.::The F1PU guide to ... F1 games::.

Hello and welcome to a new feature on the F1PU board called The F1PU guide to... the aim of which is to create a comprehensive list relating to that month's topic.

Half way through each month i will start a new guide and it everyone will be free to suggest as many suggestions that they believe are the best in that particular category.

As well as running my my own ideas for title's (of which a list of possible candidates can be found here) I will also be happy to run any idea's other people have and you can either pm me directly or post them in the current thread.

So now that the introductions are covered it is time to get on with this months guide.

Given the recent news about codemasters new F1 game due at the end of the year I want to know what you think is the best F1 game that has ever been made as well as a brief explanation as to why you nominated it.

Gp4 was the best, most realistic shame about the graphics :(

With only a limited number to chose from i have to say i thought F1CE was a pretty good attempt at a next gen F1 game. The presentation was amazing with rain effects that had to be seen to be believed. Shame simple things like the ability to save your game between quali and the race meant i didn't spend as much time playing it as it may have otherwise deserved.

Depends upon what people are looking for, I guess.

F1 2003 was best for being stupidly unrealistic. I mean, if you parked your car on the racing line, cars coming at you would literally fly in the air and mostly land upside down.

F1 2004 was great for the TV mode, because it was a war of attrition in Monaco and France as cars would pile in to each other coming out of the pits.

F1 2005 had the most epic introduction video ever... and then followed up by a god awful game. Lapping the field on hard should NOT be possible.

F1 2006 was seemingly when Studio Liverpool got it right. It had the graphics of '05, the fun of '04 and a true difficulty level to push people. I had to be pretty much perfect on Hard in order to win (and if you weren't in a Renault in Japan, forget about it).

So far CM's attempt, F1 2009, is much better than people give it for. People complain about the handling using the steering wheel - they don't realise it's much more realistic than any game has provided so far. The fact you have to be correcting a lot is exactly what should be happening, and if you think you can just leave your controller alone for turning when on a straight, you ain't playing properly. Admittedly the graphics are something to be desired and it doesn't make sense there's tyre smoke from every corner, but this game takes what Studio Liverpool did and made it much better. CM's next showing for the 360, PS3 and PC is going to be something BIG.

F1 CE, I've found to be fairly easy on Hard, Admittedly Indy and Japan are the races that get me hardest for some reason, but I can on average in a race, be a 0.7 to a second faster than them in a race, maybe 1.5-2 in Qualiy

I mean, I dunno if others are experiencing the same or not, but AI definetly needs to be stepped up.

I agree with you that japan was one of the toughest tracks but i found indy one of the easiest on hard mode for some reason.

It's been so long since i have played on F1CE i can't remember exactly where and on what difficulty i used win races. When i have some free time i might have another go at hard mode at indy and see how i get on

F1 '06 was the best on PS2, but the PSP version kind of sucked. 2009 is good on the Wii and PSP, but far too easy. The best is Championship Edition, because it is amazing online, and unlike most other PS3 release games, there is still people playing it every day. The difficulty is inconsistent, though. The AI is amazingly talented on slow tracks like Monaco, and therefore impossible. However, on fast tracks, it is very easy. I also find Imola and Indy really easy, too, for some reason. The graphics are still great. I prefer it to GP4, which is good, but horrifically dated. The PSOne games are a mixed bag. The first was only good with cheats (Murray Walker speaking gibberish, Lava tracks, a track in the shape of an F1 car, need I say more), as with '97, which introduced tear-offs. '98 was awful, but there was one cool, psychadellic(?)hidden track. '99 had Safety Cars and a night race in Monaco and a Safety Car only race (with drivers named after the development team). 2000 was largely the same, but without the extras and with a so-so arcade mode. I didn't have 2001 on the PSOne, but I did have it on the PS2, and it had the worst physics in an F1 (or maybe racing game) game ever, it was impossible to go around the A1 Ring without taking off and flying in the air for 10 seconds at the top if hills.

The Nintendo 64 ones were great. The F1 championships 1 and 2 were brilliant, far better than their appaling PSOne ports, except for some really bad sound and fog, but this was the norm in 64 games.  Cool cheats for strange circuits as well.

Well there is a "brief" history of the major F1 games. There are more, but my internet connection may melt.

P.S. WTF is up with the penalty system now? It sucks.