I can remember when Gran Turismo first came out for the Playstation… It was some time in 1998, I wasn’t in high school yet, the whole body changing process was in full bloom, my parents didn’t understand crap, and when I wasn’t hanging out with friends, flirting with the girlies, I was playing video games with my buds. I was one of the few with an actual Sony Playstation, all my other friends had Sega Genesis’, Super Nintendo’s, and one actually had a 3D0. So we would swap, and share games/consoles, basically share the collective wealth between us.
The common bond between us all, is that we all loved racing games. So no matter how crappy the game was (Ford Racing was crap but popular with us), we’d play it, revel in it, then move on. But, the one game (as there is always one), pretty much changed it for all of us. I had bought Gran Turismo on it’s release date after school.
“It couldn’t be all bad, 180 cars? This should be fun. Skyline? What the hell is a Skyline?” I probably thought as I bought it.
I didn’t know the can of worms I had opened with that one purchase.
The graphics were some of the best I have ever seen (at the time), the car selection was AMAZING, the tracks were fun. But this was different, licenses? What, I have to take tests and earn my license to race? As frustrating as they were, they kept me in the game for MONTHS.
My friends, I let them try it and they were like, “GAH! I MUST HAVE THIS!”
We all hated and despised the license mode with such a passion, but we all would help each other out in order to get our I-A license. As this would lead us to the endlessly fun Career Mode. We would often buy Mitsubishi GTOs, spec them out to the max, and then just dominate all the races we could. We would scoff the cars we would win (The Mazda Demio provided MUCH entertainment). None of us would fully beat the game, the enduro races were where we would pretty much draw the line. We would just go back and have fun with the other races, win money, buy cars and spec them out.
This is pretty much how it went for Gran Turismo 2, 3, and 4. Some of them we didn’t like as much as the 1st, but we still loved Polyphony Digital and Kazunori Yamauchi.
I eagerly await Gran Turismo 5 for my PS3, I still play Gran Turismo 4, and I just bought Gran Turismo for my PSP.
Hey Polyphony, where’s my career mode and license tests?
Gran Turismo for the PSP can easily said as a watered down of Gran Turismo 4, and I like it. The visuals are great, the car selection is good, but there’s a few things amiss. There’s no career mode, license tests and you can’t spec up your cars. I can live without the car parts and such, that’s okay. But, career mode? License tests? Those two modes are what kept me in the game for months/years on end! Is this gonna kill it for me? Not so much. The cars I want to buy and try out, I’ll race and get the money to buy them. Of course, I’ll have to wait until they show up in the Showroom. Yep, you have to wait for your manufacturer to show up, then see IF your car is in there. It’s much like the used car part of Gran Turismo, and it’s always annoyed me. Always.
Of course the game isn’t all faulty, you can have your own soundtrack which is something I always longed for. The visuals are top dollar, for a PSP game you will be surprised. And while the driving challenges do not replace the license tests, they will still provide some days or weeks of fun as you try and perfect your driving style.
I’ll play Gran Turismo for my PSP when I’m not around my PS3, that’s for sure. I’m bummed my favorite modes aren’t in here, but I’m sure I can convince my friends that have PSPs to buy this so we can try the multiplayer side of things. Maybe I can trade myself into a Audi R8 LMP1 or a Corvette ZR1. ;D
