Famicom Grand Prix (series)

Famicom Grand Prix
First installment	Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race (1987)
Latest installment	Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally (1988)
Franchise	Super Mario

The Famicom Grand Prix series is a short Japan-only racing game series in the Super Mario franchise released solely on the Family Computer Disk System and developed by both Nintendo EAD and HAL Laboratory. It spans two games, both of which are quite different from each other in gameplay and content despite the shared genre and branding. Both games were subject to a tournament shortly after release. The series is a spinoff of an earlier, much more basic racing game on the Family Computer, F1 Race by HAL Laboratory, which had no relation to the Super Mario franchise until its Game Boy port added cameos of several characters; it also has elements from Mach Rider by the same development team.

List of games

Title
Cover, original release, and system	Synopsis
Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race
October 30, 1987[?] FDS	Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race is a top-down competitive racing game that features Mario using any of 24 purchasable Formula One cars to race around ten circuits against opponents from around the world. The goal is to earn dollars to buy better cars and win the four race levels to unlock even further advanced cars for payment. Each of the cars has a limited amount of tire quality, gas capacity, and body durability, which can be restocked with a pit stop. The game also features a time trial mode with six circuits of its own.
Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally
April 14, 1988[?] FDS	Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally is a forward-camera time-based racing game featuring Mario as a driver and Luigi as a navigator racing through three lengthy branching courses going through various environments each, going through hills, jumps, and different times of day. Here, the aim is to get to the checkpoints on time while avoiding objects on and alongside the road, with the opponents merely serving as obstacles. The number of playable vehicles has been reduced to three, but they are much more physically and functionally different from each other than the previous games' are, including a sports car, 4-wheel-drive van, and buggy with their own strengths and weaknesses. Once again, damage must be repaired, though due to a lack of pits, Mario and Luigi must stop alongside the road to repair it themselves.

Legacy

The two games would provide the backbone for later vehicular racing games produced in-house at Nintendo. Two notable examples were on the Disk System's successor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or Super Famicom) through use of its "Mode 7" graphics layer. The first, F-Zero, was inspired by complaints from Nintendo of America that the cars in 3D Hot Rally looked too "cute," so the game was given a space-themed aesthetic to appeal to mature audiences. The gameplay is a mixture of the two games, having the circuits, limited resources (in this case, a "power" gauge that represents the vehicle's durability and boosting ability), and "generic" NPC racer system of the former game and the camera angle and physics of the latter. Another successor on the same system, this one within the Super Mario franchise, is Super Mario Kart. This one has a similar mix of traits, but it instead plays up the levity by removing the limited resources and changing the vehicles to go-karts, with a cast entirely of Super Mario characters racing each other with the help of comedic items. Both of these games would go on to spawn their own respective series. While the Famicom Grand Prix series itself has ended in favor of the Mario Kart series, the Monster vehicle from the second game makes sporadic appearances in the franchise, such as a miniaturized version called the Tiny Titan appearing in Mario Kart Wii.

Comparison between predecessors and successors

FC/NES Predecessors
F1 Race Initial release: November 2, 1984[?] Developer: HAL Laboratory A forward-camera Formula One racing game where the player must complete circuits in a time limit while avoiding other cars as obstacles.	Mach Rider Initial release: August 27, 1985[?] Developer: HAL Laboratory A forward-camera vehicular combat game where the player must guide a motorcyclist through several end-to-end stages while avoiding obstacles and shooting enemies. Other modes have looping courses, but they are not depicted as circuits. A course designer mode is also included.
FDS Series
Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race Initial release: October 30, 1987[?] Developer: HAL Laboratory / Nintendo EAD A top-down Formula One racing game where the player must beat a large grid of opponents around circuits while keeping resources from depleting to get money to buy better vehicles. The game has limited multiplayer.	Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally Initial release: April 14, 1988[?] Developer: HAL Laboratory / Nintendo EAD A forward-camera rally game where the player must drive between lengthy end-to-end stages divided between several sections while avoiding obstacles and opponents and keeping up with the timer.
SFC/SNES Successors
F-Zero Initial release: November 21, 1990[?] Developer: Nintendo EAD A forward-camera futuristic Formula One racing game where the player must complete circuits before three named opponents and several generic ones while keeping the vehicle powered.	Super Mario Kart Initial release: August 27, 1992[?] Developer: Nintendo EAD A forward-camera go-kart rally game where the player must drive around circuits and beat a grid of seven opponents, using items to assist. The game has a full two-player mode.