Formula 1 97

Formula 1 97 (known as Formula 1 Championship Edition in the United States) is the second game in the Formula One game series. This games was more of an evolution of the original Formula One than a brand new game. However, it had several new features, including a cockpit camera view (complete with dirt and flies hitting the visor, with the player having to remove the driver's tear-off strips), if playing on the Play Station, the use of the joystick and the introduction of a co-commentator (in both the U.K. and U.S. versions, this was Martin Brundle). Setting up the car became more intricate. Formula One 97 was developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Psygnosis.

The game was the first in the series to have a specific driver on the front cover, Michael Schumacher appearing on the front of the '97 cover, however the Prost car of Olivier Panis appeared instead on the cover of the French version, with Jean Alesi's Benetton appearing on the Japanese cover.

Gameplay
Formula 1 97 contained an "arcade" mode which felt like a completely separate game. Handling was totally different, with the emphasis placed on powersliding. In the simulation mode (or "Grand Prix" mode as shown on the menu), it also saw the introduction of more realistic elements such as flags and car failures.

Teams and drivers
(Williams Numberone)
 * Arrows-Yamaha
 * 1. Damon Hill
 * 2. Pedro Diniz
 * Williams-Renault
 * 3. Jacques Villeneuve
 * 4. Heinz-Harald Frentzen
 * Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
 * 5. Michael Schumacher
 * 6. Eddie Irvine
 * Benetton-Renault
 * 7. Jean Alesi
 * 8. Gerhard Berger
 * McLaren-Mercedes
 * 9. Mika Häkkinen
 * 10. David Coulthard
 * Jordan-Peugeot
 * 11. Ralf Schumacher
 * 12. Giancarlo Fisichella
 * Prost-Mugen-Honda
 * 14. Olivier Panis
 * 15. Shinji Nakano
 * Sauber-Petronas
 * 16. Johnny Herbert
 * 17. Nicola Larini
 * Tyrrell-Ford
 * 18. Jos Verstappen
 * 19. Mika Salo
 * Minardi-Hart
 * 20. Ukyo Katayama
 * 21. Jarno Trulli
 * Stewart-Ford
 * 22. Rubens Barrichello
 * 23. Jan Magnussen


 * It is also worth noting that Lola is included in the game's manual; on the back cover with the team logos and also in the drivers and teams lineup, but they are not actually included in the game. Furthermore, the Minardi and Stewart team are pictured with the wrong car in the manual (The Minardi M197 being replaced by the Williams FW19, and the Stewart SF01 being replaced by the Ferrari F310)

Reception
It is seen as having achieved the best possible balance between realism and fun. Some still say that it is the best Formula One game to date. However, this was the last Formula One game to be made by the Bizarre Creations team, who moved on to create the highly successful Metropolis Street Racer and Project Gotham Racing.

Lawsuit from the FIA
The game was hit by legal wranglings with the FIA (Formula One's governing body) objecting to the use of the FIA logo on the game's packaging. The game was withdrawn from the shops six weeks after its release. It was re-released without the offending logo, but the FIA were still unhappy. However, the FIA lost this court case, and the game continued to be sold without the logo. Another problem faced was the use of the name and image of then Williams F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve, after he had copyrighted both. The game listed him (and Murray Walker calls him) "Williams Numberone", and had simply a silhouette as the driver's image (this problem however was easily sidestepped by the addition of a driver name edit function, this idea proved popular and re-appeared in Formula 1 98, but unfortunately was not used for any of the following games). The driver name edit function is also used to enter cheats, such as unlocking 4 extra tracks (60's Silverstone, back-to-front versions of Adelaide and the TI Circuit at Aida and a made-up track called Sunob (bonus spelt backwards). Other cheats are raining frogs and the cars having the ability to hover.

Alcohol and tobacco related sponsors
All alcohol and tobacco sponsors are censored.
 * Ferrari's Marlboro is replaced by a "bar code" (as in real life).
 * Benetton's Mild Seven is replaced by "Benetton".
 * McLaren's West is completely censored.
 * Williams's Rothmans is replaced by Racing.
 * Foster's at some tracks is replaced with "Faster".