The PSP edition of F1 2009 will have players racing against each other wirelessly in addition to engaging and challenging single player modes exclusively tuned for portable play, including competing in full championships. As FORMULA ONE enters its most exciting season yet, F1 2009 will take Wii and PSP players as close as possible to racing in the world/rs"s most spectacular motorsport when it launches this autumn; F1 2010 will follow for PLAYSTATIONtreg;3, Xbox 360 and Games For Windows in 2010. For the trailer video, race over to www.formula1-game.com.
Yet, after Formula 1 Championship Edition on PS3 (which was based around the 2006 season), there hasn’t been a Formula 1 game. Sony didn’t renew its contract with Bernie and Codemasters picked up the licence to the sport. If Codemasters racing studio’s past games are anything to go buy (the Colin McRae Rally and ToCA series, latterly DiRT and GRiD), when the full-fat PS3 and 360 versions are released (hopefully sometime in 2010) there should finally be a great racing game fit for a sport of F1’s size and stature. But for the time being, we have F1 09, newly launched for the PSP on UMD or as a download from the PlayStation Store.
Verdict: Ultimately F1 09 is a solid racing game. It fails to inspire or innovate, but anyone looking for a decent racing game on PSP will find something here. Its biggest issue though, however, is that both Gran Turismo and MotorStorm Arctic Edge offer up a better standard racing game (whether you’re looking for realism or thrills and spills) on PSP. Unfortunately F1 09 occupies the awkward space in between the two and thus fails to stand out. There is a decent foundation to improve upon for the inevitable F1 2010 (or should that be F1 10?) but you have to be a fan of F1 to really appreciate it.
Codemasters have a hell of a lot to live up to just to match the Psygnosis F1 games , why oh why did they give this up ? The last one on PS3 is still absolutely brilliant . I only live about a mile from Sony Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) , sometimes I feel like going up there and just asking why ? Wipeout HD is an indication of just what a great team they have over there I wish they had stuck with the licence . Incidentally if you want an excellent PsP racer you owe it to yourself to get Motorstorm Arctic Edge .
