TOCA Championship Racing

About TOCA Championship Racing

The player races against fifteen AI competitors for one of the eight work teams (each team has two drivers who compete for them). They participate on one of the nine circuits that feature in the championship. The vehicles in the game are super touring cars for which the player can select the gearbox setting to either automatic or manual. Three types of views can be accessed: a close-up back-end view remotely from the car, a perspective from the engine compartment, and an internal view from the passenger compartment. Selecting a car places the player in the position of the first named driver for each team. That driver's name would then not appear in the race, and the player's name would appear instead. The TOCA Touring Car Championship offers various game modes: A race weekend consists of a qualifying session and the main race. The player may choose to start the event by choosing any of these events. The qualifying session offers the player three laps to record the fastest possible lap time for a better position on the starting grid. Should the player skip the qualifying session, the competitor is required to start at the back of the field.

Multiplayer allows up to two players on the PlayStation version or eight players on the PC version to complete in either split-screen or LAN. A single race allows the player to compete with a predefined car and circuit. The player can set the number of laps, the weather and the difficulty level, and may decide to play the game in multi-player, whereby all participants can choose to grant a speed boost to the losing player. At the beginning of the game, only two circuits are available; the others are unlocked by progressing in championship mode. The championship mode offers the player the opportunity to participate in the British Touring Car Championship. It is organised into twelve race meetings of two rounds each. The player can choose how long the season lasts. Unlike the PAL version of the game, the US version of the game has a "difficulty" option (standard/expert) for championship mode. Each round consists of a qualifying session and the main race. The player is required to earn 20 points to continue competing in the championship. However, any unsportsmanlike conduct is punishable with an on-screen warning. Points are deducted on a gradual scale after the player has received three warnings. Earning six of these warnings will lead to the player being disqualified from the race. Cups are awarded to the player based on his or her performances and allow for the unlocking of extra circuits, hidden cars and cheat codes. Time trial consists of the player recording the fastest possible lap time with that person selecting weather conditions. Once a reference time has been established, a phantom car is materialised, prompting the player to further improve on the previous best lap. During the game's operating period, players could publish their lap times on Codemasters's website and compare themselves to others.

The Game Boy Color version offers a different game system, due to the technical limitations of the platform. The game displays an isometric 3D view typical of the games on the console. The championship and time trial modes are unchanged although only one car per team is entered in the race. The simple racing mode allows the player to set options that are more restricted than in the PlayStation and Windows versions. All circuits in the game are unlocked from the start, without the need for the player to progress through championship mode to unlock them. The multiplayer mode offers the possibility for eight players to compete in turns.