F-1 Race

Hit the gas, lean into the corner and watch the track blur behind you on the small greenish display. F-1 Race was one of the titles that showed even the handheld Game Boy could offer brisk speed and the feeling of racing from the cockpit.

The game belongs to the classic racing genre in the behind-the-car view style, where the track hurtles toward the player and you dodge rivals, watch your speed in the corners and try not to lose control at full throttle. On the Game Boy's monochrome display this required precise reading of perspective and quick reflexes, because there was only a little time to anticipate individual corners.

After its launch in 1989, Nintendo's Game Boy became a phenomenon that brought full-fledged gaming into your pocket. Racing titles belonged to it almost from the start, because the simple premise of fast driving suited short gaming sessions on the train or in a queue wonderfully. It was precisely this accessibility and instant fun that made racing on the handheld console a beloved category.

The charm of such games lay in their directness. No lengthy tutorials, no ten-minute menu. You switch it on, press a button and you're already tearing down the track. That immediacy is to this day the reason we like to return to retro racing on the Game Boy even after decades.

On the greenish display speed paradoxically felt more intense than on big televisions, because the whole world fit into the palm of your hand and concentration was absolute. It was one of the pillars of why portable gaming won such a loyal fan base.

Why play it: Pure, instant racing fun in your pocket that reminds us how little it took for a proper dose of adrenaline on a monochrome display.