Slipping up inside Berger.
By Ely
Buying this was quite a momentous occasion in my gaming life - it was the last time I ever got a game on Floppy Disk. Silly me nearly bought the CD-ROM version by mistake though, lucky that the Shop Attendant made sure I was buying what I wanted. Having just parted with 1600 big ones for a DAN PC, the last thing I could afford at the time was a 200quid CD-ROM Drive to play a game!
I already knew all about this game, I already owned it for my Atari ST. But my memories of playing it are purely based on the PC version, funny how certain games work better on certain platforms. It can't have been for the control method, going back to using a keyboard was like playing games on my Dragon (Somehow though this game was perfect on the Keyboard). I even used to use a Manual Gearbox on it, wouldn't ever dream of going that route these days.
During scutineering this car was found to have a concealed
fuel tank and following the subsequent court case the team
were banned for two races. In FIFA GP2006 you actually
get to play the judge in court, to a soundtrack provided by
American nu-metalers Outreach. Terrific.
Like all F1 games, there was a host of stuff you never touched, Quick race would do me: adjust the wings to seriously low down force and select the Imola circuit (pre-Senna's death and the nannying changes made to it). Default setting had you starting 6th on the grid, but that was no fun, much better to start 24th and last (12 teams in them days). With reckless abandon you could get up to 6th after the first long straight and would soon be vying for the lead up the Hill. But what made Grand Prix special was the damage model. You see all that boy-racer malarkey catches up with you at some point – a crazy dive up the inside to pass Gerhard Berger for 3rd often meant you mashing your front wing. And not only did the graphics show you with a bent car but it meant your car was affected by it.
So the situation is this:
Championship lead but very close and set to go all the way to the wire – I need 3rd or 4th to keep it going into the next round. Prost and Senna are gone up front and I’m 3rd with Berger and Jean Alesi hard on my tail. There are 5 laps to go and the car is crippled after that stupid move, which means I’m struggling to stay on the circuit.
Proper racing.
What occurred in these last 5 laps is burned into my memory like it was yesterday. For 4 of the laps I held them both up by making my car appear as wide as possible. I wasn't fast enough on the straights to stop them getting alongside me, but hey my car was already damaged so I took no prisoners getting into the apex of each corner first. Finally Berger made a move stick up on the high part of the track, damn! So, 1 Lap to go and Alesi was all over me, having seen old Gerhard get through he must've fancied his changes. It wasn't to be though and somehow I jinxed over the line 4 th. It had been an extraordinary battle and I was overjoyed. This game gave me that fantastic moment and no matter how much better the latest iterations of it have been this is the one I LOVE.
May 2005
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