ESPN - SpeedWorld
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Table of Contents
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[INTR] Introduction
[MODE] Modes of Play
[FAQS] Frequently Asked Questions
[CARS] Car Setup
[VERS] Version History
[COPY] Copyright
[CONT] Contact Information
Easy Navigation: Hold down the Ctrl key and press F to bring down a search bar.
Then type in the code for the section you want to see (for example, [VERS] for
the Version History section).
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Introduction [INTR]
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Okay, I'm writing ANOTHER walkthrough. This is my ninth! If you've read my
other guides, you know I like talking about Super NES motor racing games, as
more than half of my guides to date have been written for that genre. ESPN
SpeedWorld is hardly state-of-the-art, but it's a fun way to spend a couple of
hours when you're snowed in (my thermometer reads 81 degrees at the moment, by
the way). I don't have a huge amount of advice to give you for this game, but
what I do have should be pretty helpful. And for the record, I'm beginning this
guide on the Anniversary of the Constitution in Mexico. It's also what the
media has declared to be Super Duper Tuesday, but you'll be able to make it
through this guide without hearing about Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, or Mike
Huckabee. Yippee! I think it's about time to end this boring introduction and
move on to the tips.
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Modes of Play [MODE]
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You can change the current game mode on the Options menu found on the opening
screen. This is also where you can change the difficulty level (Rookie, Pro, or
Veteran) and turn music and sound on or off. Before every race you'll have the
opportunity to decide the number of laps and whether you want damage and pit
stops (fuel consumption and tire wear). After that you'll also be able to
change your car's settings.
---Season---
In Season Mode, you'll fight your way through a 15-race season. Points and
prize money will be awarded after each race, with the amount depending on your
finish. The driver with the most points at the end of the season will be the
champion. The prize money can be used to purchase upgrades for your car.
---Single Race---
Run one race at the track of your choice after completing a qualifying session.
---Head to Head---
Same as Single Race, but in Head to Head Mode two human players race
simultaneously on a split screen. There are still computer drivers on the road,
too.
---Practice---
In Practice Mode, you can run a set number of laps at the track of your choice.
No other drivers are on the track with you.
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Frequently Asked Questions [FAQS]
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Q: What are the controls?
A: Chances are, you got this game at the GameStop bargain bin or the Salvation
Army (or downloaded the ROM) and don't have a manual.
Control pad left and right: Steer the car
X: Accelerate
A: Brake
R: Shift gears up (if using a manual transmission)
L: Shift down
Start: Pause game
Select: Quit race (when paused)
You can change the controls on the opening screen if you don't like this
configuration, but I find it to be OK.
Q: How do I make a pit stop?
A: Simply veer leftward into the pit area and you'll pit automatically.
However, if you touch the line between the road and the pit lane, you'll keep
going and not stop. You should be all right if you stay in the left lane before
entering the pits. Remember: When the word "PIT" appears on the screen, pit or
you'll blow a tire or run out of gas by the next lap.
Q: How can I speed up pit stops?
A: Tap L as fast as possible to refuel more quickly, and mash the R button to
speed up tire stops. Make sure to use turbo buttons if you have a turbo
controller or are playing on an emulator. While you usually want to fully fill
up your fuel and tire gauges, you may want to fill them only partially if you
have to pit with just a few laps remaining.
Q: How do I know how worn my tires are?
A: There's a gauge depicting four tires on the right side of the screen near
the speedometer and tachometer and directly above the fuel gauge. Each
disappearing fraction of a tire represents some tire wear. When you're down to
one tire, think about making a pit stop.
Q: Should I use a manual or automatic transmission?
A: An automatic transmission is easier to use, but a manual transmission
improves acceleration very slightly. This difference isn't really noticeable,
and it doesn't affect your top speed or handling. If you use a manual
transmission, make sure to remember to upshift after leaving the pit lane,
after yellow flags, and at the start of the race, and to downshift if you get
caught up in a crash or otherwise drop below 130 MPH or so.
Q: When should I shift while accelerating when using a manual transmission?
A: Shift from first gear to second at about 50 MPH, to third once you reach 90
MPH, and to fourth when you're going about 140 MPH. However, this can vary a
little depending on your gear ratio, engine power, and (to a lesser extent)
spoiler angle.
Q: What is the best car setup for each track?
A: Here are my recommended settings:
Gearbox Spoiler
Florida (Daytona) High 30
Washington Low 60
Maryland (Dover, DE) High 30
Arizona (Phoenix) Medium 45
Oregon (Sears Point) Low 60
North Carolina (Rockingham) High 30
Pennsylvania (Pocono) High 45
New York (Watkins Glen) Medium 45
Virginia (Martinsville) Low 60
Alabama (Talladega) High 30
New Jersey High 45
South Carolina (Darlington) High 45
Minnesota (Michigan) High 30
California Medium 45
Indiana (Indianapolis) High 30
Q: Does changing the number of laps in a race affect the prize money awarded in
that race?
A: No. The prize money is always the same, regardless of the number of laps or
whether damage and pit stops are turned on or off.
Q: Can I run a race without qualifying first?
A: Yes. When "Qualifying or Race" appears right after the car setup screen,
just select "Race." I strongly recommend that you qualify, though, because
otherwise you're guaranteed to start in 24th place (dead last).
Q: Can I change the difficulty level during a season?
A: Yes. However, I haven't noticed much difference between the difficulty
levels (Rookie, Pro, and Veteran).
Q: What's the fastest speed you've ever achieved?
A: My record for fastest straight-line speed is 226 MPH. Tell me if you can go
faster than that!
Q: What other tips do you have?
A: Below are some helpful miscellaneous tips:
* Drafting is very important in this game, even on road courses. If you're not
drafting on someone, you'll probably start falling behind.
* Stay on the road to reduce tire wear.
* Fuel is consumed more quickly on faster courses like Talladega, while tire
wear is usually the main concern on road courses and short tracks. Keep this
in mind if you have only one turbo button on your controller.
* You don't usually need to brake in this game, except at one very sharp turn
at Watkins Glen and when you're trying to avoid a pileup. It's usually best to
just let your finger off the accelerator on sharp turns.
* Block opposing drivers to keep them from passing you. It's OK to be very
aggressive! If you're really audacious, you can try tapping the brakes to slow
down a particularly annoying tailgater.
* Sometimes, however, it's advantageous to let another driver pass you so you
can use it to draft, especially if you're not in first place.
* If you're side-by-side with another driver, you're coming up to a sharp turn,
and the opponent is between you and the wall, you may be able to use the
opponent as a cushion and drive faster and more aggressively than normal.
* When starting near the back of the field (especially at Daytona and
Virginia), watch out for the inevitable bumping, spinouts, and crashes that
will occur.
* If you see a car about to hit another in the rear, look out! It's possible
that one or both of them will lose control or be forced to slow down - two
things that make them unsuitable drafting partners. Be ready to get out of the
way. This is especially dangerous when faster cars slam into lapped cars or
cars leaving the pit lane.
* Accidents often occur near pit lane and on sharp turns on superspeedways and
short courses. And as discussed in the previous tip, beware of "dropkicks"
(cars hitting each other in the rear). Try not to get dropkicked yourself,
especially when leaving the pits.
* You can't change car settings between qualifying and the race, so make sure
to get the setup right before you qualify. One of my previous questions is very
useful when determining your settings.
* Drive more cautiously on turns when your tires are worn to avoid spinouts and
crashes.
* If you don't like the way a race is going in Season mode, just reset and
select that same save file again. You'll be able to start the race over again.
Q: What tips do you have specific to each course?
A: I'm not going in-depth with my track strategies like I did in my F-1 guides,
but I do have a few tips for some tracks:
* Daytona: Let off the accelerator on the first and third turns.
* Washington: Watch out for the deceptively sharp second turn.
* Arizona: The second turn gets sharper as you go along.
* New York: Use a bit of braking action on the sharp final turn, but use a
fairly fast setup for this otherwise quick road course.
* Virginia: If you start near the middle or back of the pack, take the early
turns very slowly (about 130 MPH) to avoid the near-certain pileups.
* California: The last turn is a very good place to pass at this road course.
* Indianapolis: Drafting is paramount at Indianapolis.
Q: What other notes do you have for this game?
A: Here are a few things you might find interesting:
* If you're really good, you may be able to lap the field at some of the
shorter tracks! Nothing feels better than to see "01 LAPS AHEAD" pop up on the
screen. But don't let your guard down, especially if you need to pit soon.
* In qualifying, a fairly short margin separates first place and last place.
* It's tougher to qualify well on road courses than other tracks.
* There's no timer in this game, so there's no way to know how long a lap or
race took. After every lap you can find out how far behind (or ahead if you're
in the lead) the next car you are, though. Remember that these splits aren't
very precise.
* Images of real NASCAR stock cars appear on the track select screens, but there
are no actual drivers or cars in ESPN SpeedWorld.
* Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, New Hampshire, and North Wilkesboro are the only
1994 NASCAR Winston Cup courses not included in this game. Of course, tracks
like California, Chicago, Homestead, Kansas City, Las Vegas, and Texas aren't
included because they weren't on the NASCAR calendar (or didn't exist) at that
time. Three tracks in ESPN SpeedWorld (California, New Jersey, and Washington)
aren't based on any real-life tracks.
* Look up in the air at some tracks and you'll see things like blimps, planes,
hot-air balloons, and birds. The Washington course even has a flying saucer!
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Car Setup [CARS]
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Before every race, you'll go to the Car Setup screen. There are nine settings
you can change, and I'll divide them into three categories:
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---Upgrades---
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These settings can be upgraded - but not for free. These are available
exclusively in Season mode.
---Engine---
As you might guess, upgrading the engine increases your car's maximum top
speed. Each notch on the bar costs $20,000 and adds about 1 MPH to your speed.
However, these upgrades are temporary; for the next race you lose one notch of
engine power for every 10 laps you ran on the previous event (although you
can't ever get below the red notches). For this reason, you may want to run
shorter races than the default.
---Pit Crew---
Unlike upgrades to the engine and body, these are permanent. Each notch costs
only $10,000 and will improve your pit service considerably, so make sure to
max out this gauge pretty early on in season mode - probably by the second or
third race.
---Body---
If damage is turned on, and your car sustained damaged in the previous race,
you can use the Body gauge to repair this damage. Each notch costs $15,000. I
haven't found many adverse effects from car damage, though.
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---Adjustable---
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These settings should be changed depending on the type of track you're racing
at.
---Tires---
In my tests, I noticed no difference between any of the tire types. They all
wear at the same rate and provide the same handling and performance.
Personally, I always go with the default Medium.
---Gear Box---
High gear increases your top speed while hurting acceleration, while low gear
makes you accelerate more quickly while reducing maximum top speed. Medium is
in between. Note that all transmissions are manual except those marked by
"Auto."
---Spoiler---
The 30-degree spoiler boosts top speed while making your car harder to control,
while the 60-degree spoiler improves handling but reduces top speed. As you can
probably guess, the 45-degree spoiler is in between the two.
---Suspension---
I haven't found any substantial difference between the three varieties of
suspension. Loose might increase tire wear slightly while providing VERY
slightly better handling.
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---Cosmetic---
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These settings allow you to change the way your car looks, but they won't
affect handling or performance.
---Paint---
This changes your car's color. The eight available colors are red, orange,
green, purple, blue, white, light blue, and yellow.
---Body Type---
Body Type lets you choose between massive muscles and a big bust! Maybe not. In
reality, this lets you adjust the color of your car's stripe. Available colors
are red, yellow, orange, green, purple, blue, pink, and teal.
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Version History [VERS]
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Date Version Size
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2- 5-08 | 0.1 | 7KB | Began guide.
2- 7-08 | 0.5 | 13KB | Finished car setup guide.
2- 8-08 | 1.0 | 20KB | Finished things up.
2-11-08 | | Submitted guide to GameFAQs and Neoseeker.
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Copyright [COPY]
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(c) 2008 Vinny Hamilton. All rights reserved.
All trademarks mentioned in this guide are copyrights of their respective
holders.
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Heed this warning.
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Contact Information [CONT]
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If you have any questions or comments about this guide, please send an e-mail to
[email protected]. That's zero-zero-two, by the way. Remember that not all
e-mails will be read. Please follow these rules:
Do include "ESPN SpeedWorld" in the subject line.
Do send polite suggestions for ways to make this walkthrough better.
Do send information about any glitches, tricks, or codes you find.
Do ask any questions you have about ESPN SpeedWorld gameplay. I will answer them
eventually if you follow all of these rules.
Do make a reasonable effort to use decent spelling, grammar, usage, punctuation,
and capitalization so that I can understand what you're trying to say.
Do use patience. I check my messages quite sporadically.
Do not send spam, pornography, chain letters, "flaming," or anything that
contains profanity or vulgarity. Again, violating this rule will result in
deletion of the message and permanent constipation.
And lastly, a public service message: Fight for and affirm the rights of all
humans, regardless of race, age, or creed! And... Don't forget to brush your
teeth. No one's going to read this, anyway.
