Michael Andretti’s World GP
System: NES
Release Date: June 1990
Developer: Human Entertainment
Publisher: American Sammy
Genre: Racing
Race as fast as you can down straightaways and take the hairpin turns with expert precision in Michael Andretti’s World GP. Your goal is to hop into one of four fast Formula One cars and make your way through the Grand Prix.
Controls consist of accelerating with the A Button, braking with the B Button, and shifting gears by pressing up and down. This is standard. What isn’t standard is steering. You don’t hold left or right to turn, but instead tap to change your heading. This is incredibly unintuitive and makes racing a pain. That along with spinning out at the slightest misstep on speed makes qualifying to race unlikely, let alone winning against the computer.
If you don’t qualify, you’re forced to sit through the computer racing itself in a 10-20 minute race! At least you can get an idea of the speed required to make the turns this way. This is a mindboggling decision that got me to just play a few practice courses. I wasn’t able to get the pit stop to work any time I tried. There are 16 tracks from around the world to choose from and Michael walks you through tips for success. They didn’t help.
Graphics: 1.0
The car sprites are tiny and of no detail. The backgrounds are ok at best.
Sound: 0.5
The engine noises get to terrible pretty quickly. Downshifting causes a screech that makes you want to lose your hearing.
Gameplay: 0.5
I don’t know why Human Entertainment thought the controls for steering were acceptable. They weren’t.
Difficulty: 0.5
Another lousy control scheme makes doing anything near impossible.
Fun Factor: 0.0
The half hour I spent on this Grand Prix didn’t come to an end quickly enough.
Overall Grade: 0.5
Michael Andretti’s World GP earns a D-. Stay away from this one, it’s god awful.