F1 Race Stars

 PC
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 63
  3. Negative: 19 out of 63

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  1. Leo4211
    Dec 23, 2013
    6
    Imagine Mario Kart landed on PC with the karts changed to mini F1 cars and the characters changed to mini F1 racers. Yeah you get this game.

    This game has plentiful locations to drive and the graphics are fine for me. However, the whole game is too cartoon that even Mario Kart looks more realistic than this game. However, the game is not as fun as Mario Kart. First, the gameplay is    Imagine Mario Kart landed on PC with the karts changed to mini F1 cars and the characters changed to mini F1 racers. Yeah you get this game.

    This game has plentiful locations to drive and the graphics are fine for me. However, the whole game is too cartoon that even Mario Kart looks more realistic than this game. However, the game is not as fun as Mario Kart.

    First, the gameplay is not very good. For mario-kart-style games, there're always boosts and drifts and powerups. I know F1 cars don't drift, but the game is not realistic already (you won't see real F1 cars get boost when rolling through a boost pad) and the game is somehow boring without boosting, boosting and boosting. Also, the keys are actually unfair that if AI got it, he will be going to the secret passage for 101% and go to the front like he's cheating. Even Mario Kart's routes are not as ridiculous as this.

    Another issue is the control problem. I understand F1 cars are not like mario karts but I can't believe AI opponents can go through curves without braking meanwhile I have to press the down arrow once to go through it without crashing.

    This game is fun but I think there's an age limit to this game, like 3-12. Teenagers or older will find this game pretty ...um... boring. I hate comparing games but this game is not very good when compared to other similar games.    … Expand
  2. Baltifru
    Apr 22, 2020
    6
    To make a good Mario Kart like you need a lot of ingredients, and unfortunately F1 Race Stars lacks many of them.

    It was certainly a good idea to transpose the F1 world into a flashy, cartoony world, turn the F1 pilots into cute little guys and revisit the circuits with much more fantasy, but there are too many flaws in the game design: 1) Mario Kart excels at what I would call    To make a good Mario Kart like you need a lot of ingredients, and unfortunately F1 Race Stars lacks many of them.

    It was certainly a good idea to transpose the F1 world into a flashy, cartoony world, turn the F1 pilots into cute little guys and revisit the circuits with much more fantasy, but there are too many flaws in the game design:

    1) Mario Kart excels at what I would call "balance in imbalance": although the players receive different objects depending on their current spots, the difference is clearly readable. You know what kind of objects you are likely to receive depending on your spot. Shortcuts in MK give an advantage, but usually this advantage rewards the player for crossing a certain obstacle (achieving a hard jump, using a turbo at the right tempo).
    F1 Race Stars feels like imbalance is total and unrewarding: some paths (which I guess we should call shortcuts) are simply much, much faster than others for no obvious reason (they're not harder to reach for example). Object are of unequal strength, but their relative usefulness is not totally correlated to your current spot in the race.

    2) Speaking of objects, 90% of them are bubbles and only differ by the colour, which makes it difficult to remember which object does what.

    3) Because the imbalance, one could expect that some elements are brought to the gameplay to introduce a bit of "skill", but that is not the case. The gameplay is even more basic than the one of similar games, as you can just accelerate, turn and throw objects. And that's it. No drifting, vehicle customisation, changing gears... It is just all about turning and using objects. And because of this, the lack of balance feels even worse.

    4) Circuits are well designed in my opinion, but the game still lacks a real "personality" because of the pilots. It doesn't matter who you choose, the difference just sums up to a very little advantage in one aspect of the gameplay. Well it obviously changes the brand of your car and the haircut of your pilot, but visually or gameplay-wise it does not feel at all like changing from Mario to Bowser. Even the voice lines are not really special, making the choice of the character quite "bland".

    Can't recommend. Even if you just have a PC, Sonic & All Stars Racing is better for example.    … Expand
  3. joalllucas
    Feb 28, 2022
    7
    Para um jogo de kart, ainda deixa muito a desejar, mas pode proporcionar algumas boas horas de diversão. Todavia, um dos aspectos mais importantes do gênero é a afeição possuída por alguns personagens, como é o caso do Mario Kart ou Crash Team Racing, o que não existe aqui, uma vez que os personagens jogáveis são os pilotos da Fórmula 1. Entretanto, o título possui uma boa adaptação doPara um jogo de kart, ainda deixa muito a desejar, mas pode proporcionar algumas boas horas de diversão. Todavia, um dos aspectos mais importantes do gênero é a afeição possuída por alguns personagens, como é o caso do Mario Kart ou Crash Team Racing, o que não existe aqui, uma vez que os personagens jogáveis são os pilotos da Fórmula 1. Entretanto, o título possui uma boa adaptação do gênero de corrida automobilística para kart e pode ser uma alternativa de gameplay com os amigos.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

81
#81 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 4, 2013
    50
    Interesting race game at first glance fires all of its ammunition in the opening ten minutes of play. After that there is nothing more to offer. [Jan 2013]
  2. PC Gamer
    Feb 1, 2013
    70
    The whole thing feels a bit bland. [March 2013, p.73]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Jan 29, 2013
    80
    A fun, light-hearted take on Formula 1, F1 Race Stars offers a great opportunity to beat any of well-known drivers, including the current champion of the world.
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