F1 Triple Battle

F1 Triple Battle is a Formula One racing simulation game developed and published by Human Entertainment for the PC Engine. You compete across a full season of Grands Prix, aiming to win the World Championship. The game includes all teams, cars, and drivers from the 1989 Formula One season, though fictional names are used due to licensing restrictions. Before each race, you can fine-tune your car through a detailed setup menu: change tyres, adjust steering stiffness, tune the engine, and choose between automatic transmission or a five-speed manual gearbox. You can also customize your vehicle's color scheme. The gameplay features a third-person perspective with scaling graphics. A track map displays your position relative to opponents and corners. The game includes three modes: World Championship, Test Run, and Battle.

PC Engine

Released exclusively in Japan on December 23, 1989, on HuCard. The game's most distinctive feature is its simultaneous three-player split-screen mode, one of the few racing games to support three players at launch. The screen is divided into three horizontal strips, each showing a different player's perspective. In single-player mode, the top section displays the track map instead. German magazine ASM noted that while multiplayer battles deliver intense head-to-head action, the solo experience feels average. Critics pointed to the small screen size when playing alone, occasional scrolling stutter, and unremarkable engine sounds as weaknesses. Human later reused the three-player system for their Super Famicom game. Despite its flaws, F1 Triple Battle remains a technical curiosity and a precursor to modern multiplayer racing games.