Warm Up!

A bit of an odd one, this is. Warm Up! is an F1 simulation that pays little attention to the realism of Crammond's GP3, or the playability of any of the other two major offerings, from EA and Eidos. Even stranger is that the game's developed by Lankhor, the people responsible for the more than half-decent Eidos release, F1 World Grand Prix. Quite what they were trying to do here is anyone's guess.

You can play in one of two modes. 'Hilarious' arcade mode, which pays scant regard to the trappings of the real world, enabling you to take hairpin bends at full speed, and where the only aim is to overtake as many cars as possible over a set number of laps. Before you finish the first race you'll be reaching for the Quit button. It's not that much better in Simulation mode, to be honest, although there is at least a challenge of sorts to be had in keeping your car on the track and out of the pits.

Think F1 without any of the challenge, GP3 without any of the good bits and you're halfway there. Look forward to graphics that would leave the PlayStation crowd completely cold (the manual claims photo-realism, but unless the person that wrote this guff takes snaps with a Nintendo GameBoy, he or she would be best advised to actually play the game before making any further bold claims), sound effects that are a complete toss and a general air of malaise that is summed up by the insipid name of the game itself.

It might sound harsh for a racing game that works, but I've seen much better, so what's the point in pretending? In its favour, and despite the $20 price tag, you're likely to be able to pick this gem up for a mere tenner down your local emporium, which brings a level of respectability to the game that is lacking elsewhere. However, counter this with the fact that there are better budget games on offer, and there's not really much else to say.