I had big plans for 2021 to start making more posts and videos but I had a bit of an issue with a dead PC for most of February so everything got immediately put on the back burner before I could build up any momentum.
I have a new PC now but I haven’t really got my plans back on track. As a sort of consolation prize I thought I would just share a few thoughts on what I was playing during the period where my only computer was a Raspberry Pi.
One of the games I kept myself amused with was F1 Pole Position, also known as Human Grand Prix. I had a lot of fun playing this and would regard it among the best games of its type from the 16-bit era. It’s actually the first of four F1 games Human Entertainment would put out on the Super Nintendo. This particular game is based on the 1992 F1 season and features 7 licensed teams. The teams chosen for the game are the big hitters of the era. Williams, Mclaren, Benetton and Ferrari head up the pack with the rest of the grid made up of Footwork, Jordan and Venturi.
The appropriate 1992 driver lineup is also featured in the game with one odd exception. In the English language releases, Ayrton Senna’s name is replaced by his 1993 team-mate Michael Andretti. I have read this is due to licensing issues linked to Super Monaco GP 2 however I haven’t seen any sources for this. If it was a copyright issue then it would seem odd for Human Entertainment to still make use of his helmet design and likeness. Andretti’s portrait and helmet are not included, just his name. Whether it is due to copyright or not it’s a strange substitution. Even though Andretti was a big name in the USA at the time, Senna was and always will be the bigger star.
F1 Pole Position doesn’t really do much that other 16-bit F1 games don’t but for whatever reason it just clicks with me. I didn’t play it when it was new so there’s no nostalgia involved, I think it might just be a really good game. It looks and sounds as good as anything else and has the usual single race, season and 2 player game modes. One great feature that might just give it the edge is that it has a steering weight adjustment among the car tuning options. This is effectively a steering sensitivity adjustment and something that a lot of games from back then could really do with. Like so many racing games the difference maker is “feel”. To me, F1 Pole Position just feels good to play and that’s why I enjoy it. I am quite interested in the sequels too. I haven’t played them but I know they certainly have better graphics so I’d be interested in seeing if they managed to improve on anything else.
Highway Forever 