From its humble beginnings, F1 Race Stars was a completely different beast from what you would expect in a Formula 1 racer. The game didn't feature the iconic simulation style from other Codemasters games, which was be a very big letdown for some players. That doesn't mean that the experience was bad however, as this spin-off found itself in a whole new position. Now I finally can since the game has made its debut on Wii U as F1 Race Stars: Powered Up Edition, which adds all the downloadable content from the original version for free. Does this make the package feel better overall though? Not exactly, but we’ll get to that.

F1 Race Stars: Powered Edition is a game that is more akin to kart racers like Mario Kart or Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed. This change gives it a brand new style, which is way more colorful, and family friendly. This has also a direct influence on the tracks, which aren't fully representative of their real-life counterparts any longer. There are, of course, the important spots, like the final turns in Abu Dhabi or the tunnel in the Monaco track. This means the tracks are unique, and there is plenty of new things to discover as you travel through them. On the Belgium track you can see the wildlife in Ardennes, while in Japan there are big, open streets and filled up metros. It keeps the tracks feeling fresh and fun to ride around in, but there is more going on than just new things to look at. The tracks are also packed with cool elements like vertical slices, loops and big jumps. This made the small ventures exciting, which I reckon was what Codemasters was shooting for.

On the gameplay side of it, there are the various items you can use or shoot at other players. There is the well-known safety car, with which you can slow down the entire field of players and play catch up. There are also rainclouds, with which you can punish the player in front of you. There are even the regular equivalents of the speed boost, the red shell and the green shell, which you would expect in a proper karting adventure. The controls feel also pretty solid and you can decide to steer with the D-Pad, Circle Pad or the gyroscope. The only gripe I have is very minor and you will get used to this after awhile, but it deserves mentioning: it was downright weird for me to discover that the game doesn't feature a drift button. You will have to use your breaks instead to slow down, which is usual in the regular Formula 1 experience. It is a bit unusual for a karting game however, so my mind had to do a 180 in that sense. 

The game also features a career mode, in which you will have to challenge yourself in various tournaments. While it repeats tracks from time to time, because there are only 15 tracks, it does constantly introduce new elements to mix it up. In one championship for example, you will have to bump up your tank constantly as you are quickly losing gas. In another, you try to stay in the front of the pack, as opponents will be thrown out the competition one by one. There is the regular racing mode of course, but the variety keeps it from growing really stale. There is also a Time Trial mode, where you can try to beat your score and be posh about them on Miiverse or online leaderboards.

As we enter multiplayer, we look at the elephant in the room and I became really grumpy. The game does feature local multiplayer, with which various controllers can be used and the previously mentioned variations can be accessed. While this is really fun, it’s unforgivable that F1 Race Stars doesn't feature online multiplayer. This is really something that makes my blood boil, as the original releases had this in their feature set. Why was the option excluded from the Wii U version of the software? For a ''Powered Up Edition'', that doesn't seem great for the longevity of the game, which clocks in, at best, around 10 hours with no online functions.

If it weren't for the lack of online multiplayer, I would have given the game a real solid recommendation. As the game is full retail price, I would recommend that those interested wait for a price drop before picking the game up. That is a big shame, considering the 15 tracks are worth exploring and the gameplay is fun to toy around with. Because even if you aren't invested in Formula 1, there might be something to like in F1 Race Stars: Powered up Edition.