Sega GT 2002

"Pirahna's review of : Sega GT 2002"

When Sega decided to pull the plug on their Dreamcast back in 2001, the company had to take its gaming franchises elsewhere. For whatever reason, but to our delight, Sega chose the Xbox as the console it would produce most of its games for in the future. That is the short story of why we are sitting here today with simulation-racer Sega GT 2002 for the Microsoft Xbox.

The game is divided up in four section: Quick Race, Sega GT 2002, Chronicle mode and Time Attack. While a quick race, a race against the clock or race with old cars is all good, the meat and potatoes of the game is the Sega GT mode. The game's story mode one might say. This is where you start of as a nobody and slowly work you way through the Gran-Touring races, buy cars for your prize money, and win prizes and prize money with your cars, until you have beat the very best. Not unlike Sony's Gran Turismo.
A visual beauty it is, no doubt about it, great graphics and real-life car models. Like any other Sega game it also supports 60 Hz mode for an even more fluid experience. But despite this, the visual department in general is actually what impresses least about this game.

When choosing your car and sometimes when playing too, there is a weird Wreckless-like blur effect to the cars. I'm not sure why Sega decided to do this, because it only makes the cars look worse, and they look just fine without it. On occasion it is hard to understand all of the ''artistic touches'' Sega put into their games, this is one of those occasions. This is however bearable. It is not what irritates most about the visual department. If you have ever played any of Sony's Gran Turismo games the visuals like the ''Story'' mode will come across awfully familiar, way too familiar actually. Everything from menus, to the setup, to the sound to the gameplay is near identical to Gran Turismo. I literally started to laugh when I played this for the first time. The game just wants to be Gran Turismo so badly, which is a shame really.
Don't get me wrong, Gran Turismo is a fantastic series, but Sega GT 2002 just tries way too hard to clone it, and that is indeed a shame, because developers Wow entertainment show that they have talent, they should have tried to create their own outing of a racing game, instead of trying to copy the work of others.

With that said, they do pull off a fairly good copying job. Like with Gran Turismo you really feel that the developers know a lot about cars, and have a true passion for racing. The attention to detail is astounishing, not only race options but also the ability to tune and tweak your car just the way you want to. The way each car's engine sounds different, and how you can change that sound, by tuning the car. The in-game action is racing-simulation at its very best, its a Gran Turismo rip-off bare none. I'm sorry that I keep returning to this game, but the similarities are so many and so obvious, it is impossible not to compare them. And why would I not ? Sega practically begs for it with a title like this.
Have I mentioned the music already ?
It's the same generic Japanese pop/jazz found in Gran Turismo. If it becomes too much though, there is always the option to switch on any music you might have stored on your HDD, a nice little feature which is one of the few things Sega GT 2002 does not copy from Gran Turismo.

Another likewise feature, is the ability, no perhaps I should I the say obligatory photo-session after each race in GT mode. The game promptly asks you take take six pictures (You simply press the black button and whatever the screen shows when you press it, is your picture) and when you are done, you pick one of them to hang in your garage. This little nifty feature is nicely sponsored by Canon. Another thing to add to the cheese factor. If it is not clear to you already, Sega GT 2002 is a simulation racer, not arcadey like Burnout. You have to use the break and you have to use it a lot. Unfortunately, once again there is a striking resemblance between the gameplay here and that of Gran Turismo, which is if you didn't already get that very symptomatic for Sega GT 2002.

If you own Gran Turismo 3, you will feel kinda cheated like I did when you play this game. It is exactly like it, only it has fewer cars, fewer tracks, fewer options making it kind of a poor mans Gran Turismo.
If you have not got Gran Turismo 3 in your collection, and Xbox is your only console, then Sega GT 2002 is definitely worth checking out, because it almost perfectly copies Gran Turismo 3, it is almost as good, and that is saying a whole lot.

Graphics 8/10
Looks as good if not better than GT3, the power of the xbox truly comes to life here.

Sound 7/10
Generic Japanese pop/jazz is what sums it up best. If you don't like it you can switch to whatever music you might have on your HDD.

Gameplay 9/10
The Gran Turismo feel is almost intact. Almost. It is good, but not quite the same.

Lifespan 8/10
GT Mode will take a good time to get through, but once you are done with that, there is not much to come back for.

OVERALL SCORE 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/03, Updated 06/20/03