NOTE: This review is on Bleemcast! for the Sega Dreamcast. It works only with Gran Turismo 2. Therefore, this review will be half on how Bleemcast! works and half on GT2. I will judge GT2 compared to other DC games, just as if it were made for the DC.
For those of you who don't know, a company named Bleem! released a disk or the PC a while back that made it possible to play Playstation games on your PC. Now, they released Bleemcast! which is for the Sega Dreamcast. Here is how Bleemcast! works: first, you have to buy Bleemcast!, which is very inexpensive at $5.99 retail. Bleemcast! currently only works with Gran Turismo 2, however, which will set you back about $19.99. Next, you put the Bleemcast! disk in your DC, and a title screen will come up which says Bleem! for Gran Turismo 2. Then you open the disk drive, put in GT2 and voila, you're ready for racin' action.
The only shortcoming of using Bleemcast! is that you have to dedicate one memory card to it. This means that once you format your card for Bleemcast!, you cant save anything else on the card but Bleem saved games. But this is no big deal. Bleemcast also improves the graphics of this Playstation games slightly, meaning you can actually read the signs on the side of the road.
Now, I will review Gran Turismo 2 as if it were a Dreamcast game, comparing it to the likes of other DC racers (read: Sega GT).
Over 500 fully customizable cars. Over 40 large race tracks. Hundreds of fun hours of great gameplay. This is what you will get with Gran Turismo 2. But how does it stack up to Sega GT? First off, the graphics. Since this game was originally programmed for the Playstation and because Bleem improves the graphics slightly, the graphics are pretty good. Nothing really blocky or super smooth, just average. When compared to the other DC simulation racing juggernaught, Sega GT, Sega GT wins hands down.
Now one of the most important things in a driving game: the control. GT2's control is very realistic. Try to make that U-turn at 150 MPH? Not only will you crash the wall and slow down badly, you'll likely spin out as well. But with time and patience, GT2's cars handle wonderfully. There is a large learning curve, however, as it will probably take you 2 or 3 hours to get comfortable with just cruisin the easy tracks. Compared to Sega GT's controls: Both are pretty much the same: realistic and take a while to master.
Now, the features. There are over three dozen large car factories in the game, with recognizable cars ranging from a Dodge Neon to a Mustang GT. The thing I like about alot of the cars in the game is that most of them are kinds you can likely see driving down your street, like a Mitsubishi Eclipse, instead of a full roster of super cars like Ferraris and the likes. However there are quite a few dream cars thrown into the mix, such as the Acura NSX, or the Dodge Viper. Not only that, but you can fully customize your cars as well, from the rims to adding a performance chip to your street machine. Compared to SGT: Three times as many cars, full customization. GT2 is the winner here hands down.
Lastly, the most important part of this or any other game. The $10,000 question: Is it fun? I can honestly say that you will be playing this game for over 50 hours and never get bored of it. There is just so much to do here, so many races to compete in, and it never gets boring. Compared to SGT: I had pretty much the same amount of enjoyment with both games.
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