Grand Prix 500 cc

Grand Prix 500 cc is a 1987 racing game from the French studio Microids — the very first title the company, later famous for adventure games, ever put out. The subject is the motorcycle world championship in the premier 500cc class: twelve circuits from around the world, a view from behind the handlebars and a season-long fight for the title. The game originally appeared on the eight-bit machines and the Atari ST, reaching the PC in 1987.

There are two ways to ride. The championship puts you on the grid alongside six rivals for nine-lap races; the training mode is a short two-lap run for learning a track. The real trump card, though, arrives with a second player: the screen splits vertically and you race head to head, each on your own half. On home computers in 1987 that was far from standard, and it is still the most entertaining way to play.

The riding model is simple in the period way: brake enough for the corners, hold your line and work your way past rivals whose main talent is being in your way. Putting a clean lap together still takes a bit of feel — and that is where the charm sits, because there are twelve tracks and each one bites somewhere different.

Seen from today, Grand Prix 500 cc is bare-bones. The scenery is schematic, the sense of speed comes and goes, and the solo championship will not hold you for long. Sit a friend down next to you, however, and the game's age stops mattering — a wheel-to-wheel split-screen duel works just as it did back then. As a trip to the very beginnings of motorcycle racing on the PC, it still does its job.

It runs on oldgame.cz directly in the browser, nothing to install.