Grand Prix 2

About Grand Prix 2

Grand Prix 2 (1996) is Geoff Crammond's officially licensed simulation of the 1994 Formula One season, a near one-man project whose adjustable driving aids made it both a punishing sim and an accessible racer, selling 1.5 million copies.

Grand Prix 2 in Depth

It simulates the 1994 Formula One season with all 16 circuits and 28 drivers in 14 teams. Unlike the real season, where teams repeatedly changed drivers and liveries, it uses a single line-up and set of liveries from the 1994 German Grand Prix, where all teams ran without tobacco sponsors, so Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, killed at the San Marino Grand Prix, are absent, as is Nigel Mansell. Some circuits show safety changes made during the season. Players take any of the 28 seats through practice, qualifying and races, a full championship or a customisable Quickrace, with hotseat and modem or LAN multiplayer; in turn-based multiplayer, the computer drives other players' cars while they wait.

Seven driving aids, including steering and braking help, automatic gears, traction control and indestructibility, can be switched on or off, with fewer allowed at higher difficulties. Cars can suffer engine, gearbox and electrical failures, trailing smoke or flames before parking at the roadside, the first game to show visual car failures. Setups can be tuned in great detail, a simulated TV view joins the cockpit camera, and a replay shows the last 30 seconds. There is no wet weather and no black flag system; cutting corners simply slows the car for a time.

Making Grand Prix 2

Crammond developed it as the follow-up to 1991's Formula One Grand Prix, a rare one-man project in an industry dominated by teams, with SVGA graphics, 3D texture mapping, liveries mapped over 3D car models and an early 3D physics engine. MicroProse released it for DOS in July 1996 under an official FIA licence. Sales reached 500,000 by September, 750,000 by January 1997, driven largely by Europe, and 1.5 million by late 2000. Critics hailed it as the class of the field: GameSpot's Jim Varner praised how its aids made it both "a phenomenally complex and realistic driving sim" and one of the most fun arcade racers, calling it "unquestionably the best racing game yet made for the PC", and PC Zone gave it 95%. Next Generation named it the 46th best game of all time, and PC Gamer UK ranked it and its predecessor seventh in 1997. A large modding community has kept it updated with new seasons, and the modern MicroProse acquired the series rights in 2025.