Gran Turismo

Format: PSP
Release Date: 1 October 2009
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Publisher: Sony

Style: Simulation
Discipline: Circuit

A Gran Turismo title for PSP has been promised since the system's introduction. Originally Sony named the game after its then bigger brother, Gran Turismo 4. Five years later, the game returned at E3 promising over 800 models of car and car sharing over local networks.

After what can only be described as a mammoth development race, the PSP version of Gran Turismo has finally made it to the Weigh Bridge. The game is available now on both UMD and digitally from the PlayStation Store and features hundreds of cars alongside a ton of tracks. But is sheer quantity enough to justify the five year wait for this title?

Gamespot (75%) – “While it lacks a number of the features that the series was built on, Gran Turismo still has a lot to offer anyone who’s ever had a poster of a car up on his wall or dreamed of taking a supercar for a test drive. Gran Turismo is a game that’s likely to keep you coming back for more time and time again.”

EDGE Magazine (70%) - “Gran Turismo PSP offers little more coherency between events than the single race option that has always been present in the series. Far from being liberating, this bespoke arrangement feels like an anaemic reproduction of the Gran Turismo experience”

Eurogamer (70%) – “You could argue that you’re getting all the content you could possibly want and are then invited to explore it without restriction, and it’s certainly possible to enjoy the game like this. But…relying on players to make their own fun is either lazy or foolhardy. Coupled with archaic AI and the isolating absence of PlayStation Network support, this makes for a game that feels unfocused and regressive, despite its considerable technical and mechanical accomplishments.”

All of the reviews that I have read so far mention the game’s lack of a career mode negatively. Several also state that the four car limit that exists in every race is far too restrictive. If you can put up with that while on your travels then it looks like you will be rewarded with a faithful reproduction of the series as well as some of the best visuals ever delivered on a handheld.

Following the E3 announcement of Gran Turismo’s launch on PSP later this year, Sony Japan have unleashed further images of the game in action. There isn’t a lot to see, although the selection of manufacturers is quite diverse – something which should uphold the marketing claims of 800 different models of car. The game is scheduled for release in October.

It seems like forever since Gran Turismo 4 was announced for PSP release back when the machine first showed its face in 2004. Five years later the company is finally ready to release the game, which is now titled Gran Turismo PSP. The game features over 800 models of car and more than 30 different tracks which have a combined total of around 60 different layouts. Action is presented at 60fps and the normal career (known as “challenge” in this one) and arcade modes make a return.

In a first for the series, players will be able to share and trade cars that they own in the game. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be online play, so this will have to take place within the ad-hoc mode. The title will be one of the first to be part of Sony’s decision to distribute all future PSP titles digitally as well as on UMD when it arrives on October 1st (North America). First screenshots:

E3 2009 trailer: