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It could have been the greatest racing sim ever...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Some people think that videogames are just entertainment. Not me. Like some people (you know who you are), I've been searching for something more than just a good driving game. I've been searching for a driving simulation. And not just any driving simulation. I seek perfection. Gran Turismo was great, so was Gran Turismo 3. But they did have flaws. Unfortunately, the greatest strength of Ferrari F355 is the greatest weakness of Gran Turismo.

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.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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.

This game has nothing new

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game then took it home and played it for the first time. I got excited when the flashy start screen came up, but from there on I just got more disappointed. As far as I can tell, there is only one car you can race in... hence it is the "F355 Challenge" The tracks are boring, I like having a few bumps and obstacles in the way, it wouldn't have hurt to put a few spots where your car goes airborn. The tracks have none of this. They only have straight aways and hairpin turns. Another thing I disliked about racing is that you can never seem to catch up to the race leader. Also the control is poor and the collision physics are lame.

To sum up, The game looks impressive and plays fluid. But a limited choice of boring tracks, lame collision physics, and only one car, which you can only "customize" by changing its color makes this game a loser. It would be a mistake to pay full price for this game. Rent it first and see for yourself.

P.S. If you really want to buy this game, you can buy mine.

Thank God for Ferraries!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When a good programming team sets out a goal to set a precedence for a driving game, they should look at this game.
If you love driving games, and I know that you always wanted to drive a Ferrary F355, this is it.
I love the engine sound. Very realistic driving experience but not too harsh to make it impossible to drive.
You will know when one of your tires is skidding or missing contact from the asphalt.
Driving is all done on race tracks. Some are on oval circuits and some are on Grand Prix Circuits. Challenge yourself to unleash more tracks! I have MSR, Test Drive V-Rally, and Sega Rally2 besides this game.
It may very well be the best driving game on DC! Enuff Said!

Strictly for hardcore sim racers

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Don't get me wrong. F355 is a great game. It has awesome graphics and great control but it's heavy on the sim-factor and way, way light on the fun-factor. Once I finally figured out the controls, I still had to learn how to race efficiently for me to be able to really get into the game, which I'll admit hasn't really happened yet. I spent too much time and effort learning how to play the game to really be able to enjoy it. If you're really, really into sim racing, get this game. If you're more the arcade racing type, skip it.

Murdock's review

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: August 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The game has good graphics, but the game play... how can I put this........it sucks and. you cant even change views.

F355 Challenge

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is probobly one of the best racing games ever. You can toggle the effects and settings of your car, how big something is, how small something is ect. It has excelent graphics, cool effects when you do something wrong, like if you try to smash into the side of another car, and he slams the brakes, you'll go spinning out of control, like in real life. Oh yeah, and then there are the cones. On some coarses, there are cones, that, if you want, you can hit them. you may go into the dirt, but it is alwaysfun to watch them them fly.

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