F1 Race Stars

F1 Race Stars is a video game that puts you in an F1 racing world that's fun and very unique. It combines elements of karting games with Formula One racing, which results in a game that has many elements of realism, all without being too difficult and serious. You will encounter real drivers and teams, but rather than seeing the life-like graphics of other F1 racing games, everything is made to look like a cartoon world. Controlling the little race car around the tracks takes a bit of practice at first, but you'll get used to it after a couple of races.

Just because F1 Race Stars isn't as realistic as F1 simulators, it doesn't mean that there's no fast-paced action to keep you on the edge of your seat as you race. Your chosen character will be zipping on the track at high speed and you must be careful around corners and turns if you don't want to crash into something or go off the track.

While the tracks and scenery in F1 Race Stars are based on their real-life counterparts, there are many fantasy elements that were added to them. Loops, shortcuts, speed boosts, jumps and other power-up elements can be found all throughout the game, making it more fun and giving you some rather unique opportunities to get ahead of your rivals. After all, you rarely see a real F1 race where a car become airborne and jump over every competitor, yet still remaining in one piece on landing.

The vehicle controls are quite responsive, while being easy to memorize. Once you've remembered the keys to accelerate, brake, take turns and use some of the special options and power boosts, you can take a few practice laps to get a feel for how your cartoonish little F1 car handles. You're now ready to take on your competitors. Along the way, you'll discover that F1 Race Stars does include a few realistic F1 elements, like pit stops and the car's handling being affected by the weather. If you want a racing challenge where you take on your friends, there's a split-screen multiplayer mode that looks and works just like the one on classic console racing games.

The full version of the game comes with tracks from all over the world. Unfortunately, the free version falls a bit short when it comes to track variety, as it only lets you race in Germany. Even with this limitation, it's still a fun game to play and gives you a good idea of what F1 Race Stars is all about, so you can decide whether to purchase the full game version.

Pros

• Fun, cartoon-like environment makes game attractive to children and casual gamers.
• Still includes realistic elements, like real-life drivers, track locations and pit stops.
• Relatively simple racing car controls.
• Many fantasy elements, like speed boosts and shortcuts, make the game unique and enjoyable.

Cons

• Free version limited to one track.