I was quite pleased to have been proved wrong! After some extensive play testing, I am now able to write my review on the 3rd best racing game on the Dreamcast. Metropolis Street Racer and Le Mans 24 being the top 2 (I cannot really decide which order – it’s a matter of personal preference), but Ferrari F355 Challenge ‘Passione Rossa’ is a very impressive racing simulation. However, when Daytona USA Online arrives, I think Yu Suzuki’s game will be removed from the podium. Here goes!
Firstly, only get the game if you are willing to learn how to play it – if you are patient and willing to accept that this will take time to get to grips with then get it, if you aren’t then don’t worry – maybe rallying games are more your sort of thing (V-Rally 2 and Sega Rally 2 are the best rally games on Dreamcast). Now, you may or may not be aware that Sega released the game over here only a couple of months after putting the single player arcade machine in arcades nationwide, but to be honest there were hardly any of them, so you’d have been lucky to have played the arcade version. F355 excels as a single player simulator, but the 2player option is essential in today’s racing games, so it’s good that F355 has this as well.
I’m not going to rave about F355 for the whole opinion, because it isn’t perfect, nor is it anywhere near perfection. Sure, it has its good points, but there are a lot of issues that should be changed if and when the sequel arrives! But let’s start with the basic information! When you put the disc in, you know that it will be something special – that famous prancing horse as the badge, you know that Ferrari must have liked this game, as they don’t let many publishers/developers attain licenses to use the Ferrari name or cars. Start your Dreamcast up, select the frequency (i.e. 50hz/60hz) and watch the stunning starting intro. You’ll see a Ferrari 355 pull away from a posh Ferrari resort (Maranello most probably), trees, a ‘ristorante’ and all sorts all graphically replicated scenery in superb detail – the 355 gets the camera’s full attention – focusing onto the badge alone, and then cutting to an actual race – it all looks so realistic! Then press start of course, listen to the incredible engine sound and find a rather impressive menu screen! Here’s what you can do:
Arcade mode: choose the track you want (1 of 6 to start with, more will be available when you unlock them) select this one to train, drive or race after you select your skill level. In training mode you’ll be treated to the luxury of an on track line – the line where you should really be driving at, as well as an instructor tutoring you ‘step on brakes’ and ‘great timing’ among other things. This is a great place to get to know the tracks inside out – and when you’ve finished you can then drive, race or save your driving data to view it at any point in time whilst playing the game. Firstly, you’ll notice that you cannot change the view – you’re stuck with the ‘cockpit’ view, which isn’t very realistic to be honest. You cannot see anything other than the steering wheel top (which does move though), the driver’s hands occasionally, part of the dashboard and a dash of the car bonnet. However, you’ll forgive them for this – as the cloud effects will truly blow you away! They really do look real, very, very good texturing and visuals I must say. You must try the race though to get a proper sense of speed – the single car experience doesn’t really seem all that fast. Nonetheless, a great mode to get you started.
Next down is the Championship mode: compete for the highest points in 6 races! You can have a test run before each race so that you can select the car settings should you require to. You have to race against 8 AI cars – all of which are of a very high skill level, but you have to start from the back row! It’s possible to win a race, but I (having just played the first race as I type), managed 3rd – not bad! You get 15 points for a win, 12 for second, 10 for 3rd, 4th gets 8, 5th just 6, 6th 4points, 7th 1 and even 8th place gets a point! Out of sympathy probably! You can watch a digest replay – the only time in the game where you’ll be able to see the outside of you car, or continue to the next race. Here’s the order:
Motegi – aim for a 40second lap or under! This is the easiest track of all.
Suzuka Short – very short, very windy, not too difficult and easy to overtake the others, but also very easy to spin off, as I have just found (finishing in a rather splendid 8th place!)
Monza – the Italian track where Ferrari are most welcome – superb track, very good to race 2player in, but you have to brake at the chicanes – this is one point that you should take very carefully – braking is the most essential part of F355! If you mess up a lap, then you’re race is over, try to out-brake the AI cars, but don’t brake too late.
Sugo – the fourth track to be raced on, it’s very hard, but the computer-controlled opponents like to make mistakes. Be careful on the first right hand curve – slow!!
Suzuka – the main Japanese track in all it’s glory – not as difficult as you might think, but you will have to practise first!
Long Beach – the USA track that’s given different lighting effects – hooray! Very good track layout mixing 10 with 200mph.
If you don’t want the hassle of a championship the go for the single play – it’s like a time attack really. A great place to tune your car up!
The ‘versus mode’ is very good though, and irrespective of your skill level – every race is exciting, well most are! You can have a time lag race (after the leading driver passes a checkpoint, the race will only continue until there is a difference that exceeds the set time lag tm – i.e. 9 seconds), but it’s easier to play the standard race.
Ok, so it’s a fairly good offline game – some superb races are there to be had, you could even set up a tournament with some friends if there are more than two of you (or you could get Le Mans 24), but F355 is quite ‘odd’ online. You CAN race online, but it’s not quite right. Basically, Sega didn’t want you to race with a time lag due to the 33.6k Dreamcast modem, so you have to firstly log on, and then choose which track you want to race, you may not necessarily race on the track that you want – it depends on how many players select the same track as you! Either way, get ready to qualify – only the top 8 of 16 qualify for the actual race so be on the edge of your seat and very prepared! If you do qualify you’ll be able to race against 7 of the world’s many F355 players. You won’t actually see them online, but when the race is complete you’ll have to watch the replay – a very impressive replay, with cars going through each other, but it will take a while – the uploading times are very long, so it will take around 10 minutes to complete a race. That’s only 10p, but you will become addicted for a couple of hours online! It’s good, but Daytona USA online will be so much better I am sure…
There aren’t many games that have good in-game music, and unfortunately F355 has awful music! It’s not at all right, very odd rock sounding, but never mind!
Had F355 offered more views, more tracks (there are a few more to be unlocked), and a better choice of music, then it would have probably received the full 5 stars – it doesn’t matter that there is only 1 car available – it just makes it easy to choose from! You can change the car number, colour and settings – so don’t think you have only to be the Ferrari red or yellow. The graphics are very sharp and crisp, the car bounces around very realistically, and the game physics are superb. The online play would have been better with a 56k or broadband modem, but it’s still a bonus mode to play in.
Excellent lightning and reflection effects, a brilliant game cover and helpful manual, and a very reasonable price of just £19.99 (look around for the best deals) make F355 a very worthy purchase, further cementing Dreamcast as the console to own for top quality racing games. I look forward to F355 2.
4stars, but it was close!
Firstly, only get the game if you are willing to learn how to play it – if you are patient and willing to accept that this will take time to get to grips with then get it, if you aren’t then don’t worry – maybe rallying games are more your sort of thing (V-Rally 2 and Sega Rally 2 are the best rally games on Dreamcast). Now, you may or may not be aware that Sega released the game over here only a couple of months after putting the single player arcade machine in arcades nationwide, but to be honest there were hardly any of them, so you’d have been lucky to have played the arcade version. F355 excels as a single player simulator, but the 2player option is essential in today’s racing games, so it’s good that F355 has this as well.
I’m not going to rave about F355 for the whole opinion, because it isn’t perfect, nor is it anywhere near perfection. Sure, it has its good points, but there are a lot of issues that should be changed if and when the sequel arrives! But let’s start with the basic information! When you put the disc in, you know that it will be something special – that famous prancing horse as the badge, you know that Ferrari must have liked this game, as they don’t let many publishers/developers attain licenses to use the Ferrari name or cars. Start your Dreamcast up, select the frequency (i.e. 50hz/60hz) and watch the stunning starting intro. You’ll see a Ferrari 355 pull away from a posh Ferrari resort (Maranello most probably), trees, a ‘ristorante’ and all sorts all graphically replicated scenery in superb detail – the 355 gets the camera’s full attention – focusing onto the badge alone, and then cutting to an actual race – it all looks so realistic! Then press start of course, listen to the incredible engine sound and find a rather impressive menu screen! Here’s what you can do:
Arcade mode: choose the track you want (1 of 6 to start with, more will be available when you unlock them) select this one to train, drive or race after you select your skill level. In training mode you’ll be treated to the luxury of an on track line – the line where you should really be driving at, as well as an instructor tutoring you ‘step on brakes’ and ‘great timing’ among other things. This is a great place to get to know the tracks inside out – and when you’ve finished you can then drive, race or save your driving data to view it at any point in time whilst playing the game. Firstly, you’ll notice that you cannot change the view – you’re stuck with the ‘cockpit’ view, which isn’t very realistic to be honest. You cannot see anything other than the steering wheel top (which does move though), the driver’s hands occasionally, part of the dashboard and a dash of the car bonnet. However, you’ll forgive them for this – as the cloud effects will truly blow you away! They really do look real, very, very good texturing and visuals I must say. You must try the race though to get a proper sense of speed – the single car experience doesn’t really seem all that fast. Nonetheless, a great mode to get you started.
Next down is the Championship mode: compete for the highest points in 6 races! You can have a test run before each race so that you can select the car settings should you require to. You have to race against 8 AI cars – all of which are of a very high skill level, but you have to start from the back row! It’s possible to win a race, but I (having just played the first race as I type), managed 3rd – not bad! You get 15 points for a win, 12 for second, 10 for 3rd, 4th gets 8, 5th just 6, 6th 4points, 7th 1 and even 8th place gets a point! Out of sympathy probably! You can watch a digest replay – the only time in the game where you’ll be able to see the outside of you car, or continue to the next race. Here’s the order:
Motegi – aim for a 40second lap or under! This is the easiest track of all.
Suzuka Short – very short, very windy, not too difficult and easy to overtake the others, but also very easy to spin off, as I have just found (finishing in a rather splendid 8th place!)
Monza – the Italian track where Ferrari are most welcome – superb track, very good to race 2player in, but you have to brake at the chicanes – this is one point that you should take very carefully – braking is the most essential part of F355! If you mess up a lap, then you’re race is over, try to out-brake the AI cars, but don’t brake too late.
Sugo – the fourth track to be raced on, it’s very hard, but the computer-controlled opponents like to make mistakes. Be careful on the first right hand curve – slow!!
Suzuka – the main Japanese track in all it’s glory – not as difficult as you might think, but you will have to practise first!
Long Beach – the USA track that’s given different lighting effects – hooray! Very good track layout mixing 10 with 200mph.
If you don’t want the hassle of a championship the go for the single play – it’s like a time attack really. A great place to tune your car up!
The ‘versus mode’ is very good though, and irrespective of your skill level – every race is exciting, well most are! You can have a time lag race (after the leading driver passes a checkpoint, the race will only continue until there is a difference that exceeds the set time lag tm – i.e. 9 seconds), but it’s easier to play the standard race.
Ok, so it’s a fairly good offline game – some superb races are there to be had, you could even set up a tournament with some friends if there are more than two of you (or you could get Le Mans 24), but F355 is quite ‘odd’ online. You CAN race online, but it’s not quite right. Basically, Sega didn’t want you to race with a time lag due to the 33.6k Dreamcast modem, so you have to firstly log on, and then choose which track you want to race, you may not necessarily race on the track that you want – it depends on how many players select the same track as you! Either way, get ready to qualify – only the top 8 of 16 qualify for the actual race so be on the edge of your seat and very prepared! If you do qualify you’ll be able to race against 7 of the world’s many F355 players. You won’t actually see them online, but when the race is complete you’ll have to watch the replay – a very impressive replay, with cars going through each other, but it will take a while – the uploading times are very long, so it will take around 10 minutes to complete a race. That’s only 10p, but you will become addicted for a couple of hours online! It’s good, but Daytona USA online will be so much better I am sure…
There aren’t many games that have good in-game music, and unfortunately F355 has awful music! It’s not at all right, very odd rock sounding, but never mind!
Had F355 offered more views, more tracks (there are a few more to be unlocked), and a better choice of music, then it would have probably received the full 5 stars – it doesn’t matter that there is only 1 car available – it just makes it easy to choose from! You can change the car number, colour and settings – so don’t think you have only to be the Ferrari red or yellow. The graphics are very sharp and crisp, the car bounces around very realistically, and the game physics are superb. The online play would have been better with a 56k or broadband modem, but it’s still a bonus mode to play in.
Excellent lightning and reflection effects, a brilliant game cover and helpful manual, and a very reasonable price of just £19.99 (look around for the best deals) make F355 a very worthy purchase, further cementing Dreamcast as the console to own for top quality racing games. I look forward to F355 2.
4stars, but it was close!