Best $20 Game you'll ever buy!

INTRO

The King of simulation racers now has come to the next gen, will it maintain its grasp? Lets take a detailed look at all it has to offer, and see if the King still reigns supreme.


MENU DETAILS

Lets start at the bottom and work our way up!

OPTIONS. You have many choices to customize your gaming experience, here they are.

First choice is screen size, you can choose from 4:3 ratio (standard tv setup) or 16:9 (Theater ratio, also viewed as letterbox on some movies) I tried 16:9 on my standard tv and got the same 4:3 ratio as always, no letterbox.

Next is sound. You have 6 choices. All are either On or Off, there is no adjustment for volume, which is a disappointment. The ability to get just the right mix is standard on most racing games, why they couldn’t manage that here is beyond me. Choices are Menu BGM (background music), Menu SE (sound effects), Race BGM, Race SE, Replay BGM, Replay SE

Next is a list of 25 tracks(songs). You can choose or arrange the order, or just put it on shuffle. The list is a mix of hard rockers, rap, and techno/electronica. Some of my favs are Goldfinger, PM5K, Methods of Mayhem, and Grinspoon. I rarely actually use the music during races, only when the mood strikes.

Next are controller options. You can turn the dual shock vibration on and off, and also completely re-arrange the control configuration to suit your tastes. I leave it stock, as it follows similar patterns to most PS1/PS2 racers.

Next you have car control options. You can choose automatic or manual transmission. You can also toggle on/off Drivers assist (stability management), and Traction Control.

Next are two player choices. You can select number of laps (up to 99), toggle tire damage on/off, and setup handicaps for slower less experienced racers. The next option has the automatic ghost car update, on/off.

Last, you can setup steering assist type for players 1 2. The last button onscreen allows you to go back to the default settings.
FILE OPERATION, SAVE and LOAD GAME

These are the next three choices in the main menu, but I’ll group them for convenience. File Operation simple lets you view your memory card, and edit it! Save and Load game are pretty self explanatory.

REPLAY THEATER

You have the ability to save your races and view them as replays. I’ve not yet done this and don’t intend to, I’d rather be actually racing than just watching. You have three choices in this option. Load Replay simply lets you load your saved replays. Demonstration are numerous demos of various tests/races. These are kinda neat to watch, and can be helpful seeing what the ideal strategy is for a particular license or track. It also really shows the graphics off nicely. Analyzer is the third option. I’m not sure what it does, but it appears you can have your races/replays graded on a variety of presets. Interesting.

SIMULATION MODE

For most this is the big attraction to the game. You start off at Home on Day 1 with $18,000 (or Credits as they say). First thing to do is to buy a car. With that budget, you choices are limited. The GT Auto area allows you to wash your car, change the oil, and buy new wheels. The wheels thing is cool, there are about 10 different manufacturers and probably over 100 wheels to choose from, neat concept. Next you might want to tune up your car. You can beef up all the major components (Engine, drivetrain, turbo, suspension/brakes, tires, plus more), provided you have the CASH! You also have the option to go to the Machine Test, and see what your car is capable of. To enter some racing leagues, you’ll have to be licensed first. I find this to be a real drag, and at times feel its much more difficult then getting a license in real life ever was. I like to just go race, so this part isn’t a big fav of mine. Once you acquire the appropriate licenses, you can enter those tournaments. Lastly, enter races. You win, you make money, you upgrade you cars and move on to more competitive leagues, its that simple.

ARCADE MODE

The first option you have here is Single Race. It’s simply where you choose a track, a car, and go at it. You choose difficulty, Easy, Normal, or Hard. You can also choose auto or manual transmission, and racing or drift mode. You go up against about 5-6 other cars in this mode, except for the Rally races, which are against only one opponent car.

Your next two options are Time Trial and Free Run. Basically this allows you to race alone, and really gives you the opportunity to learn the tracks and car you’ll be using, and also gauge your progress based on the lap times, which can all be recorded, along with your replays.

Next up is Two Player Battle, which is pretty self explanatory. The I.link Battle is a separate option, but basically its an extension of the two player race. It allows you to connect multiple PS2’s (each needs its own tv) and you can do multi-player races (up to 6 players).

Clear Status is a cool option. There are 34 “tracks” available. Some of these are the same tracks, but racing in opposite directions, or with other minor modifications. The tracks are grouped in sections, A thru F. Complete (meaning win) each section of tracks, and you open the next section. This is in Easy Mode. In Normal and Hard Modes you also unlock 1-2 cars after each section. With licensed cars from 37 different manufacturers, you are sure to find some favorites. This mode ended up being one of my favorite things about the game, and it was the first thing I completed.

CONTROL/GAMEPLAY (8)

Generally, outstanding. The game utilizes your standard Sony race controls, Steer w/ the stick or the d-pad, accelerate with X, brake with Square, Triangle goes back to the previous screen. R2 changes your view. You only have two views. Full screen , as if on the front bumper of the car, with the tach and speedo on screen, or behind the car, as if the camera was floating behind your car. I wish there were a few more angles of this view as most games have. The B and C class cars seem pretty sluggish, and are generally not much fun for me. The A class and S class(racing) are pretty good for speed sensation, although they definitely keep it real world. The Rally Races are pretty fun, as they require a different style of driving. On the road you’re conscious of braking and your lines in the corners, the Rally races are more about sliding through, I use very little braking, which makes it a fun style. My biggest complaints are when the cars make contact, or run over the curbs. The cars reactions to contact are not very realistic, they really bounce around, and don’t convey a real sense of the weight of a car. Its not a major problem, but noticeable. Overall one of the best racer’s I’ve played, as gameplay goes.

Graphics (10)

Awesome! Outstanding car modeling, and the backgrounds are very good. Jaggies are almost non-existent, although you will see some crawling and flickering in some of your backgrounds. Sunlight effects are tops, especially when going through tree-shrouded passages, with the sunlight beaming through the canopy overhead, awesome! Reflections are outstanding, especially at night and on rain slicked roads, although spray from the cars on wet roads is a bit pixilated looking, but not bad. Same goes for the dust on the Rally tracks. It looks respectable overall, but your can really see its flaws when you look at the source of it near the tires. The tires also seem to disappear and reappear as the car goes. Suspension effects could be better to, but again, very minor flaw. This is the best looking game I’ve seen for the PS2, mainly due to its awesome modeling and its almost complete deletion of jaggies.

SOUND (8)

Car sounds are very realistic. Sound effects aren’t bad, although when the cars make contact it sounds very generic. The inability to vary the music and sound effects to your liking is a real cheap oversight, not sure why they did it this way. For me its not a major issue, as I never listen to music during the races anyways, if I do it will be on my own stereo. I prefer to view my car when I race, I can judge my lines better, however in the “full screen” mode (camera on front bumper) the cars sound much better, I guess cause its trying to simulate you inside the car. I wish I could get that sound with my view of choice. Basically, great car sounds, with solid sound effects and decent music, when you can hear it!

OVERALL (9.5)

The PS2 has had its share of lousy looking/running games, especially in the launch and earlier titles. How they managed to deliver a game that looks this good, and runs smooth as silk is beyond me! GT3's been out over a year and it still stands as the best racer on the PS2, and one of the best on any console. Test Drive and Need For Speed have been released, and while solid, they still can't unseat GT3. For $20, this is probably the best value available on a next gen console. I heard rumblings about GT4, it’ll be hard to top this, but they have my attention!