Gran Turismo

GRAN TURISMO

SCPS 10045
Copyright © 1997 Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Playstation
Racing, 1-2 players
5-15 memory blocks
supports Dual-Shock analog, NeGcon
¥5800
Available 12/23/97

— by Eugene Moon

Have you ever wished you could drive your car around a racetrack? Or wished you could buy performance parts to soup up your car, and then tweak the settings to tune your car's performance for a particular track? GRAN TURISMO gives armchair race drivers a chance to live out their dreams.
Built around a sophisticated physics model and a gorgeous graphics engine, GRAN TURISMO uses the Playstation hardware to create a highly accurate simulation of road racing. The amount of detail Polys Entertainment (the Sony internal development group responsible for MOTOR TOON GRAND PRIX) managed to include is incredible. A technique called environment mapping is used to give the cars a glossy, reflective look that is very impressive. Wheels react much as they would in a real car, turning with the steering wheel and moving up and down in reaction to the surface of the road. It is possible to use the technique called drafting, or slipstreaming, to increase your top speed around high speed ovals. Cars can even pop up on two wheels or get airborne when they're driven over racetrack curbing.
Even sounds receive close attention. Engine noises vary from car to car. A Honda sounds like a Honda, and it differs from the sound heard in a Nissan or a Mitsubishi. The race replays feature stereo and doppler effects. A car can be heard coming up on the right or left, and the engine has a higher or lower pitch depending on whether the car is coming or going.

Yet, for a game so realistic, GRAN TURISMO is a lot of fun to play. Rather than going the SEGA TOURING CAR route and making the game a chore to play, the gameplay is modeled after SEGA RALLY. Collisions with walls or other cars don't hurt your time that badly and are sometimes even beneficial. Powerslides can be used to get your rear-wheel-drive car around corners, while front-wheel-drive cars can use their superior traction to pull the nose around a turn.
The fun begins when you pop in the disc and turn the Playstation on. After a copyright notice related to the roughly 150 cars from 10 manufacturers available in the game, the opening movie plays. The most significant thing about the movie is how little it differs from actual gameplay. True, the resolution of the game is much lower than that of the movie, but things like car bodies leaning in turns and lights that look like they're lit for the night courses are present in the game.
There are two ways to play. The Quick Arcade mode is for people who want to just pick a car, a track, and go racing. Gran Turismo mode is for people willing to deal with the complexities of buying a car, racing it, and then using the prize money to buy modifications for their current car or to buy a different car altogether. The racing in Gran Turismo mode is divided into four classes - no license, B license, A license, and International A license. Licenses are obtained by passing a series of tests in which the driver must negotiate a portion of racetrack or perform a given task within a set amount of time. Both Quick Arcade and Gran Turismo mode include post-race replays up to six minutes in length with TV style coverage of the action which can be saved to a memory card. There is also a two-player split-screen battle mode in which you and a friend can go head-to-head.
All the racing takes place on 11 separate tracks. Eight of the tracks are totally different from one another, whereas three of them are longer/shorter circuits that share portions of raceway with other tracks a la RIDGE RACER. Ten of these eleven tracks can also be run in reverse, in effect giving the player 21 courses on which to race.
Two other options are available from the main menu. There is a Replay Theater where the player can view their greatest (or most spectacular) runs. There are also demonstration runs on the CD that show how one might go about passing a number of the licensing tests. In the Options menu, the player can configure their controls and change various gameplay options. GRAN TURISMO includes support for a wide variety of Playstation controllers, including Namco's Negcon and Sony's new Dual Shock analog pad. The Dual Shock is virtually identical to the standard analog pad except that it is capable of two levels of vibration. Similar to the Shock Pack used in STARFOX 64, GRAN TURISMO uses it to good effect to enhance soft and hard impacts with walls or cars as well as indicating off-road excursions.
There are very few bad points to this game. Sometimes, during the race replays, polygons will disappear, and there can be some slowdown when there is a lot of tire smoke on screen. Also the computer cars will sometimes go through walls, leading to some weird looking replays. Finally, it would be nice if it were possible to race in wet conditions, and the test area in Gran Turismo mode lacks a skidpad on which to test the lateral grip of your cars. Perhaps Polys will include these features in a sequel.
GRAN TURISMO takes home console car racing to an all new level with its beautiful graphics, accurate physics, and enjoyable gameplay. If you love racing, you owe it to yourself to play this game. We can only hope TOCA TOURING CAR turns out this well.

Rating: **** (out of 4)