When Ferrari F335 Challenge was released in 1999, there were no other driving games like it. In the Arcades Sega's Model 3 board had recently given us Daytona 2, Sega Rally 2, and Le Mans 24, and at home the closest we had to a simulation was Gran Tourismo 2 on the Playstation!
Produced and Directed within AM2 by the legendary Yu Suzuki himself, Ferrari F355 used 4 linked Naomi boards to take the arcade driving game to a new level, bringing brilliant visuals and sound as well as removing the need for out and out speed and focusing on accuracy and realism.
The game starts by you choosing on which of the well known race tracks included in the game you wanted to race your Ferrari round:
You were then given the choice to drive round each circuit in Training Mode (with vocal guidance and an on-track driving line to aid braking and cornering), or in Full race Mode against the computer or a Player2.
Sega then added a group of Player Assist features including :
- Stability Control
- Traction Control
- Anti-Lock Brakes
- Intelligent Braking System
Depending on the level of difficulty you chose to play the game with, these would be turned on or off:
NOVICE - All On
INTERMEDIATE - Intelligent Braking Off
EXPERT - All Off
If there wasn't enough simulation for you so far then Sega added a manual gearbox WITH CLUTCH! Yes, an actual clutch pedal! This was a first anywhere and added greatly to the realism of the game.
This was all housed in a special Deluxe Arcade Cabinet containing three 29" screens to give a 170° viewing experience:
So was what it like to play?
As an Arcade game it could be incredibly frustrating as it took so long to get to grips with the handling. Even as a driver, you were not used to walking into a noisy arcade and having to concentrate on your driving technique!.
If you were expecting a quick fix from F355 then you were better heading off to the back of the Arcade to find Scud Race! However give it time (and alot of money) and you were greatly rewarded. The trick was to take off each of the driving aids one by one and as always move to a manual gearbox for additional speed. In time you found you were braking in the right places and no longer slamming your foot down on the accelerator when coming out of every corner! Learning to hit each corner in the right gear, and at the right speed, was also a major benefit, shown nowhere better than when diving into the Parabolica at Monza.
The Deluxe cabinet even had an optional printer which allowed the player to obtain a printed copy of their race results including best lap time, RPMs, and the driving line followed:
Knowing a few may find all of this too much of a simulation, Sega ensured there was relief in the form of a Twin Player Cabinet:
In 2000, Ferrari F355 Challenge was ported over to the recently released Dreamcast. The DC console was a light version of the Naomi board so conversions were easier but with the expected drop in graphics and sound quality from porting a 4 Naomi board arcade.
To add depth to the dreamcast version, 5 new courses were added including Ferrari's own test track Fiorano which became available after winning the Championship mode.
Back in the Arcades in 2001, Sega released F355 Challenge 2, which was a simple update of the original including those 5 additional tracks from the home console version.
With the demise of the Dreamcast and Sega's move to develop on other consoles, the game was updated and ported to the PS2 in 2002:
Just like playing Sega Rally on the Saturn, F355 Challenge still holds its own 10 years after its release into the aracdes. This endurability is a testament to the time and quality of programming put in by the AM2 team and of course by their Producer Yu Suzuki, who's obsession with real Ferrari's and Videogames, started a gaming revolution in 1986.
If you want to read up more then there is nowhere better than the Obsessional French site below!
F355 Challenge Web Site
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