Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit

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Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit is a racing game released for the defunct Sega CD. As the name implies, the game places you in the seat of a Formula One car complete with multiple teams and opponents, and all the licensed tracks of the series.

Beyond the Limit, as it came to be known, made heavy use of Mode 7 graphics, one of the key features missing from the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive console before the release of the Sega CD. Its main rival, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), made use of the same graphical effects in highly acclaimed games such as the classics F-Zero and Mario Kart and the cult classic Pilotwings. Sega, on the other hand, unable to deliver the same graphical effect on its 16-bit console, made sure the Sega-CD add-on could actually display Mode 7 effects and included it and various titles, such as Sonic CD and B.C Racers.

In Japan, Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit was named Heavenly Symphony, a title that for most does not represent the actual game. In fact, the Japanese title for the game was due to the sound of the cars, recorded from actual Formula One machines. One of the programmers, in awe with the results and with the beauty of the engines' sounds, stated that he was listening to a symphony from heaven, thus the name of the game. In addition to the name change for the U.S. release, many of the in-game music scores were changed as well, including the opening.

[edit] Gameplay

Beyond the Limit was a very complex game for its time, despite sharing some similarities with Sega's own Super Monaco GP series. You started in a test track with a generic car, aiming for a top time in order to receive contract offers from Formula One teams. After accepting an offer, all the races on the season had to be completed and depending on your performance, bigger and better teams would offer you their cars. Race bad, though, and you could even get fired.

Because this game was made after the 1993 season had already finished, the game included what can be considered the most extreme amount of features included in a racing simulation for the time that was released outside of Japan. The game included all of the tracks used in the 1993 season, including a fictional 'Sega Park Circuit' course used for testing. Also included were all thirty-five drivers that drove at some point during the 1993 season, and as most of the driver changes occurred in the last third of the season, as you play near the ending of the season you'll begin to notice many of the driver's changing in the lower classed teams. On a secondary note, Ayrton Senna is not included in the game as his license was held by his own game produced on the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive. Fortunately, the driver that replaces Senna is the only editable driver in the game, thus it allows you to put Senna back into the game, although there is not enough room in the editor for his full name and thus must be named 'A. Senna.'

The game was very similar in gameplay to F1 Roc: Race of Champions by Jaleco for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, albeit this game was in first person view, which is saying it was about as realistic as console racing simulators got during this time. The full use of the Sega CD capabilities, though, came through the superb sound and music of the game, streamed straight from the CD, and the complex scheme of progressing to better teams and cars.

[edit] Tobacco Sponsorship

In light of censorship in many console games it must be noted that, probably by accident, a couple of tobacco sponsors used in 1993 appear in the game. As is common with many of the tobacco and alcohol sponsors used in Formula 1, they are always excluded from console released games.

When driving at the Canadian Grand Prix in the game, Player's LTEE, a cigarette brand from Canada, is clearly visible all over the circuit, as it was the circuit's primary sponsor. In many of the cut scenes, Chesterfields is visible on some of the cars sponsored by them, yet Chesterfields is another cigarette brand from Europe. Finally Barclay, which sponsored the Jordan team during 1993, is also visible.

Many of the other popular know cigarette brands such as Marlboro and Camel, are not displayed around the circuits or in the cut scenes, yet the cars themselves that carried these particular sponsors (McLaren, Williams, Benetton) have them clearly visible in game.

The exclusion of some brands and the inclusion of others was more than likely ignorance on part of the Japanese graphic designers, although it bears to mention that this game was under full supervision of Fuji Television and carries the FIA license, meaning someone at some point should have realized the errors. It must be noted too that this game was released after the controversial arcade version of Super Monaco GP, that in the game and opening cut scenes included many images of the Marlboro McLaren team, even though the game was not license by the FIA. This subsequently lead to a different version of the simulator being released.

[edit] Conclusion

As of today, Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit stands as a very popular racing game for the Sega CD and one title fondly remembered by enthusiasts of the genre. It made great use of the graphical capabilities of the Sega CD. In the small library of Sega CD games, Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit certainly deserves a high pedestal.