Grand Prix Simulator


Grand Prix Simulator is a racing game developed by The Oliver Twins and published by Codemasters for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit family. The ZX Spectrum conversion was done by Serge Dosang. The Spectrum version was endorsed by Ayrton Senna's teammate Johnny Dumfries.
A sequel, Grand Prix Simulator II, was released in 1988 for the same platforms.

Gameplay

The game is designed so that the player is looking down on the track from an overhead view, similar to arcade games such as Badlands or Super Off Road. The player controls a car on the track, while the computer controls the other. Each race is three laps around the track. If the player wins a race, they progress to the next track. The game is over when the player loses a race or disqualifies himself/herself by crashing.
Points are earned for winning a race and extra points are given for picking up bonus items that appear on the track. Oil spots can also appear on the track that, if driven over, cause the player's car to spin, losing time.
The game can also be played competitively by two players.

Reception

Grand Prix Simulator was rated an average of 19/20 in Amstrad User magazine, 7 out of 10 by Your Sinclair and, across all platforms, sold over a quarter of a million copies.

Legacy

In 1988 Codemasters sued Alternative Software because its title Formula Grand Prix showed a very similar gameplay and even cover. Ironically, not long ago Codemasters itself had been sued by Activision for intellectual property violation relating to Super Sprint.