A definitive kart racing game, this really isn't. Still, kids and fans might like it.
F1 Race Stars does have a lot to offer in terms of racing variety, as you can take on Career, Race and Elimination rounds, alone against AI racers or with others in a competitive sense. You can hop on Xbox Live and PSN to race against friends, and even check your stats through the RacerNet service, which is normally reserved for more serious driving affairs. Decent to have anyway.
Where F1 stalls a bit is in its gameplay. The handling of your vehicle is all right, but the lack of drifting is rather severe. Drifting has become a institution of sorts in racing games, as you strategically use it to get a quick boost and try to stay within the lead. Without it, you're resorted to using particular sets of the track in order to get a speed boost. It just feels like something's missing.
There's also a lack of distinct personality in the power-ups. You've got missiles, bubbles (in which you can trap enemies in) and other various tools of the trade, but there's hardly the same level of "these are F1 power-ups" here at all, along the same lines of what Mario Kart and Sonic use. Some players won't mind, but we could've used more imagination with these.
Between the prolonged tracks, the simplistic gameplay and the overall sense that the game doesn't try often enough to innovate, F1 Race Stars clearly falls behind the far superior All Stars Transformed. That said, if you have kart racing fans in your family that live and breathe F1, or you just need something easy to race against the kids, you could do far worse.
Score: 6 / 10
