GAME CLEAR No. 252 -- Gran Turismo (2009)

Gran Turismo (2009, PSP)

Developer: Polyphony Digital
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Clear Version: PSP
Clear Platform: PSP
Clear Date: 9/9/25

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Why should I care?
Gran Turismo has the driving sim chops the series is known for but packages them in the least compelling way possible. This one’s for only the most devoted fans.

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Misfire

Unlike the original Gran Turismo, which delighted me utterly, the PSP Gran Turismo isn’t a game I’m particularly excited to write about. The short version is that even though GT runs impressively on Sony’s handheld, this game is simply not a truly feature-complete racing game.

The game’s single player offerings amount to only single races and driving challenges (which are quite similar to the license tests of other games in the series). To my surprise, credits rolled on this game after beating the first suite of driving challenges, which is why I’m writing this post.

To stop there would make this a rather short game indeed. Theoretically, there’s a wealth of other content. There are over 800 cars to collect in the game, and there are dozens of tracks to take them out on. The problem is the game doesn’t have any sort of structured incentives to do so. There is no series of cups or grands prix or whatever you want to call them. All you can do is create single races with the parameters of your choosing and hit the road. I can understand how being able to quickly jump into single races makes sense for a portable game, but there’s no reason for that to be all that’s on offer.

That’s also not to mention that there is no tuning mode to be found in this game. Much of the fun of the other games in the series is found in tweaking your car to your liking. There’s none of that here. Strange!

There’s an argument to be made that perhaps racing for racing’s sake ought to be enough, but it certainly isn’t for me. From what I’ve been able to gather, this PSP version is generally considered skippable by fans of GT. I don’t find myself parting with that assessment.

One nice thing for me personally is that this game features the 1990 Corvette, which neither of the other Gran Turismo games I’ve played do (they feature the slightly different ‘89 and ‘96 models). That means it features the exact exterior design (and paint color) of my ‘91 ‘vette. That’s neat and all, but I’m pretty sure the same is true of much better entries in the series. I look forward to checking them out one of these days.