Sega GT

"A mixed bag of a racing game."

I thought Sega GT looked good when it first came out. At that stage, there wasnt really another driving sim on the Dreamcast with the same depth. I mean Gran Turismo levels of depth. It was just what I was looking for, so when I saw it for £15 in EB I immediately grabbed it from the shelf and rushed home to play it.

And it was great... until I actually got to drive.

GRAPHICS: To use a tired videogame phrase, the graphics blew me away. The cars looked solid, the tracks looked hi-res and everything just has a robustness about it. There's no ''fuzzy round the edges'' PS2 visuals here. Everything is crystal clear. Its just a shame that the frame rate is only 30fps. Had it been 60 then it would surely have looked fantastic. But they're still very good. 8/10

SOUNDS: Nothing special or memorable in terms of music here.
The sound effects are fine, the engines are noisy, but the music ranges from soft-rock to Japanese style pop, all with no vocals (thank god). None of it will stick in your memory. 5/10

GAMEPLAY: Now this is the major stumbling block. Everything is great until you reach the first corner. Then suddenly you'll realise the programmers must have been trying to recreate the feel of drunk driving, or been drunk at the time themselves. Maybe they let the work experience boy do it. Whatever, the gameplay stinks. When you turn, the ground skids beneath you, and heaven forbid you crash into a wall because you'll find your car has mysteriously gained the properties of a rubber ball and bounces of both walls continuously. It is extremely frustrating and you'll find your car also likes to play in the sandpits too.
You may get used to the ridiculous controls and persevere if you like but to be honest it can be very off-putting when there are games like MSR out there...
The tracks are boring. No recreated cities. no fake cities- just plain old boring race tracks like those in GT. Yawwwn.
The host of options available is of course expansive. Yep, tweak whatever part it is that you get pleasure from tweaking... to be honest it's all pretty boring to me but it'll satisfy and racing sim fan. 5/10

CONCLUSION: Yawn yawn yawn. I must warn you that this review is a little tainted by my opinion. I find racing sims pretty boring. But the controls really do suck in this game. Ive played GT and MSR and they both handle a lot better than this. Great graphics, mediocre music and poor gameplay. It's not a really bad game, if you're a die hard fan or sims then don't let me stop you. There's just a lot better out there.

OVERALL : 6/10

If you want a good racing sim, get MSR.

Sega should stick to what it does best- original, fun games.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/01, Updated 12/17/01