Nigel Mansell’s World Championship: Lost Commodore 64 Game Finally Uncovered After 33 Years

Nigel Mansell’s World Championship: Lost Commodore 64 Game Finally Uncovered After 33 Years Back in 1992, British racing driver Nigel Mansell was at the height of his fame, capturing the hearts of motorsport fans worldwide.

That same year, after dedicated stints with Lotus, Ferrari, and Williams, Mansell clinched his sole Formula One World Championship with Williams, setting a then-record of nine race wins in a single season behind the wheel of the renowned FW14B.

Mansell's historic performance ignited interest in video game licensing, and Gremlin Graphics swiftly acquired the rights to develop and publish a series of racing games inspired by his success.

Titles appeared across a variety of prominent platforms of the era, including the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, NES, Mega Drive, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and even the Amiga CD32.

Despite the widespread releases, one major omission lingered: the Commodore 64, a platform with a strong following among retro game enthusiasts, never saw a commercial version of Nigel Mansell's World Championship.

Although a C64 port had entered development in the early 1990s, it was ultimately shelved before completion—until now.

In a significant breakthrough for retro game preservation, the dedicated team at Games That Weren't revealed the discovery of the original Commodore 64 source code earlier this year.

Their efforts have brought this long-lost project back to life, making the unfinished game playable for the first time in more than three decades. Frank Gasking, a leading figure at Games That Weren't, explained that the resurrected C64 build allows players to compete in qualifying laps and races against rival drivers—complete with a tutorial mode where players can receive driving tips from the in-game depiction of Nigel Mansell himself.

Gasking noted that this build is unfinished and contains several glitches, especially with the road rendering.

At its current stage, players will find only a single car on screen at any one time, even though recovered graphical mock-ups indicate that additional cars were intended to appear in future builds.

Features like pit stops, roadside scenery, color diversity among vehicles, and animations for spinning wheels are also missing, highlighting how the title was nearing completion before development was abruptly halted. "You can race and take part in qualifying sessions, and there's even a tutorial hosted by Nigel Mansell offering driving advice," Gasking shared, pointing out that while the experience is rough around the edges, it stands as a fascinating artifact for fans of racing games and the Commodore 64 platform. For those interested in racing through history, the newly assembled ROM of Nigel Mansell's World Championship for the Commodore 64 is now available for download, offering gamers a rare glimpse into an almost-lost chapter of video game development.

This rediscovery not only celebrates Nigel Mansell’s legacy but underscores the importance of game preservation, providing both historians and fans with the chance to experience a lost piece of gaming history firsthand.

Commodore Commodore 64 retro gaming Nigel Mansell's World Championship Gremlin Games That Weren't Nigel Mansell Frank Gasking Amiga ZX Spectrum Mega Drive SNES