Before I start, I have to tell you a secret... I hate racing games. I always have, and probably always will. Ok, maybe that's not entirely true. I really liked the original Super Mario Kart for the SNES, but it barely qualifies as a racing game (probably why I liked it). Why do I hate them so much? They're repetitive, boring, and unrealistic. I can play any racing game for about an hour, but then get tired of it and never want to play it again.

Then I met Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec, and everything changed. Alright, not everything... I still hate racing games, but for some reason I haven't been able to get enough of this particular series over the years. Realism is important to me for racing; I want to really feel like I'm racing the car. There's no way you can take a hairpin turn at 150mph and not skid off the road, a phenomenon common to other racing games. Plus, the ability to acquire real cars and upgrade them has entertained me for hours upon end.

Polyphony Digital has delayed Gran Turismo 4 so many times up to its release there was rumor that it would never appear for the PS2, but get pushed back to the next generation of consoles. It did finally make the PS2 lineup, and is available in stores now. If you wish, you can buy your copy here.

So How Does GT4 Stack Up To Its Predecessor?

I'll admit, I was giddy when I put Gran Turismo 4 into my Playstation 2 for the first time. After a moment, a bunch of screens popped up about creating a data file for your game. So I entered my name, and proceeded through the 15 - 20 information screens it presented me. One of the last screens said I could import some data from an old GT3 game save, which perked my interest (more on page 2). Okay, let's get the game on!

More on page 2...
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The Setup

The game starts with a movie of a racecar, parked in a beautiful landscape, while a choir chants melodically in the background. This game is about the love of cars, and the guys at Polyphony sure love them a lot.

Before I entered the game mode, being as I'm a techno-nerd, I ran to the options menu to adjust each setting to my liking. They gave all the user interfaces a serious face-lift in GT4, which use icons and an arrow to select things on the screen.

Picture & Sound

There's options a plenty, including sound, picture, screen, controller, race, and more. Of particular mention is the addition of Dolby Pro Logic II for a more immersive sound experience, and a full set of picture controls (no more having to adjust the brightness every time I want to race).

Polyphony even offers something considered impossible up to this point, a 1080i setting for HDTVs. The method for achieving this is unknown since the PS2 was never designed to do this. I've never invested in component cables for my PS2, but I'll consider buying a some to check this out.

Controller Woes

When I went to set the controller to my liking, I was shocked. I almost thought about demanding a refund.

Everyone has his or her own way of driving in GT3. Some use the buttons to control the car's velocity, while others prefer to steer with the right stick instead of the left. Personally, I prefer to steer with the left stick and accelerate and break with the right. I feel the analog control for the gas makes it easier to properly accelerate through turns. GT3 was fantastic about letting you assign the vehicle's controls to whatever buttons you desired.

When setting up my controller for GT4, there was no option to set the gas and brake to the right analog stick. "Why on earth would they do this!" I said to myself. I certainly don't want to use the buttons.

I saw that I could assign steering to the right stick and velocity control on the left, which is completely backwards to me. I was going to have to learn all over again, or go back to GT3.

I couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right, so I consulted the manual's section about controller settings. It turns out that the right stick is also the gas and brake under the default settings. While I was relieved that I could play the way I wanted to, a note on the screen would have been nice.

Finding Your Way Around

The way you navigate to different sections of the game is still the same, but much bigger. You keep your cars at home, change their oil at GT Auto, and race them at various tracks.

They've decided to forego the one car dealer approach, and organize them by country into separate places on the map. There are even 3 separate used car dealers! With the addition of so many cars I can see why they've decided to split them, but I miss the ability to see all the cars without returning to the homepage.

Home

The home base hasn't changed much. You can see and change cars in your garage, view your game status, and trade cars with a friend. I decided to see what you could import from your GT3 data by pressing start in the status menu. It gives you the option to transfer your A and B licenses, as well as up to 100,000 credits. I moved the licenses since I didn't feel like taking the A and B tests again, but I decided to forego the credits to make it a bit more challenging. Too bad they don't let you move all of the licenses...

Buying a Car

The first thing you have to do is buy a car. Since I didn't move any money from my old game, the options are limited because you only get 10,000 credits to start with.

I browsed the new car sections in some of the different countries, but couldn't afford anything. I found lots of options in the used car stores, and ended up snagging a '97 Mazda MR-2 G-Limited for a little over 8,000 credits. I was disappointed to discover that GT4 does not give any history on the cars like it had in the previous entry. I enjoyed reading a little about the cars at the bottom of the screen while shopping.

From there I cruised over to GT Auto for an oil change and a wash, which now show some characters working on your ride.

Upgrades

Buying upgrades for your car has been a staple of Gran Turismo series. While there used to be one place to go for upgrades, you now have to return to the country and dealer of your car. No biggie. There's also a shop that sells brand name upgrades, but it seemed confusing to me (since I know nothing about cars).

I was relieved to find out that the upgrade system hasn't changed much from GT3, but they have added a few new things. Best of all, they've improved the descriptions of each upgrade, which will help novices (like me) better understand what they're doing.

I didn't have much money left after buying the car, but I did have enough to purchase and equip a racing chip for my MR-2.

Continued on page 3...
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Heading to the Races

I didn't want to compete in a tough race with an older stock car, so I headed to the beginner tracks. The first race was the Sunday Cup; familiar to anyone who's played GT3.

Once the race began I could immediately see an improvement over the last game. The graphics were smoother, more detailed, and faster than ever.

Polyphony completely rewrote the physics engine, which was apparent the first time I took a turn (and skidded off the road). After a few laps, I started to get a handle on the updated physics, and was enjoying the enhanced realism they provide. I can tell that good tires are going to be even more important than ever.

Computer AI

The 5 other cars on the road have gotten an upgrade, too. In GT3, other drivers were there to race, but rarely got in your way on straight-aways. Now, the other cars were working hard not to let me pass them by. One of them even tried to run me off the road, and this was the Sunday Cup! If anything, this will make racing a bigger challenge than ever.

Prizes

If you score all golds in a cup you win a prize car, which is no different from the last game. However, you can can clear your winnings and do the standard cup again, which means you can win another prize car! This is a welcome change, since you could only win multiple cars through series races in the past.

B-Spec Mode

Other than some bizarre photo mode (where you can take pictures of your ride and print them on selcet Epson printers), the other major addition to GT4 is the B-Spec Mode.

In B-Spec you become the coach to a computer driver, giving instructions about how to drive the car in hopes that he'll win. I tried one race, and the novelty wore off quickly. However, I could see this as a useful tool to preview how you should drive a course before attempting the real thing on your own.

Issues

Anyone who says that Polyphony has re-released GT3 with a few improvements is wrong. The new physics engine is great, but it's hard to notice unless you've logged hundreds of hours on GT3.

Others have said they didn't do enough to improve the experience of the last game. When I think about good GT3 was, it's no small feat to make it better. Polyphony has addressed many of the major problems with the first game, but I can't help but feel like they've created some problems.

Load Times

My most notable complaint is the speed. Navigating through menus used to be quick and painless. You could hit your garage, change cars, get an oil change, and start a race in no time at all. The only significant wait used to be the load time when entering a new race. However, GT4 is filled with load times. Exiting the menu, accessing your garage, entering a dealership, buying an upgrade, etc. make you watch that little spinning speedometer in the middle of the screen. I know they've done a lot to make the game prettier, but I would have scaled down the UI to make it load faster. Even getting an oil change is daunting, waiting while the animated character jacks up your car, slides underneath it, and changes the oil.

Rolling Starts

My only complaint with racing is the rolling starts. It takes a good 15 to 20 seconds of "Throttle Up" and "Get Ready To Drive" before the race actually begins. I know people need a chance to prepare, but 5 or so seconds is enough for impatient guys like me. Otherwise, a way to skip to the race would have been nice.

Final Word

As a die-hard fan of GT3, GT4 didn't disappoint me. There are a few features that are missing. Net play is the biggest, an option to add damage to cars in races, and extra customization to the car's appearance. Other than net play, they're all token gestures.

Despite the issues, Gran Turismo 4 is driving game. In that respect, it's the best currently in existence.