Grand Prix Circuit

Grand Prix Circuit from 1988, made for Accolade by Distinctive Software, brought the world of Formula racing inspired by the Formula 1 season of the time to the Commodore 64. The player goes through a world championship on a series of real and fictional circuits, and before each race adjusts the car's gear ratio, suspension stiffness, and other parameters that affect its behavior on track, so a compromise must be found between speed on the straights and stability through the corners. A practice lap is used to fine-tune the setup and qualify for a starting position, which brings the game closer to a simulation than an arcade racer, where the order on the starting grid wouldn't matter.

The graphics on the C64 offer a view from behind the single-seater and decently animated rivals who behave convincingly in the corners and are capable of both overtaking the player and being overtaken, which gave players of the time a real sense of battling for position on track. Driving requires braking before corners and smoothly steering into the apex, otherwise the car easily runs off the track or spins out, and even a small mistake in the racing line costs precious tenths of a second. The seasonal points standings and championship motivate the player to complete the whole series of races, not just a single lap, much like in a real championship season where points add up and the final races decide everything.

At the time of release, Grand Prix Circuit was among the more sophisticated racing titles on eight-bit computers and showed that even the C64 could offer elements of a genuine motorsport simulation, albeit with the simplifications the machine's power demanded. Today it's interesting mainly as an example of an early effort to combine car setup with arcade-style play, and as a companion to Accolade's later Formula 1 series, which built on this foundation and expanded it with new circuits and car setup options.

Why play it: For anyone interested in the early combination of car setup with arcade racing, it's worth a look as the foundation on which Accolade's entire Formula 1 series later built.