F355 Challenge Passione Rossa

Let me start by saying that Ferrari F355 has great graphics, and nice controls. It's music is annoying, but you can turn it off. The major flaw in the game is that the sense of speed is wrong. You are going 200 miles per hour, and you feel like you're going 50. For this reason, it is nearly impossible to make the sharp turns without flying off the track (due to the incredibly realistic physics). And to make matters worse, the AI of other cars is COMPLETELY unforgiving. Screw up ONCE, and you WILL lose. Not exactly fun. But forget that. I know a lot of people just enjoyed driving around the track by their lonesome. But why?

This game features the greatest selection of tracks of any racing sim EVER. Laguna Seca, Long Beach, Nuremburgring (hope I spelled that right), and of course the almighty Monza. These tracks (and many more) are represented PERFECTLY. If only the game had a correct sense of speed and was a bit easier, it would be the greatest racing sim ever. And if only Gran Turismo 3 featured all the tracks in this game, it would no flaws at all. As it is, this is a great but flawed game, and Gran Turismo will never be THE driving simulation until it has the awesome real world track to back it up.

Oh well. Perhaps someday, someone will make a game with the graphics, the controls, AND the tracks I crave...


More cars, courses, and variety needed.   August 13, 2002
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Looking at my headline, you'd think I would give this game a 2. But the graphics are incredible and the ground is just like real. But it's not like Sega GT where you can pick from 130 different cars. All you can do to these cars are change the colors and all the confusing springs in the front and rear. It has also 6 available courses and 5 hidden courses which are all lifelike and all real. But this is more of a simulation game than an arcade game. And that was the most important part of my review.


I still love Ferraris.   July 1, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

BEFORE I START, FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE THIS GAME AND THINK IT [STINKS], OR EVEN IF YOU LIKE IT, .... DISCOVER A WAY TO UNLOCK 5 MORE COURSES!! Now that that's clear, because I just finished reading the reviews, this game is ok. They did a great job with the graphics, but I do agree that this game needs more cars, even if their unlockable. And they should be unlockable because the game's name is F355 Challenge. The 5 extra courses are fun and a change in graphics, and there is even a downhill in one of them. You know what I love to do in this game? I like to put the course on that circular one, turn around, and drive the reverse way in race mode and crash into the cars. That'll teach 'em to stop winning! Cones are fun to hit in this game. I wish there was some sort of damage to your car if you kept crashing. The cars are not made of gold. And I hate it when the car goes into the grass bacause it's so hard to get out. It takes forever! So, for all you simulation experted, tasteless car racing fans out there, this game is for you.


Not much, but what's here is nearly perfect   June 29, 2002
The premise is simple: one car, a set of 11 total tracks, cockpit view, few customization options. Other than the Ferrari license, this is a fairly weak premise on paper, especially compared to the sheer number of cars and types of racing available in Gran Turismo 2 and A Spec. What makes this game special is that though it offers little variety, what it does provide, it does extremely well.

This game is an attempt to be a simulator for the Ferrari F355. As such, the physics model is considerably more difficult (and more accurate) than what you will find in any other console racing game, the Gran Turismo series included.

All races feature heats of eight identically prepared F355 cars. Unlike GT or other games that allow you to enter a race with a car that gives you a competitive advantage over the computer, F355 forces you to beat the competition by outdriving them on equal terms. In the Gran Turismo series of games where the physics engines are a little forgiving, and chicanes may be jumped, other cars may be "leaned on" in the corners, or the median can be used to force your car to turn sharper than it normally would, you can run away from the computer competition even with identical cars. F355's physics engine is much, MUCH less forgiving, the computer cars all seem to have at least somewhat of an advantage accelerating, and the computer competition will occasionally block or bounce you. In short, like real racing, you'll be need to slowly close in on your competition over the course of a long race and then stay out of the dirt to maintain your lead.

Additionally, the courses, though small in total number, feature an excellent variety, ranging from superspeedways (Motegi and Atlanta Motor Speedway), power tracks (Monza), technical tracks (Suzuka, Laguna Seca, Nurburgring, and Sepang), and historically significant tracks (Monza, Laguna Seca, Long Beach, Suzuka, Nurburgring). All said, it's a surprisingly great and well thought out collection.

On the down side, this is easily the most demanding racing game I have played on a console, and unlike nearly every other console racing game, it offers few rewards early on. Expect to lose and lose often. Indeed, winning the short length races (2 to 3 laps) is nearly impossible to do without extremely aggressive and flawless driving AND a whole lot of luck. The mid length races are at least winnable. There is an excellent interactive driving tutorial system that shows the racing and braking lines for each track, but this only helps so much, and is only somewhat rewarding.

Additionally, the Dreamcast controller is simply not ideal for racing games. The throw of the joystick is too short and too tightly sprung to offer the type of precision that the analogue PS controllers do. As F355 is less forgiving than other racing games, the Dreamcast controller is a bit of a handicap. A second gripe is that the rumble-pack support isn't nearly as refined as the rest of the game. With Gran Turismo and Test Drive LeMans, you can get a feel for what your car is doing on the track through the controller's feedback. In F355, very little feedback is given (if any) when you gain or lose traction or brake too hard, again, making the game more difficult than necessary.

That said, if you are a bona-fide racing junkie, have the aptitude to conquer racing sims, and have the patience to do so, I have no hesitation in recommending this purchase. However, this game is not for everyone. It is brutally difficult, and frankly, offers few rewards or encouragement. It is, however, honest, pure, and nearly perfect at what it does.


Great looking racing game, but VERY difficult   June 28, 2002
With all the racing games in the world, the ones that are usually on the top of fan lists are the ones developed by Sega legend Yu Suzuki. With excellent racing titles like Daytona USA under his belt, it was only logical that his latest racing simulator would be nothing short of magnificent. With three racing styles and online play, things were looking bright. Did he succeed? Well...

On one hand, this is one of the finest looking games on the Dreamcast, even though the revolutionary triple screen arcade view had to be dropped due to TV screen limitations, and to a lesser extent, hardware limitations. With no pop-up, draw-in, or slowdown whatsoever, the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second and never slows down. The downside is, you always feel like you are driving slower than the speedometer says. If it says 175, it only feels like 95-100. Another bad part is that there is no damage modeling. Even if you hit a wall at 170 mph, your car bounces right off, looking like it came straight from the showroom.

On the other hand, this is, by far, the most difficult racing game I have ever played. And I have played a lot of them. Unlike most racing games, where your car is much faster than the competitions', your rivals here go about the same speed, so passing is a matter of luck, not skill. I guess Suzuki-san wanted the most realistic competition on the market, but this is ridiculous.

Another letdown is the sound. With Daytona, the music was so bad it was good. That is not the case here. The songs themselves aren't really bad, but there are only three of them and they're short, so they repeat often, especially during endurance races.
And that announcer... oh man. That should explain it right there.

There are also online races, but you don't actually race other people, you just race their ghosts from previous runs.

You can also pick any view you want, as long as its in the one spot behind the wheel.

Overall, this is a decent game. You might want to pick is up if you are a rabid racing fan, or just want to drive a Ferarri For less than (this costs). Every one else, beware. CD's shatter when you break them.