Finally we get Gran Turismo on PSP after 5 years of its announcement, but does it worth waiting for it?
This time Gran Turismo isn't like a racing sim, it is just a portable simulator. The key element to play Gran Turismo is absent: the career mode. It is unbelievable not to see a career mode in a Gran Turismo game because it played a major role in Gran Turismo franchises. You used to start out with some cash, buy a used car, attend some novice races, make some cash then rise up in the Gran Turismo world. In this portable version you just make some custom races and race them. You earn money according to the race tracks difficulty, number of laps and the difficulty of the AI drivers. Finally a single race can earn you about 10K Cr. or even 100K Cr. With money you only buy cars to build up your car collection. You can't even upgrade them! Another absence in Gran Turismo gaming. You can't even tune the cars. You can only change the tire set and adjust the electronics that increase the cars handling.
Unfortunately you can't find challenge in racing. The only way you can find challenge is increase the AI drivers difficulty. There are no racing restrictions or tournaments. Most of the Gran Turismo games had 6 drivers in a single race track but in PSP there are only 4 drivers. The number might have been decreased due to PSP's CPU speed. The game might have been lagging or have some FPS rate problems.
If you want real challenge than choose the Challenge Mode. It is like License lessons but you earn large amounts of money if you beat them. The challenges can be time attack or opponent overtaking just like the previous Gran Turismo games. There are only 102 challenges but it will take lots of time to complete them with Gold target. There is also multiplayer mode but don't get interested in it because you will only play via Ad-Hoc. You can also trade or share cars between the other players.
That's all you can do in Gran Turismo. Either make a quick race, or attend challenge races or play multiplayer. There is nothing else you can do. If you come to the game's quality it is great. There are 800 cars and 35 tracks (both circuit races and rally courses). The graphics are awesome. There are other PSP games with great graphics but not much as this one. The sound effects are fantastic. Every car has its own unique sounds. The menus and the HUD has a slick design. They are very eye catching.
I would like to state my final word but it is very mixed. I expected a game that is like the classic Gran Turismo games but it is not. The absence of career mode is a major flaw. Yet the graphics and sound effects are nearly the same as Gran Turismo 4. The most surprising part is that the number of cars and race tracks are much more than what I expected. Their numbers are very big for such a small gaming device. If you are a great fan of Gran Turismo (like me) buy this game but you might face the disappointment. If you like racing (and you like simulation racing games), buy this game. If you are a great PSP games collector you must add this to your game library.
The pros:
- Great graphics and sound effects
- Same old solid gameplay
- 800 cars and 35 race tracks
- Challenging Challenge mode
The cons:
- No career mode
- No upgrades or tuning
- Only 102 challenges
- Loading times can be long