We have already reviewed Codemasters' excellent F1 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Nintendo 3DS, all versions have one thing in common - they are great titles on their respective platforms. With the launch of the PlayStation Vita, Codies has released the game for a third time. Read on to find out if F1 2011 hits the apex or spins into the gravel.

Okay, I left you with a bit of a cliff hanger there but let me make it up to you, F1 2011 on the PS Vita is as impressive as ever and the third release truly is the charm. Codemasters already had the perfect setup with the previous versions on the market and it certainly didn't mess up the PS Vita port, it also is a great game. When I first heard that Codies would port one of my favorite games of the past year to the Vita, my hopes were pretty high. Looking at the Vita with its beautiful screen, dual sticks and high performance processor, it seemed to be a great fit for Codemasters' flagship Formula 1 game.

F1 2011 includes just about all the goodies from its big brother for this PS Vita release. The game comes with the championship and season modes as well as a scaled down multiplayer and coop mode. While the console and PC versions of the game have 16 player multiplayer and 2 player coop seasons, the PS Vita port has 4 player multiplayer racing and 2 v 2 coop racing. Unfortunately I wasn't able to test the multiplayer modes since there was not a lot of activity on the servers.


I was able to play the game's single player modes though and I was impressed. Of course the Vita version looses some of its fidelity and is somewhat twitchy but with a bit of practice, this does not really present any issues. After a few races I was fully accustomed to the mechanics of F1 2011 and had a blast with it. The cars handle somewhere between simulation and arcade, while they lean more towards the latter. F1 2011 has all the driving aids we are used to such as steering and breaking assists as well as a racing line, of course all of them can be turned off. During races I had to turn up the AI's difficulty pretty high to get a good challenge as the game provides a good balance for all kinds of experience levels. F1 2011 also comes complete with DRS and KERS which are new additions to Formula 1 and are included for the first time with the 2011 versions the game.

Just as impressed as I was with the actual racing of F1 2011, I was with the presentation and design of the game. Codemasters managed to squeeze quite a bit of performance out of the Vita and as a result F1 2011 looks extremely good. The tracks and opponents are nicely detailed while the cockpit view could stand to look a bit sharper. All of the menus were easy to navigate and made for a seamless experience. Loading tracks and switching between all the different menu screens was fast and seamless, I never felt bored since the game kept me going back into the action immediately

Racing games on handhelds have typically been filled with arcade action titles and seemed to leave 'hardcore' racing fans waiting for their turn. While F1 2011 for the PlayStation Vita isn't quite the bone-breaking simulation I had hoped for, it is probably the next best thing for racing fans on the go.

Score: 8 / 10

F1 2011 was developed and published by Codemasters for PlayStation Vita on February 14th. A retail copy of the game was provided to us by Codemasters for reviewing purposes.