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F355 Challenge: Passion Rossa
By R. Michael Porter

In the arcade F355 Challenge was something great.  It offered the most the most realistic Ferrari experience.  Instead of wasting gas and eating up more ozone layer professional Ferrari racers use this game for practice.  I read somewhere that a driver actually shaved whole seconds off his time by using this game. That is pretty impressive for an arcade game.  Yet this Arcade masterpiece isn’t quite as impressive on the Dreamcast. 

The real downfall of this game is that it is too accurate.  I wouldn’t even consider playing this with the normal controller; you must have a driving wheel.  Which, if you don’t own one already, is $60 for a decent one.  The only view you get is inside the car and you only get to see the beautiful car models as they lap you.

The graphics in this game are some of the best on Dreamcast though.  The tracks are real and are scrupulously made after the actual courses.  The car models are breathtakingly accurate.  Light reflects off of the cars perfectly and there are awesome smoke effects from fishtails, wipeouts and crashes. 

The sound is top notch.  All of the track noises from tire squeals to engine revving are great.  The developer AM2 recorded actual Ferrari engines and put them in the game.  But, background music is like a bad radio station, I turned it off most of the time. 

The game physics are great.  The Ferrari actually drives like it should, an over-powered machine with the engine in the back (I own a Fiero so I know what that’s like.) that also means, however, that the car is incredibly hard to drive.  There are some tools the game uses to try and help you like automatic breaking and stability control but I feel that these make the game way too boring.  With these on you all you have to do is hold down the gas and steer, and then what’s the point of having an exact simulation of a Ferrari? 

If you love cars and racing and have incredible patience you will be rewarded with a great Ferrari experience.  Then you have to pick up a wheel and take your new Ferrari out for a spin. Otherwise you’d be best renting this title to see if you can deal with the incredible accuracy of the game and inaccuracy of the controller.