Exhaust Heat

Exhaust Heat F1 ROC: Race of Champions
North American box art
Developer(s)	Seta
Publisher(s)	JP / NA: Seta
Programmer(s)	Tetsuo Mochizuki
Composer(s)	Masanao Akahori (Opus Corp.)
Series	F1 ROC
Platforms	SNES
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Exhaust Heat (エキゾースト・ヒート), released in North America as F1 ROC: Race of Champions, is a 1992 racing video game developed by Seta Corporation for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The following year, the game was followed up with F1 ROC II: Race of Champions.

Gameplay

This is a screenshot of a typical game. The player shown here is competing at the Canadian Grand Prix that took place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

There are more than a dozen open wheel racing tracks in the world; all of them corresponding to the 1992 Formula One season, with races all over the Earth. Realistic looking advertisements are present where the audience sits complete with near-perfect spelling of sponsors; this mild level of censorship applies because some of the sponsors are tobacco or alcohol-related. The game uses the Super Famicom's Mode 7 to give the track and background perspective.

Players have a limited amount of money to modify their race car before having to qualify and eventually try to win the race. Modifications must be purchased out of the player's pocket like if he were a driver/owner. As with F1 rules at the time, no refueling was possible; pit stops are only used to fix damage on the automobile. Post-race damage penalties will occur if the player finished the race with a damaged vehicle. Even a minor dent can be expensive to a rookie because of the high level of marksmanship by the mechanics. Total damage can and will force the player to retire from the race. The player can choose to hide his stats (in order to look at the backgrounds) or view his stats in order to find out whether he is winning or not.

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score Famitsu 26/40 Mean Machines 91%

In an import review for Mean Machines, Julian Rignall cited Exhaust Heat as "one of the most rewarding, enjoyable and long-lasting racing games around", although he noted that "there no trackside obstacles and the game has a rather sparse and empty feel about it." Radion Automatic also praised the game, writing that "[e]ven non-race fans will be converted by this stunning release." Writers for Famitsu called Exhaust Heat an "easy type of F-Zero".

External links

• Exhaust Heat at MobyGames