F1 2011

The Challenges mode will keep petrolheads busy. [Feb 2012, p.100]

F1 is definitely not for everyone. I probably won't get too much more play time out of it, since Mario Kart is also on my shelf, and that's more my speed. Still, the serious racing fan will likely get a kick out of this one.

Its control fails at first, but at least we have plenty of options to customize it and obtain a positive feel. It also lacks more simulation options and a more interesting career mode, but if we forget this we can enjoy fun Formula One races.

The Nintendo 3DS version of F1 2011 delivers a good game for fans of the competition. It has some aspects that need to be polished, but overall is a good experience and a great way of enjoying F1 on a handheld system.

F1 experts have probably already been racing their way through the home console versions of this title since September. With the 3DS version's odd A.I., it's hard to recommend that Formula fans give this edition a go. Codemasters knows racing -- but when they pass off portable development to other teams, you've got to be wary.

A bad A.I. will keep most of the Formula 1 fans away from an, otherwise, discrete game.

a stuttering start for F1 on the 3DS.

Sumo Digital unsuccessfully tries to imitate the Codemasters F1 2011's success in a game that wants to be a simulator, but results a mediocre arcade with poor graphics that we can't recommend to fans.

An incredible, for all the wrong reasons, AI literarly kills an otherwise surprising conversion.

The makings of a great sim let down by terrible AI and scrappy graphics. [Christmas 2011, p.75]

It's hard to recommend a version with so many problems. Sometimes it works well, but overall, it is a broken experience.

Sumo Digital should be commended for its attempts to pack as much as humanely possible into a Nintendo 3DS game. However, despite its wealth of options, game modes and extras, F1 2011 fails where it counts most, on the race track.

While its ambition should surely be commended and the time trials and multiplayer admittedly soften the blow somewhat, F1 2011 is, unfortunately, not the game to remedy matters. Unless you're a fan of frustrating ugly racers with brutally unrealistic and aggressive opponent AI, we advise that you steer well clear of it. Maybe next year, Codemasters will release the game that F1 fans deserve.