Sega GT

"Single player is good, two players is great."

NOTE: This review is mainly for the Japanese version of Sega GT, titled "Homologation Special"

WHO?
You are a new driver on the racing scene.

WHAT?
There are cups to win and event races aplenty - it is a good day to make money!

WHY?
To become the world's champion Speed King.

HOW?
By winning races, earning money, and buying and tuning your rides to perfection.

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GRAPHICS
We need to give graphics some consideration here since this game can get really fast and thus things need to be crisp and detailed. The game does a fine job overall, presenting highly realistic environment with smooth framerate, even in two player mode (though there will be some fog.) There is room for improvement too, as some tracks will have turns that will be hard to see and figure out - imagine knowing there is a sharp turn coming but both side walls are the same color, thus making it extremely hard to know when the turn actually begins. This is something that will obviously plague the new player, but through practice, you'll come to know exactly when to turn by reflex. Still, if you are going to race against a new player, expect your buddy to curse the first few times around due to not being able to see clearly...

SOUNDS & MUSIC
There are no complaints here. Sounds are good, music is good, nothing stellar. You're given the standard bunch of GT gaming songs, which is pretty much a genre to its own.

NAVIGATION
Let's say that right now, navigating the menus are a pain in the neck. They are easy to navigate, but each and every single menu includes a fade in fade out transition that is guaranteed to annoy you. You will be spending lots of time in the menus tuning, choosing and upgrading your different cars. Half of that time will be spent simply waiting for the next menu to come up.

GAMEPLAY
There are two ways things go here: on the Japanese version, bumping into walls is extremely forgiving, and I found it more effective to ping-pong my way through the course than slowing down for curves. The American version had it the other way around: bumping into things was overly penalizing. Either way, it was unrealistic... The cars themselves can be extremely easy or extremely hard to drive - this'll depend on the tuning you've done on them and the way the car is made. Nissan Skylines are natural spinners on the track, while Mitsubishis do not understand the meaning of the word "turn". Either way, those problems can be fixed by going into the rather powerful settings menu to tune your car to your driving style. Tune handling, transmission, turbo boost, etc. You also have a small set of rims to choose from if the standard ones don't please you.

DIFFICULTY
The AI isn't overly smart - it follows a predefined racing line, and isn't aware of cars around him most of the time. Therefore, if you're in his way during a turn, he'll simply ram you without warning. If you have an upgraded car, the races will be a piece of cake to win, though some of them will still prove to be next to impossible at advanced levels... But more often than not, the difficulty will be as good as the way you've set your car.

REPLAY VALUE
There are tons and tons of cars, but sometimes they take it a little too far. Honestly, I don't feel like having fourteen different Skylines in my garage. The Corolla Levin and Truenos are actually the exact same car - in short, some things are just repeated over and they really shouldn't, as it's pretty much useless. There are tracks with forward and backwards versions, but those need some polishing as well - the reverse tracks should have had adjusted arrows to point the right way, and there really could have been more tracks overall. You'll find out you'll run out of ideas on tracks to choose rather quickly.

MY GARAGE IS TOO SMALL!
Something small but important: Your garage can't fit every single car in the game. Sorry sir, but you'll have to get rid of a couple of those vehicles and save the ones you really want...

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GOOD
-Lots of different cups and challenges.
-Extremely good graphics.
-Several cars to drive around with.

BAD
-You don't have enough slots to get every single car.
-Navigating the menus is a chore.
-Things will be hard to see for the first timer.

SO WHY A NINE?
Despite several small flaws and generous room for improvement, the game has a very solid core and still manages to be a source of great enjoyment. It'll take time to finish every race, and you'll take even more time to race around with your friends.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/23/04