Take a Look, This is Racing At Its Finest

With the advent of Gran Turismo 2, some might not have the patience to wait that long, so they'll run out and get the original cheap. Is it worth it? Read the tag line again.

Gran Turismo is, without a doubt, one of the deepest, most complicated racing games yet. The game is split into the Arcade mode and the Simulation (Gran Turismo) mode. Arcade mode would make a great game on its own. It has its own fair share of secrets and the car lineup is comparable to the NFS series. In this mode, there are three classes of cars split with each manufacturer. This means that only class A cars race other class A cars, class B race other class B and so on and so forth. There are also three different difficulty levels which dictate the AI difficulty. Beating the first four tracks, unlocks four more. Then, beating each track with all car classes on certain difficulty levels unlocks more goodies, which includes credits, more manufacturers and an incredibly cool Hi-Fi GT mode (more on that later). To say the arcade mode is complete would be an understatement. Few racing games ALONE has this many goodies. Too bad GT mode complete overtakes this mode...

Class A GT Racing

GT mode explodes with a full 166 cars waiting for you. These puppies range from "normal" cars like the Honda CRX, Acura Integra, and (my personal fave) Subaru Impreza to full spec machines like the Castrol Supra, and various Limited edition cars. But the only obstacle standing in your way is the 24 driving tests. Oh, did I mention that these tests are incredibly hard. Harder than the game itself. Usually, it's taking on a series of turns within a tight time limit. Either running on the grass or crossing the line late results in a failure. What would make these tests more helpful is if there some sort of evaluation. Once you've gotten at least an A class license, you can start racing on the fun races (class B licenses give very limited access). It's kind of cool how this league is set up, but making licenses more useful would be even better.

Let's Race!

After getting a license, it's time to get a car. With ten thousand credits, you can only get a used one, but with the proper searching you can possibly find a real gem among all the heaps. Once a car is selected, take it for a run on one of several practice tracks. Take it for a spot race and make some cash. Once you got some decent money, pour it into extensively upgrading your ride, followed by a very comprehensive customization. Once all the details are settled and your car is full fledged racing machine, take it to the GT League. Start off in the Sunday cup and work you way up to championship, the GT World Cup. In between sessions, go head on in one of several special events including a US vs. Japan race, a race designed for high speed cars, and three very grueling (taking upwards of an hour and a half) endurance races. Overall there are 13+ special event races. "Beat" the game and open the GT Hi-Fi mode.

166 Cars-166 Real Live Cars!

Gran Turismo spares no expense in giving the player an abundance of cars to choose from. Unlike Need For Speed , GT's car lineup consists of more than just exotics. There are also normal cars that you can see on the road in real life (in Japan, anyway), there are also a few exotics in there too, (the Viper GTS comes to mind). The pros will go gaga over the Special Edition cars, such as the Rally Edition Impreza, the GTO Limited Edition and the Castrol Supra. Once you've found a car manufacturer, give it good tune-up, raced it few times, upgrade it to a full-spec racing machine. Giving your ride a good tune up requires some background info on how cars react. Better whip out those Car and Driver magazines, handy tuning info contained within. Polyphony also enlisted official developers for the manufacturers represented. Toyota has the infamous TRD company, and Honda has it's Mugen development squad. Just for the heck of it, they also threw in a few other racing related sponsors.

Photo Realism

Even now, Gran Turismo's graphics are hard to beat. Only R4 can come close to the graphic level of GT. Each and every car is faithful right down to the last detail (check out the engraved Corvette name on the new Corvette). Just as impressive is the detail of the 11 tracks you race on. Look for reflections on the lake as you tear through the Grand Valley course. Behold the beautiful skyline of Special Stage Route 11. The only gripes is that there's seaming every so often and the game's city tracks all take place at night. But wait! No way can you talk about graphics without mentioning the replays. No PS racer can even touch GT's. Light reflections and mapping give each and every replay that hint of realism. The camera is super smooth, and transitions are seamless. In fact, so good is the replay system that Polyphony enables you to save replays of any race.

Hi-Fi or Sci-fi

One of the coolest things about the game is the Hi-Fi GT mode. This enables you to race the Special Stages in 60 FPS in high-resolution. The only catch? Well, to compensate, most of the background buildings and objects disappear, and you can only race by yourself. But to see the replays of this mode is to preview the future of racing games.

It Rocks

Signing on bands is the seems to be the future of racing games and GT is not different. Various talents such as the Chemical Bros. and Manson comprise the GT soundtrack. Although not my cup of tea (I prefer J-Pop instead) nonetheless, it really is cool seeing familiar names pop up in games of this caliber. My only gripe is the lack of a music select. Polyphony has went to great lengths to recreate the sounds of each ride, even incorporating the changes a V-Tec engine makes. So, even if you despise the music, you can still soak in the soothing sounds of a Camaro, beating the crap out of a Viper. But missing is an announcer, a blessing or a curse, depending on how you see it.

Ready For Dual Shock

Gran Turismo is the primary reason I got a Dual Shock analog controller. It works well with either the Dual Analog or its rumbling brother. Digital, however is a total bummer. This is one of the few games where analog acceleration and braking have an actually feel to them and feels right at home with analog turning. Strange that the default configuration is not setup for analog acceleration and braking capabilities, but some time well spent in options will take of that.

You Have This Game, Right?

You know, this isn't for everyone. I must admit, I almost wanted to give up on occasion, but this game gives out rewards in droves when you stick it out. There's something about racing 30 laps on an all-night circuit (averaging about 2 minutes a lap). There's something about taking a normal car and turning it into speed demon. That something is that it has never this done this well before. Heck, I figure that after playing this game, you could probably turn that beat up CRX in your yard into a real competitor. I recommend this game to those who like a little simulation in their gaming diet, or wanted to get into sports car racing. Die hard Ridge fans may want to tread carefully, it isn't as forgiving (or action packed) as Ridge Racer.