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Give it a chance...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

It's sort of disheartening to see all the negative reviews this game has received. To start with, it isn't for everyone. It's a Formula One *simulator*. In other words, it's not a racing game that you can just pop in and expect to rocket around tracks right off the bat. It takes several hours and possibly days to even get to the point where you can put in a competitive lap. To some, this concept seems absurd. Why put in so much time to just get to an adequate skill level? The reason is because you get great satisfaction when you eventually master it. A game that is easy from the start is boring. After drooling over the graphics for the first half hour, you get bored because there's no challenge, and nothing to spur you on.

Long story short, this is a very solid F1 simulator. It does have its shortcomings (i.e. no official FIA license, engine sounds are fairly lackluster, AI isn't the best) However, writing the game off because you can't stay on the track after a few tries isn't a good idea. Stick with it and I guarantee you, you'll get great satisfaction out of mastering the controls, and out of the game in general.

Casual Gamers...Beware!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First off, this is not a game for the light hearted. It is not a game for a person seeking instant gratification. It is not a game that allows you to do 360 spins in the air. This is probably the most realistic F1 racing simulator available. Monaco Grand Prix 2 is a true gem that will probably have a very small cult following. The game is for us sorry suckers who have watched all the F1 races, and wish we were participating. The control is REAL. So real, many have criticized it saying, "It is too hard, pass on this title." Well, there are a few of us that prayed for this kind of simulator. And UBISOFT truley set us up.

The gameplay takes a lot of time to master. In other words, the learning curve is extremely long. You will not see a first place finish for quite a few days, let alone a position in the points. And the damage is real...Turn in on a competitor through a corner, and you will just be lucky to limp back to the pits for a tire change.

So who is this game for? It is for the person that will dedicate hours upon hours for each race. The game has the full Grand Prix weekend schedule...including: Practice sessions 1 and 2, Qualifcation, Warm up morning practice before the race, and the actual race. If you want the full sim feeling of a race weekend, you will dedicate your time cordially to all of these aspects. And an entire race lasts approximately an hour and 45 minutes. Again...not for the casual gamer.

The tracks are real. Even the bumps in Brazil are here in this game (and make your skid plate bottom out). The drivers from the 1997 Championship are all there. They appear with fictional names, but the edit mode lets you adjust that (and the team names too!). So the lack of an FIA license ...well... is all but forgotten when you change the names.

The AI...hmmm...I have seen mixed reviews about this. Personally i think it is top notch. Again, the styles of the real life drivers are in the game, and they are competitive. Sure eventually you will learn to out smart the AI, but a safe 100% successful pass is probably never fully guaranteed. And with the sensitive realistic damage, you truley do think twice before a drastic pass in a race.

The frame rate is very good. There is some slow down in very few places when displaying high traffic around you, but overall it is solid throughout. The graphics are very good, but not the best. Trust me though, they are good enough to emerse you into the environment.

I praise this game, and let it allocate the majority of my dreamcast gameplay. But I am far from a regular gamer. But if you really love F1, and have asked yourself many times whether or not you have the balls for racing F1, this is for you. Plus, that first win has you happy for quite a bit of time. UBISOFT did an excellent job in regards to making this title what it is suppose to be, and I only hope it continues into their F1 simulator sequal due out fall 2000.

Graphics are great, but the steering is TOOO sensitive

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 22, 1999
Author: Amazon User

The graphics on this game are outstanding. However, it's way to hard to turn and brake at the same time. Even using the steering wheel controller, the car is very hard to control when its going over 60kph.

Not for everyone

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 16, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Even my son who can chew up a whole day trying to master a game got board trying to keep the cars on the track. There is no true novice mode for this one. We don't have the Sega wheel yet, and that my have a big influence on our first experience. Compared with the out of the box experience games like "Ready to Rumble" give you, there is no comparison. If your an experienced game racer, this may be it for realistic racing. Otherwise, I would pass or rent it first.

Where's the Ferrari's, and McLaren's

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

MGP is by far the best F1 game available, yet it is not licensed by the governing body of Formula 1 the FIA. The cars and drivers are fictional, however all of the tracks are real minus being called by their actual names (except Monaco), they instead go by their country locations.

UBISOFT has been making F1 games for a while now, and they definately know what they are doing. Yes the cars are twitchy for the fact being they have over 700 horsepower and can accelerate from 0 to 150 in 7.5 seconds. If you've ever watched an F1 race you'll hear the announcers say it's like driving on ice at times.

I truely enjoy this game versus the Formula 1 Simulations that UBISOFT has done in the past on the PC, the Dreamcast version seems more polished and it even looks better than it's counterpart on PC.

Not since Formula 1 Championship Edition on the Playstation have I been more addicted to a racing game. The cars are fast as they should be, and if you are not a careful driver you will pay dearly for it with this game.

Some people complain about the controls, however I like them since they are attempting to be as real as possible, it is a simulation racing game therefore the physics really make it a more in depth experience. The game is so realistic that the computer opponents have accidents when racing wheel to wheel, and that doesn't happen much with computer controlled racers since they are usually perfect drivers.

About the only drawback is that it is unofficial, however at the driver screen the names can be edited to real F1 driver names, as can the team names.

All in all, I will play this game until a better F1 experience arrives, perhaps the one being produced by Sega and VideoSystems.

A very good F-1 simulation, but a few weak spots included.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I must say, even if Monaco Grand Prix is not endorsed by the FIA, it's still a very good simulation. Although if you are a novice, I would recommend staying with the arcade mode. It may not be as realistic compared to Simulation mode, but it's also a lot easier and not as many bells and whistles. The courses do not have their real names, but are by the country that they're located in, except for Monaco.

Once you change from Arcade to Simulation mode, there's a major change. It gives you a lot more options to make the game feel more realistic, and is also a lot more difficult in control. In real life Formula 1, 1 slight mistake could cause major trouble. Monaco Grand Prix does an excellent job of that, so if you make even the slightest mistake on one of the curves, you could completely spin out. The pro is that it gives you the feeling of realistic Formula 1 racing, but the con would be that sometimes novices could get very frustrated with it losing control very frequently and spinning out.

Without any question, the graphics are exceptional. The same thing goes for the track designs and layouts (Except for the names). A lot of excellent detail on the design.

As for Retro mode, if you like to see the old days of Formula 1 and their courses, it's worth a look. I usually don't play Retro mode that much.

The drivers are a con. All of them are fictional and include no real drivers. And some car manufactuers are left out, too. I usually like to race with someone that is a real driver, but I can work with fictional.

I would recommend this to people who have had at least some experience with Formula 1 simulations, or for novices who don't mind a challenge (Unless you play Arcade Mode). It's still a very good racing simulation, overall and worth buying. Or another simulation I would recommend would be F-1 World Grand Prix.

Full Throttle Start, Loses Speed Quickly

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 29, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Put this game in the Dreamcast for the first time and prepare to be amazed. Put it in for the fifth time and prepare to fall asleep. This game has impressive graphics, but the setup screens between races are confusing and not user friendly. After playing this game for about a week, I grew tired of its repetitiveness and had to take it to a used games store. Just gets old.

What Were They Thinking?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 30, 1999
Author: Amazon User

My version is only a demo, thank goodness. I played for 2 minutes and I had had enough. The controling is very bad. On the first turn you go off the track and can't get back on again. Don't buy it!

This is sweet!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is the best racing game ive ever played. As the other reviewers have said, it is a simulator. You almost have to be a race engineer to set up the cars before the races. If that sounds like too much hold on because you can also play an arcade mode which lets you race without a high difficulty as well as not worrying about the car setup. So really this game offers the best of both worlds, simulator and arcade. It also has a retro car series which I think is just as fun as the new cars. This is a good one, im glad I bought it.

Not So Great

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Grand Prix is not that great, even for a driving sim. I used to work at Sega as a game tester, and spent countless hours testing this title. As a racing game, it's subpar. As a sim, I'd say it was average. Yes, there is a learning curve and it does take a while to get a handle on the game (especially when using the standard controller), but it's not worth the effort because the game is boring. The soundtrack is lame (possibly with the exception of the German track), and once you do master the tracks and levels, there's still no sense of satisfaction. If you want a challenge and don't mind the static gameplay, this is probably an ideal title for you. If you want something easier and more dynamic, I suggest TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat, Tokyo Xtreme, Suzuki Alstare Extreme, or Metropolis Street Racer.

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