F1 Race Stars is a parody of a Formula One simulation. It renders the F1 racers as wacky characters and their cars as karts.

Style

The game features drivers, teams, and races from the 2012 season of Formula One. However, unlike most simulators, which aim to represent the races realistically, F1 Race Stars is a humorous arcade game. The racers, such as Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton, are depicted as cartoonish versions of themselves.

Tracks

There's a total of eleven tracks based on the real Formula One circuits. They retained their basic configurations but were enhanced with springboards, loops, traps, and other unrealistic features. The circuits' backgrounds also became comical representations of a country where the race is set in.

Gameplay

Although the game is a kart simulation, F1 Race Stars doesn't imitate the actual karting, either. It provides a fictional combination of karting and Formula driving experiences. The cars in the game cannot drift and slide. Instead, the game uses the real-world KERS system to give the car a boost when exiting the corner. The game features power-up in the vein of Super Mario Kart, and some of them are parodies of the actual Formula One elements, such as a safety car. Each team in F1 Race Stars also has a special ability, such as shooting at the opponents for Ferrari or a free boost for Red Bull.