Gran(d) Turismo
Written: Aug 19 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Graphics, control, car physics
Cons: No regular American Cars
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| Gthomp1's Full Review: Gran Turismo 1 for PlayStation 1 |
I realize now that I waited way too long to buy this series. After all the excellent scores in gaming magazines and positive word of mouth advertising, I went out and bought Gran Turismo and Gran Turismo 2 (separate review soon).
SPECIFICATIONS
Gran Turismo has over 140 cars from 11 different popular manufacturers. The game sports 11 tracks that you can race either backwards or forwards. Customize your care with in-depth parts and accessories. Change suspension, muffler, turbo, tires, and more to put your car to the max. With two discs, you can jump right in with arcade disc or play what Gran Turismo is all about with the simulation disc.
ARCADE DISC
For those wishing a quick fix without the worries of customization, pop in the arcade disc. There, three cars from each manufacturer are ready to be chosen. Your main object is to win races with each class of car. Class A are the average cars, class B cars are above average, and Class C cars are the highly tuned speed machines. Along with each class you must win in each difficulty. As you win races, you'll open up more tracks, cars and manufacturers. Other secrets you'll eventually get: Hi-res mode, and a special credit ending.
SIMULATION DISC
This is the heart of Gran Turismo. Earn cash by winning races to upgrade your car to earn more cash to eventually buy your dream car. Initially you'll probably have to buy a used car and upgrade and race in a few of the same tournaments to get some money, but it will pay off as you go.
GT League has 4 different tournaments for you to race in and the competition gets tough quickly. When just starting out, you'll probably find yourself entering the Sunday Cup, a cup for beginners, numerous times.
Special events hold the fun races. Race Japan cars vs American cars or American cars vs UK cars. Try out endurance races where they are 15, 30, and 60 laps long! The most fun race is the High Speed Race where it's just an all-out wheel race to the finish. With each first place you take, besides the cash itself, you'll also get a car. Sometimes the car is worse than the one you won the race with, but the more glamorous the race, the more glamorous the car.
GRAPHICS/SOUND/CONTROL
The graphics are great for lo-res. The cars look like their real-life counterparts. Tracks have been drawn in with great detail. So far, I haven't had the slightest slowdown.
Each car sounds even more realistic than I would have imagined. From acceleration to shifting to braking, you'll feel the car jolting and bumping along. The sound track has some great alternative and funky driving songs (one from Garbage).
Control is superb. Each car handles differently. A small 4-wheel drive car zips around the curves much better than the speedy Dodge Viper. If you don't get a feel for the intricacies of the particular car you're driving, then you'll find yourself fishtailing, oversteering, or running into the walls before you know it.
This is one of the top games you should own for the Playstation, even though it's near time to retire. It's simply the best racers on any system mainly because of the realistic car physics and depth the game provides.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Gthomp1
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Member: Greg Thompson
Location: Kankakee, IL
Reviews written: 81
Trusted by: 54 members
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