Gran Turismo (PSOne)

Every so often, there comes a game that really sets, not only the standard, but begins the revolution within the gaming world. Gran Turismo is one of these games. Before Gran Turismo came along, most driving games would quite easily allow you to press one button to accelerate and then steer using the walls and other drivers, with all the cars driving about the same. This was the biggest shock though, when this game came out. You actually HAVE to DRIVE these cars. All the cars have different acceleration, max speed and VERY different handling styles, with you needing to master each of them to get anywhere.

Let's give some background on the story of the game. You play a nameless, faceless, bodyless, characterless.....character who happens to own their own house with an indefinitely sized garage and an immensely broad spectrum of car control. You have to buy yourself a car, then do some races. Before you can race, though, you have to get a license, of which there are 3. Obviously, each license task has a time limit and the better you do, the better your award. If you get all gold on the tasks for a license you get rewarded with a car....not much use unless it meets the requirements of the championship you want to race in.

So your basic aim is to collect as many cars as possible, to win all the championships and then you're done and can sit back and collect money. This in itself is both a good and a bad thing. The championships themselves vary, in there being some designed only for rear-wheel drive cars, some for intercontinental cars (there being only 3 countries that all the cars come from; UK, USA and Japan). This adds the challenge of actually winning a championship, which brings in money and a new car, which can be either good or bad, pending on the car.

As a game, I reckon this one ha s alot of replay-ability. It's one of those games where once you've done everything, there's actually nothing else to do but go back and start again from scratch. And of course, that's a sure-fire way to waste a few hours. Just take my word on it, and make sure you have room to save your game. I spent about 6 hours playing it and then realised I couldn't save it....oops!!