Software:Grand Prix Legends

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Grand Prix Legends
Grand Prix Legends Coverart.jpg
North American boxart
Developer(s)Papyrus Design Group
Publisher(s)Sierra Sports
Director(s)Matt Sentell
Designer(s)Randy Cassidy
David Kaemmer
Brian C. Mahony
Matt Sentell
Richard Yasi
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
Genre(s)Racing simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Grand Prix Legends is a computer racing simulator developed by Papyrus Design Group and published in 1998 by Sierra On-Line under the Sierra Sports banner. It simulates the 1967 Grand Prix season.[2]

Gameplay

Replay mode (cockpit view)

The game offers several modes in which the player can race alone or against AI opponents. The game also features multiplayer via LAN. Many parameters affecting the skill and aggressiveness of the AI drivers can be specified.

Development

The game was in development for three years[3] with a team of 25 to 30 people.[4] Inspired by the 1966 film Grand Prix, the developers chose to base the game on the 1967 Formula 1 Grand Prix season because during that period tracks were narrow and lined with trees, houses, and other elements that in a video game can serve as backgrounds to enhance the sensation of speed.[2] In addition, the more primitive suspension of cars of the time meant that the car physics could be more visually dramatic.[2]

However, the amount of time that has passed since the 1967 Grand Prix season meant that some of the tracks the designers wanted to recreate no longer existed in their original form. The team visited town halls to get blueprints for defunct tracks.[2] Papyrus co-founder Dave Kaemmer commented that the licensing for the game was difficult, but they had people who helped them during the development.[2]

Reception

Critical reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings84%[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGSP4.5/5 stars[7]
CGW4/5 stars[8]
Edge9/10[9]
GamePro4.5/5 stars[10]
GameRevolutionA[11]
GameSpot8.9/10[12]
Jeuxvideo.com17/20[13]
Next Generation5/5 stars[14]
PC Gamer (US)70%[16]
PC Zone90%[17]

The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[5] GameSpot said that Grand Prix Legends has the most intense racing experience ever seen on a personal computer.[12] Next Generation highly praised the graphics, gameplay, the recreation of 1967 Grand Prix season (in addition to its cars and tracks of its era), artificial intelligence and realistic driving model physics.[14] The magazine ranked it at #47 in its list of the Fifty Best Games of All Time.[18]

Sales

The game was a commercial failure;[19][20] Andy Mahood of PC Gamer US described its sales as "abysmally poor".[19] In 2003, writer Mark H. Walker reported that "the game sold only a few thousand copies" in the United States, which he attributed to the general unpopularity of Formula One racing in the country. He noted that its "steep learning curve kept many fans away" in European markets.[20] GameSpot's Gord Goble attributed its performance to the "combination of treacherous gameplay, sometimes glacial frame rates, and esoteric subject matter". It ultimately totaled 200,000 sales by 2004.[21]

Awards

The game was the runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1998 "Best Driving" award, and for GameSpot's 1998 "Driving Game of the Year" award, both of which ultimately went to Need for Speed III.[22][23] The staff of the former commented that Grand Prix Legends was the most ambitious and realistic driving simulation game of 1998, and the toughest to play.[22]

The game won Computer Games Strategy Plus' 1998 "Sports Game of the Year" award. The staff wrote that a few racing games could come close to Grand Prix Racing's level of sophistication and uncompromising detail.[24] It also won the Best Racing Game award at the 1998 CNET Gamecenter Awards.[25]

Legacy

References

  1. ↑ Gentry, Perry (October 6, 1998). "What's in Stores This Week". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/News/Item/0,3,0-2154,00.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "NG Alphas: Grand Prix Legends". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (29): 66–69. May 1997. https://archive.org/stream/NEXT_Generation_29#page/n66. 
  3. ↑ "Grand Prix Legends Interview". October 25, 1998. http://www.sports-gaming.com/racing/gpl/interview1.shtml. 
  4. ↑ "Circuit Breaker". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media): p. 206. September 26, 1998. https://www.newspapers.com/article/107580802/the-sydney-morning-herald/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Grand Prix Legends for PC". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/52156-grand-prix-legends/index.html. 
  6. ↑ Mahood, Andy (October 29, 1998). "Grand Prix Legends". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/Reviews/Item/0,6,0-2220,00.html. 
  7. ↑ Bauman, Steve (October 28, 1998). "Grand Prix Legends". Strategy Plus, Inc.. http://www.cdmag.com/articles/015/048/grandprixl_review.html. 
  8. ↑ Goble, Gord (January 1999). "Blast From the Past (Grand Prix Legends Review)". Computer Gaming World (Ziff Davis) (174): 340–41. https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_174.pdf. Retrieved September 3, 2023. 
  9. ↑ Edge staff (November 1998). "Grand Prix Legends". Edge (Future Publishing) (64): 82–83. https://retrocdn.net/images/0/0a/Edge_UK_064.pdf. Retrieved September 3, 2023. 
  10. ↑ Morris, Daniel (1999). "Grand Prix Legends Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro (IDG Entertainment). http://www.gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/reviews/865.shtml. Retrieved January 17, 2019. 
  11. ↑ Cooke, Mark (December 1998). "Grand Prix Legends Review". CraveOnline. https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/32992-grand-prix-legends-review. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Poole, Stephen (December 17, 1998). "Grand Prix Legends Review [date mislabeled as "May 1, 2000""]. Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grand-prix-legends-review/1900-2536263/. 
  13. ↑ lightman (October 21, 1998). "Test: Grand Prix Legends" (in fr). Webedia. https://www.jeuxvideo.com/articles/0000/00000200_test.htm. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Grand Prix Legends". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (49): 100. January 1999. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_49/page/n101/mode/2up. Retrieved December 25, 2020. 
  15. ↑ Klett, Steve (January 1999). "Grand Prix Legends". PC Accelerator (Imagine Media) (5): 90. https://archive.org/details/PCXL05Jan1999/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved December 29, 2020. 
  16. ↑ McDonald, T. Liam (January 1999). "Grand Prix Legends". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 6 (1). http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/23.html. Retrieved January 17, 2019. 
  17. ↑ Hill, Steve (November 1998). "Grand Prix Legends". PC Zone (Dennis Publishing) (69): 104–5. https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_69_November_1998/page/n103/mode/2up. Retrieved December 25, 2020. 
  18. ↑ "The Fifty Best Games of All Time (#47)". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (50): 73. February 1999. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_50/page/n73/mode/2up. Retrieved December 25, 2020. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Mahood, Andy (December 2000). "Staying Ahead of the Game". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 7 (12). http://www.pcgamer.com/columns/simcolumn/column_2001-07-27c.html. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Walker, Mark H. (June 25, 2003). Games That Sell!. Wordware Publishing. p. 194. ISBN 155622950X. 
  21. ↑ Goble, Gord (July 24, 2004). "History of Papyrus Racing Games [date mislabeled as "June 8, 2005" (Page 6: A Daring Move)"]. Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/history-of-papyrus-racing-games/1100-6103365/. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 CGW staff (April 1999). "Computer Gaming World's 1999 Premier Awards (Best Driving)". Computer Gaming World (Ziff Davis) (177): 100. https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_177.pdf. Retrieved September 3, 2023. 
  23. ↑ GameSpot staff (1999). "The Best & Worst of 1998 (Driving Game of the Year - Nominees)". Ziff Davis. http://gamespot.com/features/awards1998/genre3.html. 
  24. ↑ CGSP staff (February 11, 1999). "The Best of 1998 (Best Sports Game)". Strategy Plus, Inc.. http://www.cdmag.com/articles/017/163/sports_of_year.html. 
  25. ↑ Gamecenter staff (January 29, 1999). "The CNET Gamecenter.com Awards for 1998! (Racing Winner)". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/Features/Exclusives/Awards98/ss08c.html. 

External links



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