F1 Challenge '99 - '02

Other products by EA

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008LUMT
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 23, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,370 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not much new here..., July 6, 2003

By	Markus Egger "www.MarkusEgger.com/blog" (Spring, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a bit disappointed with this game. Very little has changed since F1 2002. In fact, one still is only racing up to the 2002 season. Of course, one of the big changes is that one now has 4 years of racing one can pick from. However, this does NOT mean that there is a true career mode. One simply has more cars available.

Overall, this is more of an upgrade than a really new game. If you already have F1 2002 and are not an F1 enthusiast, you may not want to buy this game.

There are improvements however. Vehicle physics seem to be better and the overall driving experience is better. The graphics pretty much look the same, although things seem to be a bit smoother. Weather effects seem to be improved.

Beyond that, it's the same old game, really. Apparently EA announced that this is the last game in this series, and it seems that they have an overall lack of interest in this game. The EA web site doesn't even list this game yet (it still shows the old F1 2002 game). Some international EA sites have the game listed though. Interesting.

There still are a number of frustrating details left. The inability to seed up the time during practice and qualifying sessions for instance. This makes it a real pain to wait until later in the session to see what the opponents are up to. A previous version of this game allowed to accelerate time. Why they do not support this feature anymore is beyond me.

In general, one could easily immagine how this game could be better by adding some other options, such as additional tracks, and more going on at the track (pit lane is basically desserted for instance...). As I said: Nothing much has changed here. Check out my F1 2002 review for more details in this category.

Also, be aware that this game does NOT AT ALL simulate the 2003 season. Seems kinda obvious by the title, but it is a bummer never the less. This means that there is no single-car qualifying and points are only awarded up to the 6th position. You can also change your fuel load before the race. While this is adequate for the simulated seasons, it still makes the game appear totally outdated.

BUT: This is the best F1 game out there. If you are a fan, you should get it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Game... but what's with the price gouging???, March 8, 2005

By	Microbrew4U (Michigan) - See all my reviews

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This is getting crazy... this title and Nascar Racing 2003 have just skyrocketed in price... for USED COPIES!

It was only a few months ago you could get these titles for less than $10 bucks shipped.

These two games are known for their great mods, but pricing like this makes it impossible for new players to experience the fun, or for veteran players to get another copy when their current game CD goes bad... I had to look twice -- $149 for a game?????

Thanks tons for your greediness, pcgames-replay. It's just a game -- not precious metals.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prolly the best modern F1 sim on the PC, July 1, 2004

By	Brian Nilsen "swerveaux" (West LA, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Despite the title, it's not great, it's simply good. The 5 stars comes from the great mods that are out and are coming for the game, a 4 if judging by the title alone.

First off, the Amazon write-up looks like it's for the console version. There is no 4-season-long campaign mode for the PC.

Now, onto the game. The sim mode has improved over F12002, though it's more of an evolutionary rather than revolutionary step. The graphics are well done, as are the tracks, though none of them seem to reflect the bumps an actual circuit has. The tire models have improved, though unless you get adventurous with your setups, don't try to hit the curbs through corners, you're almost doomed to spin. Multiplayer still lags far behind the standards set by Papyrus, you'll be lucky to get more than 6-7 cars in a race without massive lag. Like I said, it's improved over F12002, and I still think it's the best F1 sim on the PC market, but it's not quite perfect.

That being said, ISI did one thing very right: they made it very extendable. There are numerous mods available, from Group C Prototypes, ETCC, Australian V8 Supercar, BMW M3 Challenge, and others, as well as an upcoming ALMS mod that is shaping up nicely. There is also a 2003 season available, and while the single-lap qualifying is a bit of a hack (set the lap limit for qualifying to 3 laps, so you only get one flying lap, though without parc ferme, you can get away with low fuel loads and different tires/wing/suspension settings). A 2004 season is reportedly in the works as well.

It's well worth the price, assuming you can actually find a copy, as they seem to be few and far between these days (thanks again, EA). It works fantastically with my MOMO Force, and there's still something really fun about running a number of laps on an RL race weekend to get familiar with the tracks and know the trouble spots before you watch on TV. No Bahrain or Shanghai, but the rest are all there.

If you must have an F1 sim, this is the one to buy. For mods, this is also the one to buy. If you need to have the greatest sim on the market, stick with Grand Prix Legends for now, and GTR when it comes out, assuming it's as good as the demo makes it seem like it will be.

For more mod information and downloads, check out Blackhole Motorsports: http://www.bhmotorsports.com/