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TOCA Touring Car Championship for PlayStation 1
In TOCA Touring Car Championship for PlayStation 1, you drive the touring cars of the 1997 British championship. You choose a team with recognisable cars from manufacturers including Renault, Audi, Volvo and Ford, looking for space between opponents using the same narrow track. Heavy braking zones and short straights demand a different approach from a supercar race. You prepare an overtaking move by exiting the preceding corner cleanly, then defending your position afterwards.
The championship links qualifying sessions and races to a points table. You need enough points to progress, so a controlled finish can sometimes be worth more than a risky attack. Contact can damage parts and push you off the racing line. Rain and fog also change what you can see and how confidently you judge a braking point. Single races let you practise an unlocked circuit; time trials let you compare your own laps without completing an entire race weekend every time.
You can drive alone or race head-to-head with two players simultaneously on a horizontally or vertically split screen. That duel uses two controllers; no Multitap is required. The standard PlayStation controller works, while a supported analogue controller offers another control option. A PlayStation memory card stores championship progress, settings and records. This lets you spread a season across several sessions and return later to the circuits where you are still losing time.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 1 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
TOCA Touring Car Championship for PlayStation 1 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of TOCA Touring Car Championship
Codemasters brought TOCA Touring Car Championship to PlayStation and Windows in 1997. Its licence centred on the British Touring Car Championship, where ordinary-looking family cars were transformed into specialist racing machines. This gave the game a recognisable foundation: Renault Lagunas and Volvo S40s appeared with race numbers and sponsor liveries on British circuits. Teams and drivers from the 1997 season connected the virtual races to the motorsport that viewers were following on television at the time.
The design emphasised close racing, collisions and the consequences of a mistaken steering input. Codemasters combined this with qualifying, championship points and different weather conditions. The circuits were based on real locations, including Silverstone, Donington Park and Brands Hatch. Commentary from racing driver and presenter Tiff Needell strengthened the connection with British motorsport. That combination gave the game its own direction alongside PlayStation racers focused primarily on exotic cars, spectacular roads or collecting vehicles.
TOCA became the beginning of a longer series. TOCA 2 Touring Cars followed with a new season and additional racing classes; TOCA World Touring Cars then moved the action to several countries. The first game's Platinum and Value Series editions are reissues of that original foundation, not sequels with a new campaign. The PlayStation version also remains separate from the Windows release: the local two-player duel described here is the console feature, not the computer version's more extensive networking options.
Similar games for PlayStation 1
TOCA 2 Touring Cars builds on the same British touring-car racing on PlayStation, again demanding careful braking between closely packed cars. The sequel uses the 1998 season and adds support classes and mandatory pit stops in certain races, among other features. The first TOCA focuses more closely on the original touring cars and their championship. The 1997 season therefore provides a defined starting point, while the sequel combines more types of racing and different rules.
TOCA World Touring Cars shares racing in recognisable cars, visible damage and battles for the racing line. That later PlayStation game, however, visits circuits on several continents and builds its career around different championships. The first TOCA stays with the 1997 British competition and its teams. Multiplayer also differs: here two people race in a duel, whereas World Touring Cars accommodates up to four players with extra controllers and a Multitap.
Gran Turismo also demands a feel for braking points, weight and corner exits. There you buy cars, earn money and upgrade parts across a broad selection of road and racing vehicles. TOCA gives you a defined motorsport competition with recognisable teams and a more direct relationship between results and championship progress. Your focus is therefore on controlling a touring car in a crowded field, whereas Gran Turismo also lets you spend considerable time on a garage and vehicle choices.
Colin McRae Rally also comes from Codemasters and rewards controlled use of grip, but usually places you alone on a special stage with a co-driver. TOCA instead puts opponents beside and ahead of you on a closed circuit. A good line must also leave room to counter an attack. Rallying asks you to listen and react to successive corners; TOCA makes you repeat familiar corners while the situation among the other cars constantly changes.
Ridge Racer Type 4 uses teams and a series of events to link its car races, but makes controlled drifting a central part of handling. TOCA finds its tension in braking, grip and contact between touring cars on real circuits. Where Ridge Racer Type 4 lets you deliberately slide through a long corner, here you often try to maintain a stable exit instead. Both allow a race to develop over more than one lap, with distinctly different handling.
