Grand Prix Circuit is a racing video game developed by Distinctive Software and published by Accolade for MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1988. It was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Players can choose from three different cars in the game. They are:
The McLaren-Honda turbo is the most powerful car in the game but is also the most difficult car to control. This is the 1988 combination that won 15 out of 16 Grands Prix. The Williams-Renault is the next most powerful and the car is relatively neutral to control. Interestingly the Williams-Renault is the 1989 combination but the Renault engine was in reality a V10, not the V8 that is in the game.
Grand Prix Circuit - DOS version
The Ferrari is actually the 1988 turbo car's chassis with a V12 engine. As the slowest of the three the Ferrari is also the easiest to control. Rival drivers also have their own styles and strengths, and to win the World Championship you will have to master these. Pitstop timing and planning is crucial as well, although only tires are changed in late-1980s F1.
There are five difficulty levels and three playing modes: practice, single event and championship circuit and the game is accompanied by music written for the Commodore 64 by Kris Hatlelid. The high score/end of game music is based on 'Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye' from 1969 by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer.
You can choose whether to drive a single race or to drive a full championship on every track. Every Race includes a qualifying round. The graphics in the game are sprite-based.
There are eight tracks in Grand Prix Circuit:
Jacarepaguá Circuit - Brazil
Circuit de Monaco - Monaco
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Canada
Detroit street circuit - United States
Silverstone - United Kingdom
Hockenheim - Germany
Monza - Italy
Suzuka - Japan
As stated in an interview with BBC's Top Gear in 2010, Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of the Gran Turismo (series) racing franchise for the PlayStation, was initially introduced to the genre of racing simulators by Grand Prix Circuit.
More details about this game can be found on
Wikipedia.org.
Find digital download of this game on
GOG
or
Steam.
Game controls:
All DOS games were controlled directly from the PC keyboard. Some newer DOS games also used a mouse or other more advanced game peripherals for control. However, each game was controlled by different keys. You can find a detailed description of how to control this version of Grand Prix Circuit in the attached game manual. An overview of basic keyboard commands and keyboard shortcuts to control this game is summarized in the following table:
Keys
Action
↑
Acceleration
↓
Brakes
←→
Turn left or right
A
Shift to a higher gear (works only in levels 3, 4 and 5).
Z
Shift to a lower gear (works only in levels 3, 4 and 5).
I
Turn ON/OFF the information panel (position, lap, time).
M
Turn ON/OFF the map.
D
Turn ON/OFF the display of speed shift pattern.
P
Pause
Ctrl + S
Sound ON/OFF
Esc
Quit game (return to the main menu)
Platform:
This version of Grand Prix Circuit was designed for personal computers with operating system MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System),
which was operating system developed by Microsoft in 1981. It was the most widely-used operating system in the first half of the 1990s. MS-DOS was supplied
with most of the IBM computers that purchased a license from Microsoft. After 1995, it was pushed out by a graphically more advanced system - Windows and
its development was ceased in 2000. At the
time of its greatest fame, several thousand games designed specifically for computers with this system were created. Today, its development is no longer continue
and for emulation the free DOSBox emulator is most often used. More information about MS-DOS operating system can be found
here.
Available online emulators:
5 different online emulators are available for Grand Prix Circuit. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For
maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic
features of each emulator available for this game Grand Prix Circuit are summarized in the following table:
If you like Grand Prix Circuit you'll probably like also some of the similar games in the overview below. The games you see here
are selected based on title similarity, game genre, and keywords. However, the list is generated automatically and can therefore be very 'subjective'
especially for some specific games. To find a particular game, please use our search form.
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This version of Grand Prix Circuit was designed for personal computers with operating system MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System),
which was operating system developed by Microsoft in 1981. It was the most widely-used operating system in the first half of the 1990s. MS-DOS was supplied
with most of the IBM computers that purchased a license from Microsoft. After 1995, it was pushed out by a graphically more advanced system - Windows and
its development was ceased in 2000. At the
time of its greatest fame, several thousand games designed specifically for computers with this system were created. Today, its development is no longer continue
and for emulation the free DOSBox emulator is most often used. More information about MS-DOS operating system can be found
