F1 2009 – hands-on

As has become the way with Nintendo’s little white box, when you think of racing games on the Wii, you think Mario Kart, MySims Racing or ExciteTruck. Or, any other bobble-headed, cutesy racer. The one thing you don’t think is motorsport simulation – Need for Speed: Undercover is about as close as you can get and the less we say about that, the better.

So, it came as quite a pleasant surprise (not without a degree of trepidation) when we heard that the first official Formula One game from Codemasters would be on the Wii. Now, for you PS3 and 360 owners – fear not. These versions are still being worked on but have quite a lot of work still to be done under the hood. We’ll see the fruits of their labour later on in the year, for release in 2010. F1 2009, then, serves two purposes; first – to give the baying Formula One fans something to satisfy their thirst for the pinnacle of motor racing as soon as possible. Secondly, to prove that red shells and banana skins aren’t a prerequisite of a Wii racing game and that it can do ‘serious’.

You don’t need us to tell you that Formula One is big news again. Even before the introduction of the latest car designs, racing rules and new teams, Bernie Ecclestone’s four-wheeled extravaganza has drawn in 5 million more viewers than two years ago. Codemasters couldn’t have picked a better time to own the gaming rights.

While understandably boasting excellent simulation credentials (such as a damage and weather system, a full range of driver assists, pit stops and multiple control systems that can take advantage of the up-until-now sort of pointless Logitech wheel), F1 2009 is aiming to also remain thoroughly accessible to all gamers.

Ideally, Codemasters want to cater to what they’re calling ‘Father and Son’ gaming. Thanks to adjustable driver assistances and skill balancing, in theory two players with different levels of capability should still be able to take advantage of the two-player split-screen mode and blast round the Monaco circuit or the night-based Singapore track on an even footing. It should hopefully be enough to keep Little Billy happy until bed time, when Pops can then get stuck into a full, three season career mode that uses all 19 tracks and features the officially licensed cars and drivers.

Of course, the full race weekend experience could be as comprehensive as the Wii can handle (which, from what we have seen so far, it is), but that would mean nothing if the actual driving itself was the speed of crawling across a carpet of sandpaper. We can quite confidently tell you that this isn’t the case at all. Even though the game isn’t due for release until late this year, our races around Monaco and Singapore showed no juddering or slowdown (even when 20 cars piled into the first corner) and a framerate locked at an impressive speed. And, while it isn’t going to knock Gran Turismo 5 or Forza 2 off their simulation pedestals the racing is certainly a challenge for even veteran driving fans when all the assists are turned off.

F1 junkies may be disappointed that the 360 and PS3 versions are still a way off, but F1 2009 is still a worthy fix, proving there is more to the Wii than pretend exercising and minigame collections.

May 6, 2009

CATEGORIES
Latest in Racing
Mario racing on a desert track during the Switch 2 reveal trailer.
Porting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the Nintendo Switch was "kind of an afterthought," and now it's so popular that getting fans to switch could be a challenge
Wreckfest 2
Devs behind beloved destruction-focused racing game Wreckfest launch the sequel in early access with a trailer full of physics glitches and fatal error messages
A decorated purple car speeding head-on down a road in Toyko Xtreme Racer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a novel throwback to classic PS2 racing games like Midnight Club, and I can't get enough of it
Rivals Hover League appearing in the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2025
The spirit of Burnout heads to the future as Rivals Hover League brings destruction derby to the skies
Japanese Drift Master appearing in FGS Live From GDC
After a years-long way, this Initial D-inspired open-world racing game is now just around the corner
Bionic Bay appearing at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2025
Check out Bionic Bay's frantic physics fueled racing in this new Future Games Show trailer
Latest in Features
Naoe kills a target with a black and white filter over the camera highlighting the red of blood spray in Assassin's Creed Shadows, with an On The Radar orange frame
Assassin's Creed Shadows "has a little bit of Tarantino flavor", but its real secret ingredient is intrigue: "It's almost like you're watching an episode of Shogun"
Helldivers 2 Borderline Justice Warbond helldiver using hoverpack to shoot down with hunting rifle
Talking points from the Game Developers Conference 2025 and how they could impact the future of gaming
Flexispot E7 Plus with plant, monitor, soundbar, and controller on top next to white wall lighting.
Gaming desks vs regular desks: which surface should you buy?
Google Pixel 9a smartphones on a beige background
One Google Pixel 9a feature could make it a better gaming phone than most budget mainstream models
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Captain Planet #1
Captain Planet is back after 33 years with a "sexy" makeover and a message that's as important as ever: "Reality has gotten a lot less subtle"