Formula One Arcade
Officially licensed by Formula One Management and using team line-ups and data from the 2001 season, Formula One Arcade does away with complicated and time-consuming car set-up procedures and has a completely new, simplified menu system to get you into the action quickly and easily. It lets you jump straight into the cockpit of your favourite team and hammer round the circuits you know so well from the TV - giving all the fun without any of the hassle.
Aimed at those who are less interested in up-to-the-minute accuracy and detail, and who just want to reproduce the thrills and spills of the most glamorous racing in the world, it has a host of features to make the game more accessible.
Foremost among these is a more forgiving driving model, which gives you greater margin for error, allowing you to brake later and drive on the grass in a way you never could in real life - at least not without destroying your tyres or risking disqualification. There are even specially added tyre walls to make the more acute corners - such as those at the Monaco Grand Prix and other street circuits - easier to negotiate.
Arcade-style track direction indicators, showing the direction and sharpness of the next corner, do away with the trouble of having to memorise the more complicated circuits. You'll even find pick-ups to boost your performance - including a turbo boost for stunning acceleration, super traction to help you stick to the track, extra time to reach checkpoints, instant tyre repairs and even invulnerability.
Meanwhile, dynamic world objects add to the fun - as you tear round the tracks you'll see hot air balloons floating by, planes flying past in formation, even fireworks going off.
With all 17 of the circuits from the Formula One World Championship accurately modelled, all the top teams and all the top drivers to beat, F1 Arcade gives you the adrenaline-packed speed of the best motor racing in the world with none of the pitfalls. Finally, it's your chance to become a Formula One Champion!
Fire Bugs
A futuristic racer with pick-up-and-play ease of use, Fire Bugs sees you competing around the globe in a wide variety of locations and circuits, from desert wastelands to high-tech glossy industrial cityscapes.
The vehicles at your disposal have a unique ability: if an opponent dives from side to side to block your way, you can take to the walls. Or even the ceiling. We're talking 360 degrees of high-velocity action, at speeds of over 400 mph. And while you're speeding along, clinging desperately to the controls, you needn't worry too much about driving style - these things are impact resistant.
They're not invulnerable, though - and pick-ups on the track will equip you with a range of weapons with which to speed yourself up or wreak havoc among your fellow competitors. There are turbo-boosts, shields and missiles that anyone can use, as well as weapons unique to particular vehicles - including rockets, lasers and chain guns that can blast, slow down, ram or freeze rival cars.
There are five venues in all: the art and culture of ancient civilisations abound in The Archepelago; Droid Gardens sees you speeding through rotting robot shells, over-run with vegetation; Sky Dunes is a vast desert wasteland and Sky Port a hard-edged industrial vision of utopia; while Cloud City is all concrete and clouds. Each circuit provides a different challenge; you'll need to polish your skills on all of them if you hope to win the league.
As you'd expect, there are also a number of different ways to race, from point-to-points to traditional circuits and leagues, as well a two-player mode that seems almost designed to have you falling out with your friends.
With a blinding sense of speed, 360 degree anti-gravity circuits and exhilarating, trigger-happy action that's likely to induce serious road rage, Fire Bugs will have you putting the pedal to the metal in one of the most imaginative and action-packed racers for some time.
Key features
- 25 different circuits
- There are five different locations in the game for you to race in. Each location has five different tracks of increasing levels of difficulty.
- The Archepelago - Enjoy the art and culture of the ancient civilisations of the Egyptians, Aztecs and Incas. Just don't slow down while you're doing it.
- Droid Gardens - Like the hanging Gardens of Babylon, but with rotting robots hulks.
- Sky Dunes - Vast expanses of eerie desert wasteland. Why not try to make your opponents a permanent part of it?
- Sky Port - A bright, glossy and industrial brave new world. Time to scuff it up a bit with the cars of your rivals.
- Cloud City - Look around: a concrete jungle. Look up: clouds. Sometimes people name things really well.
360 degrees of velocity
Uniquely to Fire Bugs, you're not restricted to racing at ground level. If someone gets n your way and tries to block your attempts at overtaking, you can take to the walls - or even the ceiling - to get past. You not only have to know the course inside-out and back-to-front to succeed, but also upside down!
Race modes
There are several ways to play, with point-to-point, almost rally-style races (except you race against other cars, not the clock), traditional circuit racing, and league and championship racing. There's also a two-player split-screen mode, so you can work at undermining the confidence of your friends, by beating them over and over again.
Car features
There's a huge number of weapons to turn on your opponents, with a wide variety of unpleasant effects to choose from, and all available as pick-ups as you speed around the circuits.
All cars have access to worm holes, shields, turbo boosts and various missiles, to speed you up, slow others down generally provoke unpleasantness.
In addition, depending on the car you choose, you'll have your own personal weapon to use, which could consist of rockets, lasers or chain guns that can blast, slow down, ram or freeze rival cars. They include:
- Gizmo rockets - track hugging rockets that keep going until they hit something.
- Bow rockets - sets of three small rockets that increase the chances of hitting the opponent.
- Kami laser blades - these freeze the wheels of rival cars, bringing them to a grinding halt while you speed past, laughing manically.
- Karrie tazer rammers - ram any other cars they come into contact with.
- Zero chain guns - a sustained barrage from which will slow your opponent right down.
Face it - by the time you finish the race your trigger finger will be aching.