For the first time, and last time to date, Gran Turismo jumped from the main Playstation systems to Playstation Portable. Now, +800 cars and +40 tracks await for you, wherever you go and whenever you have enough battery.

Graphics: 8

Not a big change from previous installments. The cars seem very realistic, but the tracks aren’t at the same level: blurry road signals, heavily bumpy tarmac and a few details here and there missing from other games. It feels as if they considered those details dispensable, while in the opinion of many, if not everyone, these details could have given this game a much better rating.

Sound: 10

The best aspect of the game without a doubt. Menu music is okay, engine sounds, as always, could be more realistic, but in-race songs are outstanding. For years, I tried to search for one, Colorful Monochrome, which is an epic guitar riff that lasts the whole song, replacing any lyrics it could have to leave a purely instrumental track. And well, guitar riffs while riding a supercar at above 130 mph is an incredible feeling of freedom.

Addictiveness: 7

The huge car roster and the variety of tracks allow for a big number of challenges. You have very fast tracks to test each car’s top speed, twisty tracks to test its handling and long straights to test the braking system. Everything you need to get to know each car and make your own selection. Plus, if you aim to own some race cars, you will need to amass some wealth, which mean lots of hours into racing.

Story: 0

Gran Turismo has never had a proper story, but it has had a one player mode to make up for it. In this instance, however, that mode has been scrapped, alongside the required licenses to keep progressing through the game.

Depth: 6

Conquering all races can take some time, but if that wasn’t enough, we have the Driving Challenges, in which you are pitted against numerous challenges of increasing difficulty. Completing them isn’t hard, but think twice if you think beating the best time will be equally easy. Still, this game could offer a ton more, I can’t help it but realize the game inspires a feeling of being released while unfinished. Not the first time I see this, though.

Difficulty: 3

The difficulty of this game is ridiculous. The Driving Challenges aren’t that challenging, not counting the series which covers the fearsome Nordschleife, so nothing to worry about there. What about Race Mode? Well, you start off at D difficulty, and as you race, you eventually raise to S difficulty. However, the increased difficulty doesn’t mean your opponents are more skilled, instead you are pitted into far faster and more powerful cars which keep being clumsy and slow. Even in S difficulty, I can do lap times several seconds faster than the CPU while driving the same car. The worst thing of it all is how you are pitted against cars which you cannot beat under any legal way, when there are cars which do have better performance but aren’t unbeatable and allow you to show off your driving skills by overtaking them and winning. I’m tired of facing Veyrons when I use cars with half as much power and 50 mph less top speed. Higher difficulty should mean more skilled drivers, not more powerful cars, doesn’t matter if a monkey drives a Veyron or a Civic, it’s still a monkey.

Overall: 6’5

And I’m being too generous with this rating. Since it’s a portable version of the original series, I expected it to be decaffeinated when compared to the main games, but it’s way beyond decaffeinated. It works well if you fancy some races but are unable to get a home console, but that’s as much as it will work.

Positive

-Tracks. The game includes a unique circuit, Cheste (Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, properly speaking), which hasn’t appeared in any other Gran Turismo. Plus, other tracks have also been a one-time only in the main series, as a way to homage those past games. More tracks could be added, but at least what was added is worth of mention.

-Driving Challenges: They are the average License Tests you can find in the main games, however, there are two series of 6 challenges each that guide you through the best track in the world, the fearsome Nordschleife, nicknamed the Green Hell. Letting you get the grip of the numerous sections of the circuit through these challenges it’s worth of mention, since not everybody dares to race the full track.

-Music. In-race, the music is very fitting. While you drive at +140 mph, you can either hear the engine, which is not very realistic, or hear the music, which can be epic if you make a good selection.

Negative

-Difficulty. Some cars seem to be qualified as very good, so they are pitted against more powerful opponents. However, this “qualifying” system is ridiculous, as there are faster cars which aren’t pitted against that powerful opponents, which is a waste. Plus, no matter how fast those opponents are, they are still overly clumsy, failing to even overtake you in a several mile long straight, which is absurd.

-Car roster. Welcome to Gran Turismo, the racing series where you have a ratio of 10:1 of Japanese cars against cars from the rest of the world. For example, there are 18 Chevrolet cars while there are +30 models of Mazda MX-5, or another example, 20 Audi cars for nearly 40 Nissan Skyline models. This means that, out of the +800 cars available, there are only like 700-750 models of cars, with the rest being special editions or sold in other markets, even if the specs are the exact same.

-Dealers. You only have 4 dealers each day, with a set amount of cars to choose from, and said dealers change every 2 days. This means that, after every two times you start a race or a Driving Challenge, you must check what dealers have appeared and see if there are any cars you want in stock. And what happens if there is one car you want but you don’t have enough cash? Then you must wait until the dealer appears again. The dealers follow a 70 day cycle, so after 70 days, you will have the same cars on display.

-Story mode. Absent, who knows why. You can only do three things: race against three opponents, take on the Driving Challenges or buy cars. Why do we even need +800 cars if all we can do is this?

-Tuning. This game has forgotten about the tuning option. There exists the quick tune option, but it allows little to nothing. They say it allows for certain cars to change the maximum power output (you can lower it, but not increase it beyond what the car offers) and weight (seemingly you can make the car lighter), but I still have to find a suitable car. Road cars, rally cars, race cars, concept cars… I’ve tried everything, and I still have to see a car that allows for those changes. Other than that, some suspension settings and, of course, the tires and choosing between automatic or manual gearbox. Talking about gearboxes, since they can’t be modified, some cars are given absolutely crappy gearboxes that greatly reduce the car’s effectiveness, while others are given very short gears that give them really low top speeds. Only a handful of cars get decent gearboxes.