You start out by choosing your racing team’s name. You’re given a driver, a mechanic and a trusty secretary who will act as your guide to the world of racing. Kairosoft – as they did in their previous games – does an excellent job of easing you into the driver’s seat. They help you build your first car and get you immediately to the track for some experience. Since this is a simulation game, you won’t actually be driving (which is a plus for me).
Besides racing in single races, you’ll also be participating in formula grand prix events consisting of 5-6 races per season. As you complete each race, your team earns points based on how well you did and, should your team earn the most points by the end of the season, you will move on to a larger, stronger field. Kairosoft really took a page from Mike Tyson’s Punch Out on this one. As you advance through each level, the teams that consistently challenged you in the previous level will show up in the new level, except they won’t be as strong. Thinking back to Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Bald Bull was the champion of the Major Circuit and he shows up again in the World Circuit. The South Suns and Roadtrotters will do the same in Grand Prix Story.
As you progress, the game’s customization really begins to show itself. You can field two drivers (two cars in each race), hire more mechanics, own up to six cars, sign sponsors, research new parts and cars and upgrade/train all of the above. It may seem overwhelming at first, but Kairosoft does a great job at integrating all these pieces into the overall picture.
You earn all these new parts and car plans by either earning ad revenue for your sponsors, upgrading current parts or winning races. The Sponsors are a great addition by providing further motivation to be successful both on the track and in the garage. Many of the sponsor companies are a clever word-play on real life companies or are companies related to some aspect of the Kairosoft universe. I do find it particularly humorous that one of the best items comes from a sponsor based on a company whose platform doesn't have this game on it - Apple. The mechanics are similarly named after characters and people (Han Polo!). While it may not be obvious as to which sponsors to choose and in what order, it leaves a carrot out there to entice you to play again once you finish a career.
Grand Prix Story is a simulation or RPG player’s heaven. Tweaking cars and upgrading parts to get the best results for the three different types of roads and perform your best in the grand prix seasons gives you numerous combinations of cars and parts to select from. Even though you aren’t driving, you still get great satisfaction when your car ekes out a victory by one-one-hundredth of a second. My only complaint is that when I find a good combination of a car, an engine and tires for a certain road condition, I pretty much stick with only that. I wish I had more opportunities to switch it up and try out different cars and styles. I also find that some of the parts are a little nebulous as to what they actually do or how they help. My example is the carbon brakes – they give a boost to my “Braking” skill. I haven’t really found where that statistic is held or how it helps (besides braking, thanks).
The game really shines in its ability to pack a lot into short bursts of play time. It’s really nothing to hop on for two to three minutes, run a race, set up your mechanics for the next race and quit out. Of course, there is always the “lose time and play for a couple hours” option, which I’ve done. Unfortunately, going for the latter means you will most likely have a dying battery on your hands. Grand Prix Story may not be graphically heavy, but there is a lot of processing going on as the game keeps track of seven to ten cars on the track at one time. It just seems to devour the battery in my new Motorola Atrix.
Battery and power issues aside, Grand Prix Story is an excellent pick up on the Android platform, even at the $5 price point. I can hear some of you choking on that as you read, but I’m telling you – as a person who vigilantly watches for Amazon’s free Android App of the Day – Grand Prix Story delivers an experience that compares to $15 XBLA or PSN titles. If you own an Android phone and love simulation games with plenty of RPG elements, Grand Prix Story is a must purchase. I just finished my fifth play through and I’m ready to begin a sixth time with Bentley Motors. See you on the track!
Grand Prix Story was developed by Kairosoft and published on the Android platform. A copy of the game was purchased by the reviewer and did not receive any considerations from the developer.
