Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Release: 1994
Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit is the best racing game you’ve never played. This is the game that made me realize I’d been wanting so much more in my console racers. It was the closest thing we got to an F1 sim on any console that predated the PlayStation. In fact, I’d say it even outdid Bizarre Creations’ excellent PS1 F1 games in some ways.
In Beyond the Limit players were able to insert themselves into the 1993 Grand Prix season, first by earning the right to sign with any number of teams, and then by competing in all 16 rounds of the Championship. This included the option to take part in every practice session, every qualifying session, and of course, each race (provided you could qualify).
This was nothing new for F1 games on a home console. But it was the sheer attention to detail that impressed in Beyond the Limit. The game featured all 16 tracks, all 13 F1 teams, and all but one driver who was active during the 1993 season. In fact, as your season wore on you’d notice some drivers being replaced by new names in a way that mirrored the real 1993 season. For example, Michael Andretti’s dismal season for McLaren would eventually see him replaced by future superstar Mika Hakkinen.
Beyond the Limit featured setup options galore, too. You could adjust downforce, steering sensitivity, and even things like brake balance and tire compounds. Sure, nowadays this stuff is totally standard, but back in 1994 you just didn’t see this level of freedom in a console racer.
The game also featured dynamic weather out on the track. I’m not totally positive, but I believe the weather changes actually reflected what was seen in the actual 1993 season. Either way, it added a whole new level of strategy to some races – as the sky began to darken you had to decide whether to dive in for rain tires and hope the skies would open up, or simply risk staying on slicks and pray those raindrops wouldn’t last very long.
By today’s standards, the actual gameplay is a bit hard to enjoy. The framerate is pretty low and the digital steering controls are a beast to come to grips with. But it should be said that this game definitely put the Sega CD through its paces, using the system’s scaling and rotation abilities to present tracks with plenty of “3D” objects and something more than a gray ribbon of road to drive on – these tracks felt like they existed in 3D space.
Outside of all the setup options and authenticity, F1: Beyond the Limit was an F1 nut’s dream in another way. This game really celebrated the sport, cars, and drivers of the series. It’s overflowing with beautiful still shots of the action as well as loads of video footage of the cars and personalities in the paddock. Plus it features another game mode that went on to become fairly commonplace in some other series: namely Atari and EA’s respective NASCAR games.
1993 Mode featured a series of challenges based on actual events from that season. For example, in the 1993 Canadian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher got a poor start and dropped four positions. The game puts you in the Austrian’s driving shoes as he has to chase down and pass Gerhart Berger to retake seventh place, passing three other cars in just three laps.
I was pretty much in love with this game from the moment I turned it on. Though I was disappointed to see that the single, missing driver on the roster was none-other than the great Ayrton Senna – my personal favourite and the one driver most associated with Sega thanks to his likeness and name being plastered all over the previous Super Monaco GP II. I always thought it was a bit spooky that he was the only driver missing from this game, which was released just prior to his tragic death at Imola during the 1994 season.
I also think I’m fond of Beyond the Limit because it marked a shift in what a console racing game could aspire to. And it happened during a pivotal season in the series itself. Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna both won their final races in 1993. Prost would retire to make way for Senna at Williams, the car he would die in three races into the subsequent season. 1993 was also the breakout season for Michael Schumacher, who became a mainstay on the podium that year before going on to win his first of a record-setting 7 championships (not to mention 91 Grand Prix victories) in 1994. The Benetton he drove was one of the first “shark nose” F1 cars that are so common today. I could go on and on.
When I talk about the Sega CD being one of the greatest consoles in history, this is one of the games that makes it so. I’ve been looking for Formula One: Beyond the Limit’s true successor for 18 years now, and have yet to find a racer that feels as complete and exciting as it did.
