Why is Gran Turismo SO Genius

This game is loaded with content, even the very first release. Gran Turismo comes with Arcade and Simulation modes for quick racing or for building your garage respectively. Plenty of cars and tracks to choose from, it is a good looking game and a good feel for a driving game. This all comes from a person who is terrible at driving games, except for Driver (even then it ain't purdy). The driving controls are right on and each button is what I naturally expect it to be and that means a lot to me, I don't like wasting time playing poorly because I can't get used to the button configuration.

Part of being a loaded driving game is being loaded with tracks and Gran Turismo certainly has a lot of tracks to choose from. The most interesting part of the track selection is that they are all based on real tracks. It used to trip me out as kid to see tracks on TV that I was familiar with from racing in Gran Turismo. The roads were fun an interesting to drive on in each map, the hills (especially some of the blind ones) were great for getting that rollercoaster feeling in your stomach. It is impressive to me how well they seemed to accurately capture each twist and every turn, every bend in the track, every hump in the road, each hill, each tunnel, on down to the scenery and the backgrounds.

The developers managed to incorporate the perfect driving experience here on the first generation of Playstation, many tracks to choose from and they all look great, I don't know how the coders were so efficient but they deserve some recognition. Many people do not fully understand just how difficult it really is to develop games, especially for new consoles. Mario Bros. was a horribly inefficient design, the first time around. Eventually it started coming alongside other Mario games on the same cartridge (I think Mario 3 for NES). For those that have not noticed; pay attention to the game quality of video games coming out for new consoles, they get better at designing for a system over time. One basic concept is that less lines of code equates to less space needed for your application, if you learn to program more efficiently (taking less drive space) you leave more room for content.

The entire Gran Turismo franchise has turned out to be a visual showcase for Sony, from one generation of Playstation to the next. Anyone that has paid any attention after taking their car to the carwash in Gran Turismo knows exactly what I am talking about. Over time, after so many races/events I guess, your car gets dirty and the paint does not reflect as well. After taking your car to the carwash, the paint actually looks shiny and clean. They were so detail oriented when developing this game that they made the road textures look incredible on top of everything else. Switch to first person view and tell me that road doesn't look amazing, especially for the technology. They did a great job of making the backgrounds, the foregrounds, and the cars look amazing throughout this game. In one word, stunning.

It really adds to the experience when you can be visually sold on what's happening around you and Gran Turismo has done that from the start. It is noteworthy considering the fact that they were able to make a visually appealing driving game that looked good and didn't lose content as a result of focusing on visual quality, all while maintaining surprisingly good physics. After playing something like Burnout Paradise, it is easy to cast aside this classic piece of awesome but when it was fresh and new there really was no competition.

look amazing, especially for the technology. They did a great job of making the backgrounds, the foregrounds, and the cars look amazing throughout this game. In one word, stunning.

There are several manufacturers available in this game; Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, Aston Martin, etc. This game is so deep that they gave the option to buy new or used cars from the various dealers available in the game. Basically, you go to a Dodge dealer and can buy a New or Used Viper then take off and race or buy parts and upgrade. There are many new vehicles to choose from (once you finally get some cash) and a TON of used vehicles to play with (probably where you'll need to start anyway). This game is incredible; every single car feels different, operating and feeling the way you would think it should. You can take advantage of Arcade mode to test out various cars and see what they are like before spending any money too.

They subtly encourage you to collect many cars, not just because the cars all feel different and vary in cost, not just because there are a ton of cars to look through and drive (or pimp out), there are a whole bunch of different race classes for some of the events in the game. Sometimes you need a Front Wheel Drive or a Rear Wheel Drive, sometimes it requires Turbo or Naturally Aspirated, not to mention the different licenses you'll need for certain events. Some races will award you a car (usually a turd) and after getting some wins under the belt and some funds in the bank, it is very easy to end up with a bit of a collection.

So not only do you have the option of many realistic tracks to drive many realistic cars on but you have the option to save up your money and buy parts to upgrade your collection with. Depending on how much money you have, you can upgrade your suspension and add sway bars, upgrade your brakes and your brake control, change tire type and hardness, turbo and intercooler upgrades, clutch plate and gearbox setup. They offer a good many add-ons you can purchase but again it depends on your money situation. It can be kind of overwhelming when you first start a Gran Turismo game, because of how dense the games are but once you get a grip on which parts will benefit your car which way, it is worth progressing and making some upgrades.

Every parts swap and adjustment you make is noticeable when you drive the car afterword. They did a very good job of having each part give the expected result according to how it should act in real life. When you adjust your gear ratio, you can easily track the difference in the cars acceleration and top speed. When you decide to change the braking power from front to rear, you can adjust for better braking or better drifting (essentially), every change is obviously noticeable. Putting softer tires on your car will drastically improve your traction but also dramatically drops the tires longevity. Later Gran Turismo games give explanation to what each part and their settings will change about your driving experience.

Gran Turismo earned the title of 'Driving Simulator' on the very first release. Every track is unique and realistic. Not only do they give you many tracks based on real, existing tracks but they sell it with the right visuals and the right physics. Every car feels completely different, the brakes or acceleration but also the handling in many ways. The tightness of the steering, the lag of turning, the effects of changing ride height and brake strength from front to back. The grip and longevity of the tires being factors (mostly endurance races). The fact that they give you several test modes, specifically for tuning your car. You are (depending on installed parts) able to change all kinds of things like; gear ratio, camber and toe angle, and even swap back and forth between stock and purchased parts (not all).

You can track your car on a timed 400M or 1000M dash, or a top speed run on the test track. It is great if you are the type to tune 1 car for many different events and event types. This game has a large number of events to complete with several types of license required to progress and different cars are required for different events too. Part of the realism of this game is the fact that you don’t unlock tracks to race on but rather qualify for events to enter on the tracks already available. Just because you don’t have a license to drive in a Rally race (in real life) doesn’t mean that the track ceases to exist until you get the license. Gran Turismo will let you know exactly what you are missing out on by allowing you to select and view (but not enter) races you aren’t qualified for.

This game is ready to go, straight out of the case. It is not only a fantastic simulator but also a casual racing game; Arcade mode. I am not very good at driving games, except for Driver for the original Playstation, it takes me quite a while to progress through any serious driving game. Gran Turismo graced me (and those like me) with Arcade mode. You can chip away at your save file in simulator mode until you hit a dead end and then just switch over to Arcade and get some stress free Gran in that Turismo. You even get local multiplayer support which is always a good thing to me; race your friends and such. It's really cool that you can even trade cars with someone that has their own garage going, they call it trading but really it's a sale. Any way you look at it, you (and possibly a friend or two) have much to do in this game.

It isn't quite like Driver where you just drive, it is a bit more involved than that. You can race at any time as long as you have the right car and license but even racing requires a good deal of build up. It is a bit personal the way it is setup, you have to really work to earn money to spend on making your car better to make more money et cetera. It is almost overwhelming when you start a Gran Turismo game, much like every new Metal Gear game, there is a mindset to adopt and an entirely new way of thinking about a game (if it's good). I call it 'Enjoyably Overwhelming'. You have to pass a series of tests to get your first license, in order to run your first race. If you don’t feel like messing about with licensing and whatnot, you can always enjoy the benefit of Arcade Mode.