Gran Turismo 4 Celebrates its 15th Birthday Today

Gran Turismo 4 was one of the first video games I’ve ever played. I got it a little soon after GT3. Of course I immediately fell in love because I saw this searching through the dealerships when I booted up the game for the first time:
upload_2019-12-28_17-19-43.jpeg

But besides the very interesting and fun selection of cars and tracks, the menus and menu soundtrack is probably the best of any game EVER.
 
GT4 is my favorite as well. No more racing tires all the time and the event variety was just brilliant. Strong opponents most of the time which made my top power builds not work for the first time due to fuel/tire usage in all events except Time Trials which was brilliant. You needed to tune your cars well to win sometimes.

I think I got a CD laying around and I could find my PS2 in a box in the basement. So many good memories. I also like GT5 and GT6 a lot but GT4 is the best to me.

The only minus is the cars they gave could be sold for way too high of a price. I like to work too much perhaps.
 
Last edited:
I was a ripe 33 years old when I got this one. Other than the absence of Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini, this game was the best title at launch of any in the series.

Though I played it with a controller way back when it’s the main reason I hang onto my DFGT. As a matter of fact, I kept playing it even after GT5 came out.
 
Gran Turismo Concept Tokyo Geneva 2002 was the first GT I owned, it came with my second hand PS2. I remember my brother, me and my friends were hooked. Absolutely loved playing it. I still don’t know what I was thinking but after I brought GT4 I asked anyone if they wanted the Concept game, they replied no. So I snapped the dice and threw it in the bin. I was 14 and stupid. I guess I’d had enough, wish I’d kept it for my collection. Before that I played GT1 and GT2 at a friends Birthday party, borrowed GT3 A spec from a friend, and bought GT5 Prologue for PS3 and then GT5/GT6 and Sport. Sport is now my favourite of the franchise. It’s an incredible experience. It maybe lacking the single player story arc but it’s still a lot of fun and the most improved in many areas, particularly graphics, lighting sounds and online are amazing. :cheers:​
 
AlexDB9
Nürburgring Nordschleife.
*drops mic*
Click to expand...

This game was truly the start of my obsession with the circuit. Forza Motorsport 3/4, Project Cars 2, Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo 6/Sport; I've spent an absurd number of hours in each of those games just doing hot laps around The Ring, and now I feel as comfortable driving on it as any other circuit. I only vaguely remember driving this circuit in GT4 and I definitely was **** at it (as well as the rest of the game). But Nordschleife and Suzuka are my favorite circuits, and this game was my first ever experience with both of them. I don't think that's a coincidence.
 
A day late to the celebration, but this was the first ever Gran Turismo game I have ever played, and it set the bar so high for me that, in my opinion, still to this day, no other entry in the franchise has yet to ascend above its position. I gotta tell you, though; Gran Turismo 5 was REALLY close to dethroning GT4 from my personal list, but executive meddling pushed the game forward to meet the holiday release date; had it not been for that, GT5 could have received the polish it needed to ascend above GT4, but alas...

In my opinion, Gran Turismo 4 laid out the foundation for all of the later titles in the franchise. if you started playing the franchise with this game first, it'll be pretty hard to go backwards and appreciate the older titles. An amazingly vast course library, over 600 vehicles of various types (from the wicked fast to crazy concept cars to aged and vintage automobiles- easily the most diverse vehicle roster in the whole franchise), lots of single-player content and a fully supported networking mode that allowed for LAN play. No matter how many times you've played GT4, you can always go back to it and find a totally different way to enjoy the game again, from challenging yourself by not using any Credits and earning/using only prize cars, to tuning up your starter car and taking it as far as it can go- the root of playing GT4 branches off in so many directions that it's almost endless!

Had GT5 actually went forward with the Standard courses concept to coincide with the Standard cars, it would have easily overtaken GT4 as my most-favorite Gran Turismo game, but GT4 is the last game that features some of the franchise's hallmark and most-loved courses. Seattle Circuit, Grand Canyon, Tahiti Maze and New York are some of my most-favorite courses ever, and GT4 is the latest game to feature them (with the PSP spinoff title aside). I hope that the developers go back and spend some time on GT4 for some thorough note-taking to see why players such as myself adore the game so much.

15 years and counting, but age is just a number for this timeless game. :D
 
Last edited:
:lol:
EDK... I know that blanket looks really smokey, but most are interested in the other pool girl...
:lol:
That photo was taken doing this GT4 wall glitch at Monaco in my video here for those interested in seeing more of those cardboard pool girls really close up...

EDIT 2021-REPOSTED MY SPECIAL VIDEO BY POPULAR DEMAND.
SORRY, MUST BE 18 TO VIEW DUE TO YOUTUBE'S NEW POLICIES.

 
Last edited:
GT3 > GT4 for me.

GT4 was good-ish, but also unnecessary.

To me 4 marks the beginning of the “downfall” of GT. It started to introduce some inconsistencies that only got worse in the PS3 era.

Sport is a return to force.
 
GlamFM
GT3 > GT4 for me.

GT4 was good-ish, but also unnecessary.

To me 4 marks the beginning of the “downfall” of GT. It started to introduce some inconsistencies that only got worse in the PS3 era.

Sport is a return to force.
Click to expand...
Intresting would you elaborate a bit please?.
 
George Jakob
Intresting would you elaborate a bit please?.
Click to expand...

Unnecessary as in it felt more like an iteration and not an evolution.

It did not have the impact 3 had (on me) and it didn’t feel like the step from 3 to 4 was big enough to justify its existence.

Of course this is all pretty subjective and as of today 15 years ago.

I could be wrong.
 
GlamFM
Unnecessary as in it felt more like an iteration and not an evolution.

It did not have the impact 3 had (on me) and it didn’t feel like the step from 3 to 4 was big enough to justify its existence.

Of course this is all pretty subjective and as of today 15 years ago.

I could be wrong.
Click to expand...
Fair enough 👍
 
GT4 had more understeer in the handling than GT3 had, which wasn't perfrect either, as the best driving game in physics back then was Enthusia by far. Other than that, a great game for its era in many areas. It still looks very nice, especially when played in emulators with AA and scaled up in resolution.
 
Sunfire_jump_01.jpg
Sunfire_jump_01.jpg
Sunfire_jump_01.jpg


Does anyone remember that Pontiac Sunfire GXP Concept '02? The first car I had that fun jumping at Seattle…
And remember the Ginetta G4 '64 – so extraordinary light-weighted to have maximum fun in the corners..
IMG0013.JPG
 
Last edited:
This game was not without its flaws. The new driving physics understeer a lot and drive like tanks, GT3 and GT4 Prologue drove better. The enormous car list also meant handing out padded junk for prize cars, where as GT3's prize cars always came useful. GT3's starting heat waves were cooler than GT4's boring rolling starts. The menu music was less energetic, felt more like it would put you to sleep than to make you go car shopping. Although GT4 added a hood camera, the chase camera had a disturbingly low FOV and less camera spring, so it looked like driving a toy car with very little feedback when taking turns.
 
I wish all the cars in this game were in the current game. I really liked the city track in France. If the PS5 could do backwards compatibility like the Series X will is loved to play this again.
 
Last edited:
I love this game too. It might be my second or third favourite GT after GT3 and GT2, maybe even after GT1 also. GT1-4 are REALLY close to me in quality. 100%nted this game, had all cars, did countless pics, etc. I have some nice footage of the game (some even "exclusive"), you might want to check it out:

 
I tuned both FPV GT & F6, with black SSR Professor wheels, just to run in the Tuning Car race at Apricot Hill. Those and the Amuse R1 were my favorites for that event.

A shame we never got that updated Super Taikyu Spoon Race Car, in the pic for that event.
 
This will probably always be my favorite GT game. When it came out I was old enough to appreciate cars, but still young enough to have all the time in the world to play it. I even remember skipping out of class to go to the mall where I begged the dude at Gamestop to sell it to me early. Thankfully he did and I proceeded to go home and stay up all night playing it. I'm not even sure how many hundreds of hours I put into the game after that night, it wouldn't surprise me if it was north of 1000.

I even have a copy of GT4 autographed by Kaz himself. Unfortunately, when I went to Vegas I'd forgot to bring along a game with me, but @Jordan and @SlipZtrEm had me covered on another one of their trips.

YBeY2zE.jpg


It's without a doubt one of the coolest things I have and it's displayed proudly on my desk.
 

Latest Posts

Back