The highest selling Playstation game.

But why, tho?

Gran Turismo sold ten million copies off the back of a 96% Metacritic score. It was developed by Polyphonic Studios and produced by Sony. Kazunori Yamauchi and his team took five years to create the first entry into the racing sim franchise, and it clearly paid off. But I don't understand it.

Gran Turismo has two modes. Arcade mode, which is a pick your car and take it racing mode. There is more stuff to unlock as you win on each track in each difficulty setting. There's also Simulation, which is a foux career mode. You start with 10000 credits to buy a car and some upgrades. You then take it through tracks, earning more money to buy new ones and further upgrades. To get access to new tracks, you need to pass two license tests. Succeeding opens up harder races and courses. There is no real story in this mode.

And it all works, but I don't understand the hype. I once considered myself a racing game enthusiast back in the day. Mario Kart was popular around this time. I've spent so many hours in Need For Speed, Porsche Unleashed, especially. Various NASCAR games have passed through my hands. I've found all of them more compelling than Gran Turismo. Maybe it's because it feels so sluggish. Playstation loading times and low cash payouts for victory, ironically, slow the game down. I managed to get my class B license and found those new races challenging. So am I gonna have to grind for hundreds of thousands of credits in the same five races? I've read there are only eleven tracks, to begin with, so I feel like there's not much here. There are 122 cars if you're an enthusiast.

And I think that's who Gran Turismo is focused on. As far as I know, GT was the first racing game to let you buy upgrades. New brakes, transmission, weight adjustments: it's all here. I don't care about that. I've never had a real world driving license, and I'm as far from a car guy as can be. All of the big car manufacturers are here, and there's a plethora of models here. New, older, and classics. Are the tracks based on anything?

I'm not calling Gran Turismo a bad game. It's very polished and grounded. The graphics looked great but haven't aged well. The music is an interesting choice, but there's plenty of it, and some are bangers! Hope you're into rave music. Car physics, I assume, are there. I should buy new tires, though. I just prefer goofy racing or stuff where crashing and damage matters. This isn't for me, is what I'm saying. I'm not the target demographic. GT2 is also a good game, so maybe that might fit me more. Regardless, I don't feel comfortable giving GT an honest review. I played four hours, and that's enough. I can't get a feel of the game, but I know it's not for me. Not everything has to be! That's the great thing about gaming and the world!