Developer: Lankhor
Publisher: Lankhor
Platform: MS-DOS
DOS Release: 1994
Genre: Racing / Formula One
Perspective: First-Person
Modes: Training, Single Race, Championship
During the early 1990s, racing games were rapidly evolving from simple arcade experiences into increasingly sophisticated simulations. Among the titles that helped bridge those two worlds was Vroom, a fast and remarkably smooth Formula One racing game from French developer Lankhor.
Originally appearing on the Atari ST before reaching the Amiga and eventually MS-DOS, Vroom arrived on DOS in 1994. Although its technology looked relatively modest beside some of the increasingly polygon-heavy racing games of the period, its greatest strength was never graphical complexity. It was speed.
And decades later, speed remains the reason Vroom is so entertaining.
Start Your Engine
Vroom places you directly inside the cockpit of a Formula One-style racing car. Rather than presenting the action from an overhead or chase-camera perspective, the game uses a first-person viewpoint that puts the circuit directly in front of the player.
The objective couldn’t be simpler: drive fast, survive the corners, overtake your opponents and reach the finish line.
Players can choose between automatic and manual transmission and participate in training sessions, individual races or a complete championship.
The accessibility is one of the game’s strongest qualities. You don’t need to study a huge manual or configure dozens of mechanical settings before racing. Within minutes, you’re accelerating down the track and fighting for position.
Arcade Speed Meets Simulation
What makes Vroom particularly interesting is its position between an arcade racer and a Formula One simulation.
The handling is straightforward enough that newcomers can quickly understand the controls, yet there is more happening beneath the surface than simply holding down the accelerator.
Drivers must negotiate tight corners, hills and tunnels while dealing with traffic and maintaining their racing line. Championship racing adds further considerations, while pit stops introduce tyre and fuel management.
The result is a racing game that feels immediately accessible without becoming completely mindless.
Rather than attempting to reproduce every technical aspect of Formula One, Vroom concentrates on something arguably more important for a videogame:
making driving feel exciting.
An Excellent Sense of Speed
The game’s defining feature is unquestionably its sensation of velocity.
Trackside objects rush toward the player while rival cars rapidly increase in size as you approach them. The relatively simple scenery actually works in the game’s favour because everything moves quickly and clearly.
Once you’re travelling at maximum speed, weaving between opponents and preparing for the next corner, Vroom can become surprisingly intense.
The cockpit also provides useful information without overwhelming the screen. A speedometer and gear indicator keep you informed, while working mirrors allow you to see cars approaching from behind.
For a racing game whose roots stretch back to the early 1990s, the effect remains remarkably convincing.
Circuits That Demand Concentration
The tracks contain considerably more variety than their simple graphical presentation initially suggests.
Sharp bends require careful braking, while elevation changes can suddenly alter your view of the road ahead. Tunnels and surrounding scenery provide visual landmarks that help distinguish one section of a circuit from another.
Learning the tracks becomes an important part of improving your performance.
At first, you may enter a corner far too quickly and leave the circuit. After several attempts, however, you’ll begin anticipating braking points and positioning your car correctly before each bend.
That familiar racing-game progression — from barely surviving a circuit to confidently attacking it — gives Vroom considerable replay value.
Graphics
Visually, Vroom is very much a product of its era.
The environments combine relatively simple 3D-style road presentation with 2D objects and sprites. Cars, buildings, trees and trackside scenery aren’t particularly detailed by modern standards.
But graphical sophistication isn’t everything.
The important achievement is how smoothly the environment communicates movement. Instead of concentrating on elaborate scenery, the game uses its resources to maintain the impression of rapid forward motion.
The result may look primitive in screenshots, but it becomes much more impressive once everything starts moving.
Sound
The audio presentation is similarly functional.
Engine noise provides the constant mechanical soundtrack expected from a Formula One racer, while other effects reinforce the feeling of being inside a racing machine.
There’s nothing cinematic here, but there doesn’t need to be. The combination of engine sounds, rapid scenery movement and approaching corners produces the necessary atmosphere.
This is racing stripped down to its essentials.
Difficulty
Vroom is easy to understand but considerably harder to master.
Driving aggressively may initially produce faster lap times, but excessive speed through corners usually ends badly. Successful racing requires learning when to accelerate, when to brake and when to position the car for the next turn.
Manual transmission adds another layer of involvement for players who want additional control.
The difficulty therefore feels appropriate: accessible enough for casual racing but demanding enough to reward practice.
How Has Vroom Aged?
From a modern perspective, Vroom obviously lacks the sophisticated physics, detailed circuits and spectacular graphics associated with contemporary racing simulations.
But judging it purely by modern standards misses the point.
This is a game built around immediacy.
Start the game, select your race and drive.
There are no enormous menus, downloadable content, online accounts or complicated progression systems separating the player from the circuit.
That simplicity is refreshing.
More importantly, Vroom demonstrates how effectively early racing games could create excitement with relatively limited hardware. The technology has aged; the fundamental pleasure of overtaking another car at high speed has not.
Historical Importance
Vroom also occupies an interesting position in European racing-game history.
Lankhor developed a reputation for technically impressive racing titles, and the ideas behind Vroom would continue into later Formula One projects. Its combination of fast presentation, accessible controls and simulation elements helped establish a formula that worked extremely well on early 16-bit computers and DOS PCs.
Today, the game provides an excellent snapshot of racing design during the transition between sprite-based arcade racers and the increasingly sophisticated 3D simulations that would dominate PC racing later in the decade.
Final Verdict
Vroom is a wonderfully straightforward piece of retro racing.
Its graphics are simple, its presentation is minimal and its simulation elements are modest compared with later Formula One games. Yet once the race begins, those limitations become surprisingly easy to forget.
The sensation of speed is excellent, the controls are responsive and learning each circuit remains satisfying.
Players expecting a hardcore Formula One simulator may find Vroom too arcade-oriented. But anyone interested in classic DOS racing games should give it a try.
Sometimes you don’t need hundreds of licensed cars, photorealistic circuits or complicated physics models.
Sometimes you just need a cockpit, a racetrack and a throttle.
And Vroom delivers exactly that.
GameSphere Rating: 8/10
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Verdict: A fast, accessible and surprisingly addictive Formula One racer that demonstrates just how exciting early PC racing could be.
Youtube
Discover more from GameSphere
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
