 Title: Gran Turismo
Release Date: October 1, 2009
Genre: Racing
Rating: E for Everyone
Platform: Sony PlayStation Portable
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: PolyPhony Digital
In 1997 Sony released one of the greatest simulation games ever, Gran Turismo for the original PlayStation. Over a decade and three console generations and multiple sequels later, this series is on the verge of releasing its 5th edition for the PS3 tentatively on March 31st, 2010. To keep their fans from rioting over the multiple delays that edition has encountered, Sony has released a stripped down version for the PSP simply titled Gran Turismo.
Upon starting it up, I cannot help but notice the extremely long load times and this is just to load up the menus. Next I am instructed to try out the challenge mode to learn the ins and outs of racing. After running a few of these challenges I realize they are nothing more then the old license tests from previous versions, however under a different name. In comparison, the challenges are marginally easier. I received bronze medals on most of them, which is a vast improvement over being unable to finish some of the license tests.
After completing a few levels of these challenges, I decided to begin the career mode, since I had a good grasp on how the game works. After waiting through even more extremely long load times, I got back to the main menu and discovered that this game has no career mode. That’s right, the simulation series that is synonymous with sucking months of your life away while you traverse through the extensive career mode, has removed that aspect from its portable version. What a huge letdown.
The game play is very good for a PSP game. The cars all behave a little differently depending on their performance level and their drive-train type. Controls are decent, using the direction-pad to steer made the cars handle tightly whereas using the analog made them feel loose. Graphically speaking, the game shows room for improvement. Environments and static objects look good but the cars almost look like they are made out of cardboard with car features painted onto it. The sound effects do their job, they blend into the background, not standing out or causing headaches.
Challenge mode is quite fun. The first round teaches you how to judge stopping distances in different types of cars. Then the next few rungs are time trials over a predetermined set of tracks that takes you through a few different types of corners, usually asking the player to find the best route. The advanced levels want you to pass opponents while driving similar sections of tracks, eventually working your way up to the best cars on one full lap.
Three total game modes are included, the above mentioned challenge mode, single player and ad-hoc mode. The single player mode consists of choosing a car, track and race type, race types are either a circuit race or a drift race. Ad-hoc mode is basically the same as single player mode except you ran race against people who are close enough to you for your systems to communicate. You can also trade cars through ad-hoc mode.
Challenge mode is where the load times really start to affect the gameplay. If there were a career mode and load times were the same, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with them since you would be racing for longer periods of time. When doing the challenges, the average one takes you less then 30 seconds to complete whereas the load times range from 50-60 seconds. This puts your ratio of game time to load time at about 1:2. If you there were a career mode and tracks took a couple minutes to complete one lap this ratio could easily be in the 10:1 range, which still isn’t good but is acceptable for a game of this caliber.
After completing challenges you are awarded credits based on its difficulty and your performance. These credits can be used to purchase cars from the dealership menu. With over 800 cars from nearly 80 manufacturers, you are only allowed to buy from 4 different manufacturers per “day.” I’m not even sure how this game determines a “day.” I completed over 70 of the challenges and a couple single player races and was only on day 18. Then I did one time trial and I was up to day 19. On any given day, depending on the available dealers, you only have about 20-30 cars available to purchase.
This version of Gran Turismo is only available for the PlayStation Portable. The actual racing element is probably the best this system has to offer and lives up to the great simulation that Gran Turismo games have portrayed for years. As for the rest of the game, it falls well short of expectations. The game is only really playable for about 10 hours, the time it takes you to complete the Challenge Mode. Unless you only own a PSP and are craving a simulation racing game, pass-over this title. There are a ton of better simulation racers available for the other consoles.
10/24/2009
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