Gran Turismo
Reviewed by Dyson Turner
Gran Turismo despite the fact that it has a sequel is still
probably one of the greatest console racing games of all
time. I truly think so with over a one hundred cars you can
customize your self, this game surpasses expectations of
what the Playstation could do when it got released. My first
impression of this was Wow! This game is so realistic. Not
only were the graphics beyond superb and the quality was
high this game presented a lot of challenge, so those who
think racing games are usually a bore they will not get
bored with this one any time soon. The music however during
certain stages could have used some work, but that's only on
a couple of songs for the most part though this music was
great. The only real problem with this game that I find is
the difficulty. The simulation mode and License Test are
unforgiving you will play hours and hours trying to pass one
exam and never make it. You have to be a perfect driver to
do so. Other than that this game is excellent and one I
would definitely adds to my collection.
Graphics 100,000,000/10
Do graphics get any better than this? Some would say yes but
at the time there wasn't. Every car looked exactly like its
real life counterpart and it moved just like it. The opening
FMV of the replay of the cars looks excellent, and every
thing looks just as good as that in the game. The car
reactions and the way it moves if you seen the real life
cars they look and respond just like it here. The
backgrounds in the game were gorgeous some of the stages
like Trial Mountain, and Clubman Stage Five looked very
good. The mountains were big and luminous and a tiny detail
in the background added to the feeling you were really
driving like trees over hanging above you, and branches in
the road. You also had realistic looking racing tracks to
drive on, complete with bleachers and seats for the fans to
look on. The crashes in the game weren't realistic like you
didn't see big spinouts, and cars being set on fire. For the
most pat you would just see it spin out of control and fly
in the air, never flipping or anything. This is the only
graphical aspect that could have been improved in my
opinion. For the most part though the graphics were outstanding.
Sound 9. 9/10
Some of the game music just didn't sound right. It's really
on my personal opinion because the music was not to my own
personal taste. The music was loud and came off crystal
clear from your TV speakers. There weren't any voices in
this game what so ever I think that is because they put so
much into making the cars and making them sound and look
realistic. The crash all for the most part had a different
engine rev each time you picked a different one by a
different maker. Or if you tuned the engine and turbo up it
would sound real powerful. Even the tire screeches as you
wee coming out of turns and bends sounding pretty realistic
and there is nothing like the tires hitting asphalt and
dusting your opponents. This is a game I would definitely
leave the sound track off to considering the fact that it is
so much better without it and it makes it seem more
realistic and racing like. In reality the sounds did a lot
to make this a more realistic racing game and it gave you a
more overall racing experience.
Game Play 10/10
This game is for one or two players. It has two modes Arcade
and Simulation. Arcade is pretty much like any other racing
game you may have experience, you pick one of the available
cars and you and a friend go head to head to see who is
better. Or you can go against the and try to unlock
the bonus tracks. Then you have simulation, the mode that
made this game as popular as it was. The simulation mode is
where you had to try and pass 3 different driving test B, A,
and International A. Each one had 7 smaller pre test and 1
Final Exam. This test considered by most were extremely
difficult and this is probably the worst thing on the game.
They made this part too realistic and unless you were
Michael Andretti you were not getting through this part. You
raced for Credits; credits were like money. You used the
credits to buy bigger faster and better cars from all the
top dealers. Like Nissan, Dodge, Mazda, and others. You
could also buy used cars in the start of the game. These
were enough to get you through the B-Class races. You could
tune any car in the game keep that in mind. I would say it
was worthless to tune cars that were considered C cars,
because they usually didn't run correctly. The games
difficulty on Arcade was adjustable. On simulation it was
difficult. There is a save feature using 7 blocks of memory.
Overall 10 out of 10
This is still a fabulous game. I had more fun and put more
hours into this than any other racing game. Even though the
Gran Turismo 2 is a bit better than this you still could of
have fun. This game is suitable for single players and if
you friend over. The fun of this game will not wear thin
after you buy it and play it for a week. You could always
hop back into this one and play it over and over. The replay
value is pretty high, considering the facts that I think
that this game ahs no ending. The fun factor is very high
too, and this is a great party game. If you don't have much
money and your looking for a good challenge and something
that will keep you busy look no further than Gran Turismo.
