It's a slow month for racing games this August, but instead of turning my attention to other sports like baseball or football, I decided to take a look back at a somewhat forgotten title that served as the origin story of my video game racing career.

The first racing game that I remember playing is also the first video game that I remember buying with my own money. I had saved up my allowance and some birthday to money to get F1 Race for the original Game Boy. Going back, I have no idea why I picked this game over any other title. Back then I had no access to the Internet or any gaming magazines, so it was just a blind purchase I guess -- or maybe it was just that sweet box art.

Regardless of why I bought it, I did and fired it up immediately after exiting the Toys 'R' Us and climbing back into my parents' car. I still remember a few of my habits from the game, too. One would be working my left thumb raw by holding up on the D-pad to use the game's boost. The other is that I never picked car A. Car A was faster without the boost, but car B had a higher boosted top speed and carried more boost.

I also remember winning and seeing my driver jump up and down on the podium while surrounded by two lovely ladies -- and Mario. I also remember repeatedly losing and never getting past the third race. The game treated every other finish like Ricky Bobby would -- "If you’re not first, you’re last" -- meaning you had to win each event before progressing. The third race was the USA track, which had these esses that would always cross me up and send me off the track.

I still do fire this game up from time to time since my portable gaming technology has regressed in recent years. To put it in perspective, I have gone from a Game Boy Advance to a Game Boy Color and finally back to my original Game Boy, still in its comically huge and four-shades-of-gray glory. And for this article, I went back to the old standby once again. (For the record, after a few quick blows into the cartridge to get things going, I was back in the swing of things.)

All this really means is that my thumb hurts again, and I'm once again stuck at the third race.

What surprised me the most about this game, other than the fact that I'm not much better at it at 22 years old than I was at 10, is how well the game actually has held up. The game is simple to be sure -- I mean there’s still just the two buttons and the D-pad -- but there’s still some strategy involved in terms of which car to pick and when to use the boost. The game also does not just let you floor it around the track because turns are tight enough that some deft braking is actually required.

Looks wise the game is not too shabby either. The overall graphics are simple, and the colors are limited to the Game Boy’s gray palette, but there are some nice details present. For example, the tracks that span the globe feature background buildings that make them each feel different. The US track has various skyscrapers and a kind of New York City skyline. The USSR (yeah, this game is old) has the old Russian-style buildings with their distinctive domes, and India has the Taj Mahal in the background. Unfortunately, that type of detail does not extend to the cars, which all appear to be identical. However, I was impressed that the developers managed to make it seem like the wheels were spinning.

Simply put, I really love this game. However, when I went around looking for information on the game, I found that most people did not seem to have the same type of fond memories of it as I do. In other words, I might be blinded by nostalgia somewhat. Either way, it is my origin story.


That was my first racing game, what was yours?