Gran Turismo has long been Sony’s console flagship racing game, comparable to Microsoft’s Forza series. Gran Turismo first graced us back in 1997 on the PlayStation 1 and became the best selling PS1 game of all time. Skip to GT 4 on the PS2 then you move on to this handheld version of the franchise.
This game keeps faithful to the formula of the previous games, with a large selection of cars, over 830 to be exact. Which even by todays games car rosters is mightily impressive. This gives you the option of driving a complete shitbox Peugeot 206 around the Nurburgring or a high end super car like the Ferrari Enzo. The car list is vast but isn’t as varied as you’d hope it mainly just various Mazdas from what i can tell.
There are 35 different tracks to choice from, some are dirt and snow tracks which stop certain cars you purchase from being any use on them. Most tracks don’t come with the usual variations of them, only a couple have the short and long versions. This splits into the three different types of race you can do in game. You have basic laps, drift challenge and time trial. There is no single player campaign to be found which is interesting as many other racers on the PSP do. And arguably GT is the biggest racing name on the handheld system. The only different mode you can partake in is the driving school challenges that come it every GT game, but there’s little incentive in doing them outside of the credits you win as you don’t win a new car at the end of the tiered stages as usual.
I am fairly impressed by the graphics of this game, for the time they would’ve been pretty impressive for what it was. Even by today standards they aren’t horrendous. The car outlines are smooth, they seem to have a fair amount of detail, obviously nothing to high res. But a distinct improvement over many of the other racing games I have tested out or played recently on the PSP.
The amount of credits you win in this game is fairly giving as you can do up to 99 laps of the circuit you choose and every couple laps the amount increases, which makes buying cars slightly easier this time round. For all the cars you can buy the shop system in the game is kinda stupid. The game clocks in game days which go up on every time you complete a race. This gives you a daily deal of 4 different manufacturers to buy from. There’s no search function so you are always limited to what you can buy or just have to hope the car brand you want pops up the day you’ve got the credits for it.
Whilst the driving isn’t the best its also not too shabby, the handling is fairly decent overall. Each car does have a slight different feel to it and a decent sense of speed on the faster cars. I remapped the buttons so the left and right triggers are acceleration and braking respectively, and I prefer the D-pad on most courses, tough on some of the sharper turns and that the analogue tends to have it beat. The simulation aspect is near enough gone in the driving as well, you don’t need to worry about tire wear or pit stops for refuelling. But for an on the go, quick play sort of game it makes more sense even if you want to do one of the few courses that take like 6 minutes each on 99 laps.
One of the biggest downfalls of this game is the distinct lack of car upgrading. You only get the choice of a different colour on purchase and that’s the sum total of the customisation you can do. There is nothing else that can be done, which really does suck major ass. It gets rid of the fun of making any car you purchase truly your own. There is also no option to improve or upgrade your car, so it stays at the factory stats you purchase it as. Which makes the max 3 opponents you can race against slightly boring, especially if you select on the race options to race only against the same car as yours, it just becomes an never ending battle of first and second place with you always gaining the lead in the same corner.
7/10 Certified Positively Tasty.
A good selection of cars and tracks, with a good prize pool which allows for a sizeable easy to get car collection, only hampered by its lack of customisation and no single player campaign.
Sony PSP
Release Date: October 1st 2009
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