Gran Turismo 1 Review

(UPDATED: April 6, 2012)

Please note that this post was edited and taken from John's Blog Space. I've done everything I could to talk about the Gran Turismo series on John's Blog Space. But I decided (when I became serious about blogging) to cover various issues ranging from video games to life issue and more. So now is my chance to share with you Gran Turismo 1. And trust me- you will get my true, total, and complete thoughts on this game.

--- Gran Turismo 1 Overview ---

^ the main menu screen for of Gran Turismo.

Gran Turismo 1 began the phenomena known as Gran Turismo. It began what would become one of the greatest racing game series of all time. Not even Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo and president of Polyphony Digital, didn't think his game would sell. Gran Turismo can be enjoyed in Arcade Mode with straight-up racing action. But the real meat of GT is in Simulation Mode. You think you know the Gran Turismo series by simply playing the PlayStation 3 GT games? Think again.

Even for its time, Gran Turismo was one of the most beautiful racing games ever. This is where you have a chance to race some of the finest cars from Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This game began the curiosity process of pursuing getting certain cars and modifying them to make your own pure racing machines. Before you can race, you must acquire your licenses. Many people complain that you're forced to get these licenses to compete in racing events. However, think of it like this- do you want to become Gran Turismo World Champion or not? Each game is a new experience. No excuses. If you want to beat the game, hustle and grind to get your racing licenses. Work your way up the motorsports ladder to go from weekend racer to international racing sensation.

Your car company choices include Honda/Acura, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota, Subaru, Chevrolet, Dodge, TVR, and Aston Martin. Every car (with the exception of racing models) can be taken from street car to pure race car. It's recommended you get a Used Car to go with. I recommend the 1990 Mazda RX-7 Savanna as your first ride. It's the best car for you to start off with. I also suggest you get all of your licenses before racing. At least go and get it over with so you can enter almost any race. Most races last two or three laps. The bigger races last five laps, and there are three endurances. If you don't have at least an hour to spare, you need not race these events.

There are also eleven different tracks. Counting reverse configurations, there are 21 tracks in this game. There are many courses for you to race ranging from various road courses to two street courses. And as many future games saw what GT had to offer, you start seeing more games like Sega GT featuring street courses at night. Hands down, Grand Valley Speedway is the signature race track of Gran Turismo. Absolutely nothing like this course. Grand Valley IS Gran Turismo. Other tracks include (but are not limited to) High-Speed Ring's high-speed racing action, the undulations of Deep Forest, the off-balance nature of Autumn Ring, and the always imposing Trial Mountain.

--- Why Should You Get This Game? ---

The biggest reason is to experience what the Gran Turismo series was like in its infancy before the glory days and the prestige the series has today. The character of this game is that the game doesn't feature any driving aids. No ASM or TCS like in today's GT games. So you need to handle the car properly to stand a chance. This game (especially among veterans like myself) has a certain magic to it that lasts with you as a Gran Turismo fan. So what if this game is graphically outdated? Who cares as long as you have a classic and complete racing experience like this game provides? There is no visible crash damage, but again- who cares? Most people just want to wreck cars rather than race to win. The game is still enjoyable even without a damage model. Even just get out and enjoy the Toyota Castrol Supra GT, which has somewhat been the signature race car of the Gran Turismo series.

And considering this game is more than ten years old, you don't have to pay a lot of money just to get a classic. Just look on Amazon or something! The game costs about what, one or two dollars at the cheapest. The game is about one or two dollars online, but the value in playing this game is priceless. You'd be foolish as a Gran Turismo fan to NOT play this game. So go get it and enjoy it! The music is even classic for me. My favorite song is "Lose Control" by Ash. I have other favorites like "Oxyacetylene" by Cubanate, "As Heaven is Wide" by Garbage, and a few others I can't name.



There aren't really any negatives to this game. It's a classic for a reason. Find out why by getting Gran Turismo for the PlayStation 1. Go play it on your PS2 or PS3. Unless you get strange eye infections from playing PlayStation 1 games, there's no reason why you shouldn't own this game. So go get Gran Turismo and race your butt off!

Buy this game here:



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