Meristation: Gran Turismo PSP Review

Meristation writes: "Gran Turismo hits shelves at the same time that PSP Go does. At first, anyone would assume that it's one of the most important games for the handheld, but its visuals and the number of cars available are not what we expected. If we take into account the whole series thus far, we don't understand why they decided to don't add the Career mode to the mix, and just four cars racing at the same time doesn't seem enough."

[Wakka_]

Only four cars on track? Pathetic. Gameplay & career mode > amount of cars available on game, graphics, other worthless stuff.

[raztad]

LOL.

Amount of cars, graphics are worthless stuff? thats funny as hell.

Yeah I agree that more cars on track would be better, but this is just a portable game. Are you expecting something like 16 cars on track? oh wait 8 is enough I guess :)

[Sunny_D]

Don't forget with the graphics it's performing, it's still able to perform at 60FPS.

[54percent]

I think they don't get the "HANDHELD VERSION" stuff yet

[Wakka_]

Wipeout Pure for PSP has 8 cars on track, lots of single player modes and online play and that was a 2005 game, maybe launch not sure. For 4 years in the making, this is a flop. Polydigital is overrated.

[randomwiz]

"Polydigital is overrated. "

thats like saying bungie is overrated

Turn 10 is way over rated. Their only success came in bundling Forza 2 with the 360. I would've never picked up Forza if it was sold separately.

[talltony]

That since this has been getting mixed reviews that GT5 will suffer the same fate. Lets see what we have in GT5 to compare to GT PSP.

-1080p 60fps
-16 cars in a race.
-A Career MODE!

GT PSP has none of that but fanboys love saying GT5 will suffer the same fate regardless.

[Ldubbz]

This was supposed to make me wanna KEEP my PSP. What the hell is the point of having 800 cars, but no career mode? 800 cars...but only 4 on a race at a time? And it has LESS customization than GT1?!

I dont get it...GT1 was on a CD-ROM, meaning 700MB maximum. And they cant give us a career mode with almost 2GB? Or even the 1GB that people have been saying it was limited to? And thats another thing...are you telling me the PSP Go means that ALL games will now have LESS space to use than before with UMD? I sure as hell hope thats not true, cuz I will defnitely sell this sucker.

Anyone interested in a mint-condition launch PSP, hacked of course ;) LOL

EDIT: Yeah, I did think about the fact that the PSP probably uses better assets that could require more space than GT1. That being said however, GT 1 and 2 still look better, albeit not at 60fps (unless you count the bonus night tracks...Clubman FTW!)

[Chris399]

So I really care less about review scores. It's free. And it's car-porn in the palm of my hand.

This series, for me, is mostly about the eye-candy and I haven't heard one reviewer attack the game on that front.

And again, it's free. Can't complain about that.

P.S. I'm certain that there is more going on - technically - with GT PSP than with the PSX version. The textures, AI, models, everything: hence the larger data footprint.

[MikeMichaels]

Race around courses..make money...buy more cars...race for more money to buy fast/better/rally cars...race them...make more money, buy better cars...800 times.

....Kinda sound like a career to me, just different. More, bite sized.

Then there are what, 102 driving missions? Sounds like tons of stuff to do.

Either way, for me....Nürburgring in my pocket = Day 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and here's a screenshot of GT1 for reference.
http://img.listal.com/image...
....right, Ldunce. Pretty close LMAO

[Ldubbz]

A guy named MikeMichaels is calling me Ldunce...classic.

The fact remains there is no career mode, there are only 4 cars on screen at once. and I have to wait for thr right day to buy the car I want? What the hell is that?!

Look, Im not here simply to bash GT and be happy that it sucks, quite the contrary. And I find it amusing that you were so incensed that you went and dug up a screenshot from GT1 (thanks for the trip down memory lane!) just to show me the difference. Thans for that.

But my view remains the same, this game is not what I nor many of others thought it would be. I dont for one second buy that "well its simplified for PSP" garbage either. GTA was just like, well GTA. Same with GoW. Races only last for 5 min or so average, its not that hard to let u save after each one and pick it up from there. And dont call it GT then...call it GT Express or some crap like that.

but if this seems like the kinda game you were looking for, then by all means have a ball.

[PISSIO]

Gran Turismo FAIL Portable.

[Tee7soo]

EPIC FAIL
..

[Stryfeno2]

FLOP

[NegativeCreep427]

It still beats the hell out of Wet and Banjo Kazooie.

[Lets-Game]

I wonder why people only add reviews with low scores.

[Figboy]

the PSP is a HAND HELD. it is meant to be played in situations where you want to game, but have no access to your console. ie, bus, train, plane, waiting rooms, etc.

while there are plenty of games that are long and epic and involving on the PSP, how many of them are actually suited to be played in the aforementioned scenarios?

a career mode, while nice, just isn't conducive to portable play.

with that said, the game is shipping on a UMD. UMDs have roughly 1.5 gigs of space. there is only so much you can fit in 1gigs of space.

so my question is: what would you have rather had them cut out to make room for career mode?

cut some cars? isn't GT ABOUT cars?
cut the graphics? then you'd complain that visually it's horrible looking and doesn't hold up to other PSP games.

some things simply had to be cut for the sake of fitting it all on a UMD (and it's a downloadable title for the PSP Go to boot.

i'm not a GT fan, but i find it silly that, just like the PS3, the PSP games are being held to a higher standard than is necessary for a handheld.

GT PSP is NOT GT on consoles. it never WILL be. it CAN'T be. i feel that reviewers have been unfairly holding the game up against previous entries in the series, when that's simply not fair.

much like film adaptations of books, i'm willing to acknowledge that due to the medium it's being presented in, there's no way it could fully encompass the books content in the space of the medium.

the PSP is NOT a console. it is an impressive handheld, but it is still just a handheld, with all of it's limitations.

Gran Turismo has always been a rather larger than life franchise. it's always packed in a lot, and yeah, i imagine GT fans are a little spoiled by it, and the thoughts of ANY cuts to their series must sting like a knife, but it could have been a lot worse than what GT PSP actually IS.

reviewers need to start reviewing games for what they are, and not for what they AREN'T.

hell, i'd have liked more content in Ratchet and Clank Future: ToD, or the option to have a map in Demon's Souls, but i'm not going to mark the game down for it.

i plan on checking out GT PSP, and i'll certainly see FOR MYSELF if the core gameplay of the game is so horrible that it warrants such a low score. i mean, the lack of a career mode can't possibly by worth docking 3 points, right?

i mean, the controls, graphics, physics, etc must be awful too, right? those are the pillars of gameplay, and when they don't work, then the game suffers. from what i've read about GT PSP, the controls, graphics, and physics are extremely good. so i think reviewers are being unreasonable.

but again, i'll play the game for myself and make up my own mind about it.

[gamingisnotacrime]

PSP launch with the GT game promo, it has been WAITED for 4 years buddy, and to add salt to injury no career mode
What is a GT game without career mode? burnout and Ridge Racer do the trick for a career less PSP game, but this is Gran Turismo and is a handicaped experience.
I love my PSP,PS3 combo and really like the PS brand as a whole, Im a fan of PD since GT3 and i will get GT5 in a heart beat. But this GT PSP is NOT the full GT experience and that is very very dissapointing. Most of the single player is challenges and racing against 3 dumb ai cars. I pre ordered this game, but i will cancel and forget it.

Im not saying it is a bad game, but PD promised a lot more (a true GT experience in the palm of your hand) and this is not what they promised

[raztad]

@^^^

I dont believe someone was actually expecting GT psp for 4 years. LOL. Since when GT psp, which everybody thought was canned, was such a highly expected game?

Too many x-fans all over a portable game just because it's a GT game. Dont worry guys, GT5 is yet to come :D.

[Ninjamonkey]

Does a psp game always need a career mode?

At the end of the day on the psp it would have been just like arcade mode, but you dont get to choose what race you do...

In otherwords, it would have been a worse version of arcade mode. The same, but you have no choice over what track you do.

Its a portable game made for quick sessions. You choose a car, you choose a track, do a race, and enjoy the game.

Yes 4 cars is not much but then the visuals are quite nice. And thats what polyphone are about, making the cars shine.

considering that this is a HANDHELD console, they did a good job.

[Dsnyder]

I didnt thiunk this would be that great to begin with....

Why can't psp get some good games for once?

[mrblacknut]

The funny thing is the people trying to justify it being just a PSP game were the very same people running all over the internet screaming this is going to be better than Forza 3 simply because of the number count.

[Traveler]

I agree, people really opened their mouth too soon on that.

[NaiNaiNai]

4 cars on track. OMFG burnout does better. burnout 1 did better.

[MetalGearRising]

Flop.

[Narutone66]

for the funding and the xbots for beta testing the games for the PS3.

[mjcrow33]

I'm tired of this "Well, it's supposed to be a portable version so no career is necessary". Last time I checked there was more than a few RPG's out there on handhelds and they were just as long and involved as their console counterparts. BTW why no upgrades on your cars? It cuts down on the interaction with your cars. Instead of feeling like you own them it feels like your just test driving them.

[Socomer 1979]

anybody ever play a gran turismo game on a hand held before ?
No?
Do you want to?
No?
Then youre not a fan.

I play WIPEOUT pulse & I dont get dissapointed because WIPEOUT HD has rumble.

GT plays great & looks great on the psp. I Play psp everyday. psp gamers are happy.
Dissidia, syphon filter, resistance retribution, monster hunter freedom unite, wipeout & PS1 classics.
Of course psp gamers will get gran turismo. No other handheld competes. critics cannot offer a better alternative can they?

GT PSP begins a new genre. maybe mario kart is more fun but its not for hardcore gamers who want thier favorite games on the go. GT PSP is being compared to what other handheld racer?

chopping points off because you really wanted to try for licences? expecting upgrades to feel a difference in car handling? want the graphics to suffer for 8 cars on track with psp a.i. ?

yeah real smart. i love all the people who have critics think for you & stamp a number behind it.
your loss not the reviewers that briefly played it.

[Socomer 1979]

adding a career mode and more cars on track and the fine detail of car customization on the psp would merit real dissapointment because it wouldnt work on the psp.

you would be mad if your gt psp game had... trial and error licence and qualifying modes, average psp graphics, upgrades that are useless and artifical intelligence of a fruit fly.

you people including reviewers are seriously saying that this game will not be enjoyable on a psp? if so then i want another choice and since there is none then whats the problem? maybe if there was a gran turismo 5 beta with the game, all your hearts wouldnt be broken. Im sorry if im coming off as a a$$ but im more of a hands on guy and i never take anyones word over my own experience. after gaming on psp for so long i know what to expect and gt psp still surprises me in a good way.

it would be pretty silly if i look around and see people playing need for speed or midnight club and im running gt and im jealous of a career mode. especially if im unlocking 800 cars and saving times. sounds pretty busy to me.