GREAT POCKET SIZE SIMULATOR
Gran Turismo psp edition does not disappoint. Graphically the game looks looks and feels amazing. Grass and dirt outside the cement tracks have a great impact on car handling if run over. The 60 fps with all the details on each track gives a good source of speed and looks pronominal.
The main concern everyone has had was the lack of a career. Personally that is not a downside at all. I personally play simulators to win a race or have the fastest time. The time trial system is one of the best I've seen on a handheld. You have the opportunity to race a track with any car you have bought and make the fastest time. Once made, you can initialize the ghost to race and try to outdue your best time. The ghost times can be saved and re-raced against other cars. Not only does it provide one of the most indepth challenges but allows friends to attempt to outdue your times by sending them the save file of the ghost. Challenge system is still in place so people wanting to spend some hours fine tuning there driving skills will enjoy it. The normal races can be really challenging. Once you have won a few races you can change the difficulty of the A.I based on a Class system of D,C,B, A. I can warn you now that the racing against the A.I. on A has been one of the hardest I've done since Forza 2 or Gran Turismo prologue. There is a nice drift racing section to the game as well which adds more gameplay.
Another big complaint in the game is that you cannot tune your cars. Its a very slight flaw to me. I would have liked the option to change my gear ratio but besides that you are given all tuning options for better grip of your vehicle. There really is not a need for a lot more tuning. Everyone was probably hoping to tune cars up a ton and race in the basic car class to outperform the A.I. That is what I use to do on GT 1, 2 and 3. (Buy a honda crx etc. tune it like crazy and go race it maxxed out in a class where the A.I. cars weren't even close in performance.) Now its more about how well you drive the car and not what you did to it. Any race you drive will have opponents with cars in the same class as yours. I can live with that.
My only problem with the game is the buy system of cars. There are really too many cars in the game and having to wait each day for your company car to come along is a bit annoying. I think the buy system could have been woven in better with the races. Maybe winning a 5 lap race against a certain class A.I would reward you to pick a certain category of car. The way now does not give a challenge to get any car you want. Just race a couple races and go buy whatever. There is also no true online mode. Ad hoc is available but unless everyone consents to driving a certain class it becomes battle of the best cars. The game could have really shined if it allowed for online play but if you know what you are doing, you can easily send friends ghost racers of tracks to supplement the loss of online play.
Overall the graphics and gameplay of the game will keep you playing. They went with a more pick up and go race style and it does worth. If you a true sim racing fan you will feel right at home, racing on Gran Turismo psp.
My Score
8.5/10