Reviewed: October 20, 2009
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer
Polyphony Digital

Released: October 1, 2009
Genre: Racing
Players: 1-4

6
9
7
5
6.1

Supported Features:

Here we are eight years later and Gran Turismo is finally making its way to the PSP. While PS2 game ports are quite common these days on Sony’s handheld system, Polyphony has created this racer from scratch, and as the premier launch title for the new PSP GO, you can be sure Sony is making sure that this game delivers the goods. But while this title certainly sounds good on paper, and looks good on TV and in screenshots, there is a bit of crash and burn when it comes to compelling gameplay.

After spending just over a week with Gran Turismo I can say that I am more than a bit disappointed, especially when Sony also released MotorStorm: Arctic Edge that same week that destroys Gran Turismo when it comes to fun factor and replayability. Gran Turismo is obviously too big a franchise and too big a game to be compacted down onto the PSP. With a whopping 800 cars and 60 variations of 35 tracks, the game is bursting at the seams with content but we have no reason to explore or play any of it.

Gone is any resemblance of a career mode. You simply pick a car, pick a track, and race on it. It might make for a good “test drive our car” experience and it certainly makes an impressive tech demo for the PSP with blistering 60fps visuals and physics that rival the console version, and even some impressive controls, but there is just no driving force (pardon the pun) to make me want to pick up and play this game, and if I wasn’t reviewing it I would have stopped long before I did.

Gran Turismo has been and always will be a “simulation” which means realistic driving, physics, and response. As the PS2 and PS3 have taught me, especially with Gran Turismo: Prologue, you really need a good racing wheel to play this franchise the way it was meant to be played, so I was interested to see how that tiny sensitive analog nub was going to replace my 900 degrees of rotation on my Logitech wheel.

While the PSP version of Gran Turismo does feel a bit more arcade in nature than its console brethren, I was impressed that the analog controls offered a somewhat realistic response with minimal oversteer. I wasn’t ping-ponging off the walls like I did in WipeOut and I was able to hold the color-coded racing line quite nicely. The digital controls for gas and brake also offered some nice feathered inputs that compensated nicely for what is usually an analog control.

The computer AI isn’t overly aggressive, preferring to drive the designated racing line and follow the rules of racing, but it will avoid unnecessary contact, which you can use to your advantage if you want to drive dirty and cutoff the opposition. My biggest disappointment was only being able to race against three computer opponents, especially since I was racing against five in MotorStorm, although the physics and AI is far superior in Gran Turismo so sacrifices had to me made.

The sigle-player racing consists of either Driver Challenges or a totally stale Single Player mode, which is nothing more than you making a few selections (car, track, race type.) then doing what console gamers call a Quick Race. Race types include a standard four-car race, a race against the clock in Time Trial or a Drift Challenge where you try to slide around the turns as much as possible. Car selection is fairly unrestricted other than drift cars versus racecars. There are local leaderboards for time trials and drifting but you set the initial records – there is nothing there from the designers that create any sense of urgency or quest to best.

Driver Challenges are basically a collection of tests, not unlike the licensing tests of GT3 and GT4. If you hated them in those games you’ll like them even less here. There are no real rewards for racing or completing the challenges other than cash and the proverbial gold, silver, or bronze trophy. The cash is useful if you get sucked into buying cars, but the car dealer system is so crippled by design and interface that you won’t want to bother with it. It’s far easier to find others online who might have a spare car they want to trade, but since the game has no Internet support you’ll need to find those players within Wi-Fi range.

While 800 cars sounds like a lot, chances are you won’t see half of them in your lifetime. Many will only be obtained by swapping with other players via Ad-Hoc and others can only be purchased on certain days (the game has its own progression of time despite synching to your PSP clock and calendar). So there might be a car you want to buy but you don’t have enough cash, so you run out and race a few events to earn some cash, come back and now that dealer or model of car is no longer on the menu. Who knows when that car will come back in the rotation? Combined with the fact that you never know which cars you already own unless you click on the details page, car collecting in Gran Turismo is neither easy or fun.

There is a cool car-sharing feature that compares your garage with another players and syncs up the cars so everybody has all the available cars, but only certain cars are tagged as sharable. Others must be purchased or traded. Another forward-looking feature is the ability to transfer your PSP garage into Gran Turismo 5 when it finally ships for the PS3. This feature alone might prompt some compulsive gamers to really work on their PSP stable of cars, especially if they want a jumpstart on the GT5 competition.

As far as presentation, Gran Turismo is extremely polished with slick menus and pristine graphics that only suffer because they are rooted in realism, which means no flashy colors or crazy track designs. The interface and HUD are excellent and this is one of the best (and few) games I have seen with an in-car driving camera complete with dashboard, working mirrors, and the ability to look around via the D-pad. Car models look great and shine with a metallic sheen. The menus and other peripheral screens are very professional and easy to navigate.

The sound design is excellent with a wide range of realistic engine noises and sound effects like squealing tires and the thud with cars collide. The sound gets muffled, almost too much, when you opt for the dash cam. There is an impressive collection of music buried in this game, but the default volume is too loud and clashes horribly with the other sound effects. It’s fine in the menus but is best turned off (or way down) for the actual racing.

I had my doubts about Gran Turismo coming to the PSP. The franchise has always been about the ultimate reality in racing and you just can’t pull that off on a handheld. I noticed a video-out option to play this game on a TV and was curious about a controller-in option to plug in a USB wheel. Absurd? Yes, but no more than playing this game on the PSP.

Polyphony has proven they have the technical proficiency to actually deliver all the components of their famed franchise, but lack the ability to assemble those parts into anything a racing fan would want to play. Unless you are in this for the months of grinding to earn cars early for the upcoming GT5, I’d have to recommend you skip Gran Turismo on the PSP. MotorStorm: Arctic Edge might not be as realistic but it’s infinitely more fun and a much better option for casual handheld racing.