If you appreciate the work done within the wiki, please consider supporting The Cutting Room Floor on Patreon. Thanks for all your support!

F-1 Grand Prix (Arcade)

From The Cutting Room Floor
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Title Screen

F-1 Grand Prix

Developer: Video System
Publishers: Video System (JP), Mc O'River (US)
Platform: Arcade (F-1 Grand Prix hardware)
Released in JP: December 1991[1]
Released in US: April 1992[1]


MusicIcon.png This game has unused music.
Carts.png This game has revisional differences.


F-1 Grand Prix was probably the first officially licensed Formula One video game of any kind, thanks to Bernie Ecclestone noticing the success of MicroProse's Formula One Grand Prix (aka World Circuit, which was not an FIA/FOCA licensed product) which convinced him to start selling official Formula One video game licenses.

Cut-Off Song

Only 55 seconds (out of 1:20) of the attract mode song ("Truth" by T-Square, the opening theme to Formula One broadcasts in Japan at the time) is heard, as the game cuts off the music when the high scores are displayed.

Revisional Differences

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Document the other tracks. At this point, these might be as well be a full map rip.
  • What is "MC" in Monza and Adelaide?

As of version 0.227, MAME supports two versions of the game, labelled Set 1 (f1gp) and Set 2 (f1gpa; prior to 0.227, set 2 was the parent set). Per MAME labeling rules, Set 1 is assumed to be the latest revision (most likely the Mc O'River published version for the American market), given the changes to advertisements in some tracks, mostly to remove alcohol references. (A third set, named f1gpb - formerly the ROM name used by Playmark-produced bootleg - was added in version 0.254, which reportedly does not support arcade sticks/buttons, only steering wheels.)

Phoenix (United States Grand Prix)

Home Straight-Turn 1
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix T1 Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix T1 Set 1.png
Turn 2-3
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix T2-3 Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix T2-3 Set 1.png

In Set 2, there are advertisements for Player's, a Canadian cigarette brand (the only one in-game, to boot, as the other brands are censored) and Michelin (which was not in Formula One at the time until 2002) on the left-hand side of the track's first three turns, as well on turns 9 and 10. Both were replaced with another Iceberg and Agip logos. On the right side, Magneti Marelli and Fiat logos were replaced with Goodyear and Ford, possibly due to location relevance (Fiat had left the United States car market in 1983).

Turn 5-6 (Hairpin)
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix Hairpin Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix Hairpin Set 1.png

In addition to what has been mentioned so far, the red Elf logo in the hairpin (turns 5-6) was replaced with Goodyear, while Braun replaces Agip. A Longines ad above the small Honda logo is replaced with Goodyear.

Turn 9-10
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix T9-10 Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix T9-10 Set 1.png

The Player's and Michelin ads are also replaced in turns 9-10, so does Magneti Marelli with Goodyear here.

Turn 15-Home Straight
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix Last Turn Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Phoenix Last Turn Set 1.png

On the start/finish straight after the final turn, the Braun ad on the left was replaced with Agip, while Longines and Champion on the right were replaced with Goodyear and Agip respectively.

Montreal (Canadian Grand Prix)

Turn 17-Home Straight
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Montreal Start Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Montreal Start Set 1.png

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has lots of alcohol ads (Fosters, Molson, and Campari) on the frontstretch in set 2, which were replaced by Longines, Goodyear, and Opel (which also replaces Iceberg on the tent before the pit)... which is ironic as the Opel brand is not sold in Canada. Additionally, the Mobil 1 logos are replaced with Magneti Marelli ones.

Turn 8-9 (Pont de la Concorde)
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Montreal Backstraight Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Montreal Backstraight Set 1.png

At the Pont de la Concorde section, in addition to what have been mentioned, the Player's cigarette ad is replaced with another Pirelli logo.

Silverstone (British Grand Prix)

Becketts
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Silverstone Becketts Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Silverstone Becketts Set 1.png

The Foster's banner were replaced with Iceberg, while the red Pirelli and Magneti Marelli logos are all replaced with Opel, again a marque not sold in the United Kingdom (Vauxhall is used insetad).

Hangar Straight-Stowe
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Silverstone Hangar-Stowe Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Silverstone Hangar-Stowe Set 1.png

Magneti Marelli is replaced with Opel while Foster's is replaced with Goodyear in the grandstands... but the most notable one would the Foster's ads on the Hangar Straight, which is blanked out (with some wear effect) in Set 1.

Monza (Italian Grand Prix)

Home Straight
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Monza Start Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Monza Start Set 1.png

Loto (France's national lottery, which was a sponsor of Ligier around this time) and Foster's were replaced with Longines and Agip, while the small "MC" sponsor was blanked out. The yellow Iceberg tent was also replaced with Agip.

Variante de Rettifilo
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Monza Chicane Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Monza Chicane Set 1.png

At Rettifilo, Campari and Epson were replaced with Longines, Ford is replaced with Fiat (the opposite of the Phoenix change) and Budweiser(!) and Shell Oils were replaced with Pirelli and Coca-Cola respectively.

Adelaide (Australian Grand Prix)

Turn 10-Brabham Straight
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Adelaide Brabham Straight Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Adelaide Brabham Straight Set 1.png

On the Brabham Straight, Foster's and Iceberg were replaced with Longines; notably, the Longines ads that replaced Iceberg are off-center. The Australia logo is also replaced with Philips Car Stereo, while the MC logos are blanked out again. The Coca-Cola and Mobil 1 ads are also replaced with Goodyear, while the Opel tent (again, a marque not sold in Australia) is rebranded to Agip.

Mistral Hairpin-Home Straight
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Adelaide Last Turn Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Adelaide Last Turn Set 1.png

The same changes also appear in the Mistral Hairpin (last turn), with Magneti Marelli replaced with Goodyear again.

Other Changes

Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Course Select Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Course Select Set 1.png

The order of the tracks were shuffled around in Set 1. This removes a sly reference to Tail to Nose (Video System's earlier, unlicensed F1 title) on the bottom row.

Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Continue Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Continue Set 1.png
Set 2 (Early) Set 1 (Later)
F1GP1 Arcade Link Menu Set 2.png F1GP1 Arcade Link Menu Set 1.png

In Set 1's continue screen and multiplayer menu, the (obscured by the countdown/prompt) Foster's ad is removed, replaced with a plain concrete. The Foster's ad in the race results screen is also replaced with another Agip logo.

Oddities

Imola Pit Lane

F1GP1 Arcade Imola pitlane.png

Imola's (San Marino Grand Prix) pit lane, despite not being usable by the player, is placed on the left-hand side on the track, despite being placed on the right-hand side on the real track. This was fixed in the season update, which also changes the color of the track's grasses to be less of autumn colors (since it was held early in the season).

References