I was never a fan of Ferrari, but F355 Challenge has changed that. Simply put, the F355 is an absolute joy to drive. After driving this Ferrari for as long as I have I cringe when I must go back to "inferior" cars of other racing games like the Skyline or Supra, or even my favorite Impreza. The F355 is that good of a car. It handles like a dream. It accelerates like a rocket. It brakes faster. And you will be glad it does once you play the game.

Simply put, F355 Challenge is tough. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. They're idiots. Throw everything you know about racing games out the door, because no other game has been so real. Slipping up once will cost you the race. Power sliding is not an option. You must memorize all of the braking locations on the track if you hope to survive. You must memorize the top speeds you can take each turn. And you must spend plenty of time in the training mode.

With such a difficult game you would hope there would be some help provided, and thankfully there is. The training mode shows you the proper racing line to follow while driving as well as the braking points. Along with the training mode, there are driving assists that will help you out with the different aspects of driving. Selectable while your driving, you can choose the let the computer help with your traction, turn on ABS, and even have the computer brake to you. However I found the auto-braking to be very restrictive - it doesn't really seem like your playing when the computer is doing your braking, so it was the first to go. As I got better I slowly started turning off the assists until now where I'm racing without them.

Sega wasn't content with just porting the game to the Dreamcast - they made sure they added in plenty of options. Along with the 5 original tracks, Sega added in 4 more for the Dreamcast release, unlockable by driving a certain amount of total kilometers. There is also a championship mode, which lets you race the different courses in succession for points. 2-player mode is in as well, which looks every bit as gorgeous as the single player mode. There is also a link cable mode for the 5 people who actually have one. The game also allows you to save your driving performance and analyze it by showing your speed and rpm as you go around the track. You can also view this information in a replay, which visually shows you where you drove and when you used the brakes, accelerated, and the like. You are then able to upload this information to Sega's F355 Challenge website where others can download it and they could compare their replays with yours.

F355 Challenge's graphics, in one word, are gorgeous. In 2 words - PS2 who? The graphics are that fantastic. The polygon count? High. The textures? Amazing. The pop-in? None. That's right, zero pop in. You can literally see for kilometers. If you should be able to see it on the track then you can. Standout items like the Ferris Wheel of Suzuka are visible from anywhere on the track. The cars are also immensely detailed as well. You couldn't pick a polygon out on one if you tried. And you could see each of the 7 other drivers in their cars. And their faces. And their arms. And the wheel and gauges. And their arms and wheel even move when they turn. Now you could say that it's not hard to do this at 60 fps when the tracks are so bland, but one trip around Long Beach at sunset will change your mind. In fact one trip around any track at sunset and you will wish that the "Magic Weather" system would always pick sunset.

All is not so well in the sound department however. They did a good job recreating the actual sounds of a Ferrari (not that I've ever heard one but they sound good at least :) ), however their choice of a soundtrack was rather... well odd. They decided to put in 80's rock n roll. While that wouldn't normally be bad at all, it's only average at best. On top of that there is an annoying DJ that talks in between songs, usually in poorly translated English like "I especially loved the dynamic solo" (in fact there is quite a bit of poorly translated English in the game). What makes the whole thing worse is that the same songs are always played. Every race starts with the same song, and you normally don't drive long enough to hear too many different songs.

While this review has so far been positive, there are a few negatives of the title. Some people may just find it too realistic for their tastes and may prefer arcade style games instead. Others may not like the fact that there is only one car to drive. You are also always forced to play with an in-car view, which you may or may not like. Also the collision system is very unpredictable. Me? I absolutely love the game. Dare I say it? Best racing game ever. While it may not be everybody's cup of tea, I certainly love it. You really owe it to yourself as a gamer to at least rent it when Acclaim publishes it domestically. Its just too bad F355 Challenge will probably never receive the credit it deserves due to it being such a niche title.

· · · Piku