Post by Ayen on Feb 10, 2012 10:40:40 GMT -6
Gran Turismo 2 is a driving simulator/racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment following the success of Gran Turismo which came out in Japan two years before this one. The game swept stores in both Japan and North America in December of 99 and finally Europe one month later and has received commercial and critical success and today we take a look at the sequel that came racing onto the scene!
As you can see above the game comes with two discs. Arcade Mode to dive right into the action and Simulation Mode to take you inside the life of a racer. For this review we'll be starting with,
Arcade Mode
We start off with a series of racing footage from the game to the song “My Favorite Game” by The Cardigans, one of many awesome tracks available in the game, before coming onto the title screen. Arcade Mode brings us two different types of racing: Road Race which is done on your standard race track and then Rally which is performed on a dirt track with different type of cars for each. In Road Race you have three classes to choose from which consist of Sports Cars, High Performance Cars and City Driver Cars. After picking a class select your car, pick your color, transmission and settings and you're ready to go.
Right off the bat you have three tracks to choose from: Tahiti Road, Midfield Raceway (which is the longest of the three) and High Speed Ring. There are over 20 tracks in the game overall but this is just what you start out with. In Rally the only track you have at the get-go is the Tahiti Dirt Route 3.
And now the beautiful cars you have to choose from, from Class A through C,
Class A: Chevrolet Corvette Coupe, Ford Mustang Svtcobra (hey my mom's car!), Lotus Elise Sport I 90, Mazda RX-7 Type RS, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI GSR, Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec, Subaru Legacy BF RSK and the Tommy Kaira Coupe LS
Class B: Alfa Romero 156 2.5 V6 24V, Audi TT, BMW 328i Saloon, FIAT Coupe 2.0 20v Turbo, Honda S 2000, Lancia Delta HF intergrale, Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 Sports, Piymouth P+ Spyder and Toyota ALTEZZA RS200
Class C: Citroen Xsara 1.8i 16v Exclusive, DAIHATSU MOVE aero down Custom, Ford Mercury Cougar, MGF 1.8ivvc, OPEL Tigra 1.6 i, Peugeot 206GTI, MINI Cooper 1.3i, Suzuki ALTOWORKS RS/Z and Volkswagen GOLF Gti.
Meanwhile in Rally Car Dirt Trial Edition we have: TOYOTA COROLLAR, Mitsubishi Lancer EvolutionV, Subaru Impreza 99, Ford Focus, Peugeot 206, TOYOTA Celica GT-Four, Nissan Pulsar Gti-R, Mazda Protege, Subaru Impreza, Citroen Saxo, Lanca Delta HF integrale, Opel Tigra Ice and Renault Megane.
These are the cars you have to choose from in Arcade Mode. On top of that you can load up your garage to bring in a car you already have saved from a game on Simulation Mode, which we'll get to in a moment.
Another mode we have is called “Time Trial” where you race against the clock for the fastest time. What makes this bit interesting is the ghost car, which is basically a mirror image of your time from the last lap so it won't appear until lap 2, representing that you're basically racing against yourself and that's pretty cool.
Simulation Mode
We get right to the title screen on Simulation Mode and immediately the first thing you'll want to do at the start is purchase a car... With over 30 manufacturers to choose from you can go to either north, west, south or east city to buy a car. You won't have a lot of money at the beginning so the best thing to do would be to look at used cars, something to remember if you'll ever low on cash later in the game. After you have a car it might be a good idea to get a license. You'll have to undergo several different test scenarios but once all of them are complete you'll have your license and you'll be ready to race but expect to have to go back later to upgrade your license so you can unlock more races.
Once you get to the “Go Race” menu you'll have three options. The first one will be your GT League, which is the official championship races for racers all over the countries based on skill, Rally Events which are races performed on unpaved roads and then Special Events which include endurance races and races limited to specific model vehicles. Like any good racer you need to keep a close eye on your parts. In Car Settings you can change parts on your car or adjust them accordingly.
Other things you can do in Simulation Mode include buying rims for your car at the Wheel Shop, keeping your car clean in Car Wash and testing out your car performances in Machine Test.
Another neat feature is the instant reply which you can watch at the end of every race. While the replay is going on you can go up and down on the directional button to select which car in the replay you'll follow and the Circle button to change the camera angles. In addition to that you can save, copy, load, rename and delete replays after they become available.
Overall I don't have many complaints about Gran Turismo 2 that wouldn't spring from just a personal preference and it's easy to see why it's one of the top selling titles of the original Sony PlayStation. If you're a fan of racing or looking for a racing game to get started on the genre Gran Turismo 2 is definitely a video game I'd consider looking more into.
