Gran Turismo

 PlayStation
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Apr 30, 1998
Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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  1. Electric Playground
    100
    If you can get past its slightly intimidating barrier to entry (getting your license to race in this game is trickier than the real thing), you'll play Gran Turismo for months and months and never see all of its glory. This is a classic.
  2. Hot Games
    100
    Visually, Gran Turismo set new standards right down to the finest details including the brilliant lighting effects. And just wait till you see the replays - amazing.
  3. GamePro
    100
    Turismo rockets to the top with unbelievable depth, raucous arcade action, challenging sim gameplay, and more cars than a mall parking lot. It’s worth every penny.
  5. Adrenaline Vault
    100
    Difficulty complaints aside, Gran Turismo is truly an amazing game... This is the last word in console racing games, period.
  6. All Game Guide
    100
    Is it really that realistic? The answer to that is a plain "YES." When you have a PlayStation steering wheel, you could practice for your real-life driver's license with this game.
  7. Game Revolution
    100
    The amazing part is that GT takes all of this into account and represents it in the performance of your car. This includes traction, weight, load balance, gear ratios, downforce, and lots of other technical racing jargon. For example, buy a racing suspension, and before each race you can modify the car height (front and rear), spring rate, shock damping and camber angle.
  8. PSX Nation
    98
    Picture the most complete racer you could ever imagine, now double it. Gran Turismo is definitely the best racing game ever.
  9. Absolute Playstation
    98
    I would confidently say that this is the most in-depth and enjoyable racing experience ever created on and computer or videogame system.
  10. TotalGames.net
    97
    The biggest, best and sexiest racing game ever. What we have here is a gigantic car game that's such enormous fun to play because of three main elements: unparalleled realism, ground-breaking graphics and the chance to spend a lot of money.
  11. Gamezilla!
    96
    I am going to go out on a limb here and say that this may very well be the best racing game of all time. Yes, you read that correctly.
  12. IGN
    95
    One of the most exquisite racers ever to hit the PlayStation. Its alluring features will keep you glued to your seat for months, if not years. In fact I haven't driven my real car in three weeks.
  13. Electronic Gaming Monthly
    93
    The first installment in the best racing-game series of all time. [Jan 2004, p.188]
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  14. GMR Magazine
    90
    The replays had some of us doing double-takes to make sure we weren't watching real race footage. [Feb 2003, p.97]
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  15. Total Video Games
    90
    The tracks to this game can get sort of boring after awhile of playing the game (most of the tracks are the same, they just re-route them for you to go in different directions).
  16. Games Domain
    90
    This game requires patience and practice - this may not make this such a great game for smaller kids or people who want to just get out there and race.
  17. GameSpot
    86
    Before you can enter a given circuit, you must obtain certification in the form of a license. If you don't pass, you can't race. This is certainly the most controversial aspect of the game and the reason that Gran Turismo scores only an 8 in gameplay.

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PS1 Game of 1998
7
#7 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1998
1
#1 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1998

User Reviews

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User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 411 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 347 out of 411
  2. Mixed: 36 out of 411
  3. Negative: 28 out of 411
  1. whitefox
    Dec 4, 2010
    10
    The Best Game Ever? Not quite. But a very important one, nonetheless. I was too young to enjoy it when it first came out (I always lost), butThe Best Game Ever? Not quite. But a very important one, nonetheless. I was too young to enjoy it when it first came out (I always lost), but five years later, and wow. I play it on my PSP even now. Anyone reading this probably all ready knows what to expect, so I won't ramble on. While the new generation systems have remarkable capabilities, every racing game after this one will still have a hard time measuring up.… Full Review »
  2. inkblowout
    Jun 25, 2016
    6
    Gran Turismo is the first video game I've ever played (in 2000) and at the time I thought it was the best game ever. But playing this in 2016Gran Turismo is the first video game I've ever played (in 2000) and at the time I thought it was the best game ever. But playing this in 2016 made me change that opinion real quick.

    Firstly the simulation mode is really short, and I mean REALLY short. It took me 12 hours to fully beat the game at 100% (excluding the gold licences) and no I wasn't usually overpowered cars, I was usually using cars that balances the rest of the AI. Well it could mean that I'm a good driver? Not really, I just think the game was too short to fully utilize everything from gran turismo. (Great example of this is "One make races")

    Secondly not enough content, like my first point. GT1 had a great potential to be a game to last 30+ hours... with the combination of all tracks (forward and reverse) you'd think that there would a lot more races, there was only 3 endurance races, (and 2 of the endurance race were from the same track but forward and reserve) I think they could have used mini endurances in other tracks which could have been a lot more interesting. Same with grand prix.. there weren't too many that stuck out and maybe more GPs could have been added, but that's just me.

    Next problem I have with the game is the audio quality, I know GT hasn't been the greatest with audio quality but the audio sounds too bland, the same tire screech noise played on a 1 second loop while you are drifting sounds dreadful, the engine revs sounds really similar (except for the LM cars) and because of this, car enthusiasts wouldn't be able to enjoy the sound effects of the cars because they probably wouldn't know the difference between a "Corvette grand sport" and a "95' Honda prelude". And if it wasn't for the interesting soundtrack, I would honestly play the game on mute.

    And finally the AI isn't great, I found the AI to be extremely aggressive which I find that they always bump into your car like bumper cars, I even found myself spinning out or going off track because the cars are pushing me to the side of the road, this makes the AI completely unreliable and so I find myself watching the AI for a smooth overtake because I'm afraid they'll pull a pit maneuver on me which will make me lose the race.

    But after all the negative comments, I do have to give these game credit. This is one of the best racing sims I've played on a console, GT1 pushed the PS1 to the limits with this game. The graphics, the amazing rendering for it's time and hell... the game could even play on 60FPS if it wanted to (See Hi-Fi mode GT1). And even so I found the game preform a lot better overall then it's predecessor "Gran Turismo 2".

    The car physics in GT1 has to be kinda wonky and tends to oversteer a lot which doesn't make a lot of sense, because car physics in GT2 and newer GTs tends to do the opposite and understeer a lot more. It makes GT1 cars easier to drift because of oversteer. But other then that it's a good game, I finished the game once but honestly I would probably never play this game again. GT2 is a much better game then GT1 and GT3 and GT4 are considered some of my favourites in the Gran Turismo franchise. But why I'm not going to play the game again? It seems like the game is too outdated whereas GT2 is not, and I'm not talking about the graphics, but the gameplay mechanics, the content and all of these races to keep you occupied, GT1 lacks in content, I've stated the gameplay mechanics are wonky and the lack of races seem to uninteresting. But GT2 seems to fix all of that and honestly I'm glad Polyphony Digital steered out of GT1's direction and made some changes. GT1 will remain a classic but some classics doesn't need to be reopened and played again.    … Full Review »
  3. NicolasThe17th
    Mar 24, 2016
    10
    Simply one of the best racing games of all time and one of the greatest legacies of Playstation (by not call the greatest, lol) Anyway, aSimply one of the best racing games of all time and one of the greatest legacies of Playstation (by not call the greatest, lol) Anyway, a great game for a great console..… Full Review »
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