Old School - Sega GT (PC Version, 2000)

[JohnBM01]

Gran Turismos 1 and 2 defined a new direction of racing video games that many companies tried to make their own GT killer or try to have a few elements better than GT. Since most game companies like to make games to play one-up over bigtime games, some games end up being underdogs trying to upset the big titles. Sega has had great success with racing games in the 1990s such as OutRun, Hang-On, Manx TT, the Daytona USA series, Sega Rally Championship, and Sega Super GT/SCUD Race. But did Sega GT live up to being a GT killer, or at least a GT contender?

PROS: pretty nice environments; great selection of cars; being able to modify engines yourself for more power; just being able to pretty much take a car, heavily modify it beyond Gran Turismo, a nice blend of simulation and arcade; great number of races, more so than GT1; able to acquire sponsorship from existant companies such as McDonalds and Outlaw Fuel Additives; nice lens flares

CONS: track configurations and styles appear very uninteresting. The only real interesting circuits are the Night Section races; car physics are... alright with plenty of bounciness out of corners; with questionable physics, getting 1st in the license tests can be quite challenging

OTHER INFO: The majority of my racing in this game has come from License Tests. I competed in a 0-400 race with a stock Suzuki Cappucino, and I got OWNED! There is reflective mapping, but the graphics won't show. Sometimes, you'll see some clipping with the 3D models.

VERDICT: This isn't Gran Turismo. However, if you want a racing game with a style similar to GT, this is about the only successful GT-type game for the PC that I know of. I couldn't find any, but I don't think there is online play for those into the multiplayer thing. Anyhow, it's Gran Turismo for your PC... with some BIG twists. (Final Verdict: 7.50/10)

 

[MagpieRacer]

what about the carrozerria?
that rules more

 

[JohnBM01]

After playing a little more through Sega GT, I had a chance to play around with the Carrozeria. Allow me to introduce this mode to you, for those of you not educated about Sega GT.

With the Carrozeria option, you have the oppurtunity to make your own Original Cars! You'll need a great amount of money for this option. When you go to the Factory menu, you have a lot of options to work with. Displacement is perhaps the key element of Sega GT. (1) First, select a displacement. When you start out, you start with the Extra Class, where displacement cannot exceed 1,000 cc. Select the displacement you want to work with. Money isn't needed here. (2) Money WILL be needed when you select an engine type. You start with two options- Inline-3 and Inline-4. Select between whether the engine is normally-aspirated, turbo, or supercharged. (3) Afterwards, decide where you want to place the engine- front, mid, or rear. Whichever placement you select will impact its handling significantly. (4) Select a drivetrain- front, rear, or four-wheel drive. (5) Select a body style for your car. You start with three, but with a higher license (explained later), you get more bodies to work with. (6) Select from three pre-defined exteriors. No money is needed here. (7) Select a color for your original car. There are usually up to five per car, which is a far cry from some of GT4's colors- like over 31 for some muscle cars! (8) When done, if you still have enough money to manufacture your dream car, all you have to do now is confirm the manufacturing of this car. (9) Name the car from up to 10 letters. (10) You're done! You can tune the car at long last.

More to come in the next post.

 

[JohnBM01]

Also in Carrozeria, you have the oppurtunity to acquire licenses to build larger displacement cars. You need to have a factory-made car in order to compete. After you use Carrozeria (and tune, because it will greatly help you clear the tests), you must clear a series of five tests in order to acquire a license. These seem more like the Gran Turismo style of tests. You know, you have a car, you have something like a few corners to clear in a certain amount of time, and of course, you have to pass. Unlike GT, you don't have to have a time 5 seconds faster than the prescribed time. Remember, the way you've built your Original Car will have a big impact on how it performs in corners and even at speed. For example, I recently made a car under 1600cc. I called my creation the "Shibuya." Shibuya is the trendy sector of Tokyo, Japan. It is best known for colorful fashions and young people having fun. It even has Shibuya Tokyu, or for the rest of us, Shibuya 109.

Anyhow, this machine has an Inline-4 (or 3?) with about 250hp. I've configured it to be a mid-engined car with 4WD. That's why when you play the game, you will see "F4WD" rather than GT's "4WD." My car is configured as M4WD. In Trial #5, I had some trouble in Night Section B's toughest turn, just before the "Pioneer" bridge. So, you build the car, now all you have to do is race it properly to win.

But by far, the best feature in the game is Carrozeria. I still think some of the tracks aren't really interesting (except the Night Section courses), but the Carrozeria should easily be the most interesting element of the game. Another great feature is Sponsorship. When you win races for a certain sponsor, you will be paid by the Sponsor for winning. At first, I thought the sponsorship would be on your car, but actually, they are there to fill your wallet with some cold, hard, cash. This makes winning races more satisfying. You even get money for winning consectutive races.