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F1 RACE STARS
Platform: Xbox 360
75

F1 Race Stars Review

Who knew F1 had the formula for a decent kart racer?

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F1 Race Stars is an odd prospect. On the one hand, it’s developed by Codemasters, the UK team behind the official F1 racing games and other successful series such as Dirt and Grid. On the other hand, it’s a kart racer.

It may seem like a strange direction for the franchise to go...and it is. Furthermore, Race Stars retains all the official licensing and likenesses of Formula 1, so that means you’ll be firing out power-ups from a Ferrari with a big-headed Sebastian Vettel at the helm.

F1 Race Stars

This could have been a recipe for disaster - mixing reality with the insanity of kart racing mechanics might have delivered a confused and diluted experience, but Codemasters have avoided this trap with aplomb. Instead, charm oozes from the game and it’s initially a joyous world to race in. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn’t quite match up to the wonderfully detailed style and presentation, with Race Stars lacking the depth of comparable racers.

So with superior kart racers out there (most recently Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed), why bother considering F1 Race Stars? The answer may seem obvious, but fans of the sport will fully appreciate the efforts made to incorporate many aspects of Formula 1 which you might assume could never work. DRS? Check. Adverse weather conditions? Present. The safety car? Unfortunately, in there as well.

Some of these F1 features make their appearance in the form of power-ups collected during the race, such as the ability to slow down the whole pack by inflicting a sudden downpour, or using DRS to improve your aerodynamics and blast though your opponents. Other events come built in to the tracks, of which there are 11 dotted all over the world. The tracks are over the top characterisations of the countries they are based in, and often a joy to explore with loads of shortcuts and different approaches. There are loop the loops in Japan, huge jumps in Singapore, twisters to avoid in the USA and...puddles to navigate in Britain. Typical.

F1 Race Stars

Each track has a couple of pit stops that you’ll need to keep a note of, as when you get damaged your max speed lowers. While the pit stops fully fixes your car, they also take a long detour away from the main course. It’s an interesting tactic to consider if you can make it to the end without your car’s potential full speed, but saving yourself a detour in the process. You’ll also find KERS zones on some corners, where you have a chance to tap the right rigger a few of times to earn an extra boost, just something else to thing about during races.

Not that you’ll be lacking for things to do, as power-ups frequently come your way. Unfortunately, most of the weapons are kind of disappointing, coming in the form of simple bubbles that can be fired or dropped in the equivalent way to Mario Kart’s shells and bananas. Some of the more powerful items include a teleport and, completely randomly, a fizzy bottle which propels you up the field in the same way as a Bullet Bill. These power-ups feel out of place and massively overpowered, which, to be fair, is usually part of the kart racing experience. However, coming back from 10th to grab a podium finish in the last lap is all very exciting, but the weapons don’t feel balanced enough to assist in creating a truly level playing field. It’s either impossible to catch up, as the game feeds you defensive weapons while you languish in 12th place, or all too easy while you’re streaming ahead and the main pack do their best to ruin each other’s chances.

This is less of a problem when playing against friends or online. Human opponents are more prone to rash driving decisions than the AI, which leads to frantic and exciting races where everyone’s involved. That is, if you manage to actually join a game, which I only did after 12 separate attempts over a number of days, and even then it was versus only one other person. The online is frequently unstable, causing the game to crash four times in my time with the game. Hopefully these are launch window issues, and will be patched out of the game soon, because when you do get into a full 12 player gamer, it’s F1 Race Stars at its best.

F1 Race Stars

But what about Race Stars at its worst? Well, some of the single player modes attempt to mix up the standard racing formula, but tend to fall short. Racing itself is a smooth experience, Codemasters wisely choosing to retain the tight handling of F1 cars. There’s no corner drifting here, and you will need to brake round most obstacles, a strange phenomenon in kart racing. Come off the defined track at all and your car will grind to a snail’s pace, so you need to focus on keeping a vaguely efficient racing line - a difficult thing to do given the surrounding chaos. All in all though, it’s a nice balance between belting it down straights and taking tight turns, so it’s a shame the career mode insists that you take different approaches to racing.

The worst example is elimination, where the player in last place periodically gets booted out the game. Though this is a common mode in many racing games, it just doesn’t work when places are exchanged every ten seconds, and it can be brutally unpredictable. The same applies to the Trophy Chase event, where you earn points by driving though trophies dumped on to the track. The trophies only respawn once per lap, so if you’re anything lower than third place, there will likely be no opportunity for you to score, ever. It’s not fun, and again, dependent on the notion of luck rather than skill. Gate mode encourages you to drive through certain coloured, yep, gates to pick up points, but it usually outstays its welcome and offers nothing particularly thrilling. Another wasted opportunity is the refuel races, where having more fuel on board slows down your top speed, but you have to avoid the risk of running out completely. There should be a lot more strategy to this than there actually is, and turns out to be a dull mode, especially considering the pace of the cars is not very impressive at the best of times. Surprising given we’re dealing with the world’s fastest sport.

F1 Race Stars

Only one single player mode rivals the excitement of races - Sector Snatch. It kind of plays like the qualifying for the Grand Prix, except the track is split into sections. Whoever completes a section the fastest gains control of that sector, and whoever has control of the most sectors by the end of the laps, wins. It can be brilliantly tense knowing that this is your last chance to get a hot run through a contested sector, with victory hanging in the balance. The only problem can be the pettiness of the power-ups, which will have you wishing they could be turned off for some purer karting fun.

Despite some frustrating moments, these are fairly easy to forgive when you admire the enthusiasm and care that has been put into F1 Race Stars. Given that this is Codemasters’ first foray into a very different race experience, they’ve managed to capture the fun and wackiness of kart racing first time around. Over long periods of play, the single player can feel a little shallow and unrewarding, and some power-up mechanics are a little wonky, but with friends, that won’t matter. Kids, too, won’t notice these faults, and will probably adore the look and feel of the atmosphere. Though it has its flaws, F1 Race Stars is a solid kart racer, with fun at its core and some interesting Formula 1 twists.

Our ratings for F1 Race Stars on Xbox 360 out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Presentation
85
Visuals are chunky and colorful, with the whole world emanating character. The menus and single player career, in contrast, feel empty and soulless.
Gameplay
77
Sturdy racing is accompanied by a mixed bag of power-ups that can impede on a fundamentally enjoyable experience.
Single Player
68
Potentially interesting single player modes are mostly uninspired. There are no unlockables or particular sense of progression to keep you coming back.
Multiplayer
78
This is what this game is designed for. Online is currently unreliable, but great fun once you get into a game.
Performance
73
The game froze on a few occasions for no reason, but, aside from these meltdowns, gameplay is smooth and responsive.
Overall
75
Fans of F1 seeking some multiplayer action should look no further, but if you're playing solo there are better kart racers available. Charm and character goes a long way in masking F1 Race Stars' flaws.
Comments
F1 Race Stars
F1 Race Stars box art Platform:
Xbox 360
Our Review of F1 Race Stars
75%
Good
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
F1 Race Stars is ranked #837 out of 1953 total reviewed games. It is ranked #80 out of 145 games reviewed in 2012.
836. Lego Batman 2
PlayStation 3
837. F1 Race Stars
838. Zeno Clash 2
PC
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Screenshots

F1 Race Stars
12 images added Nov 26, 2012 20:59
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