Gran Turismo 2 (PSone)

Disc 1 of 2

Driving games in general became my go to for entertainment as soon as I was introduced to Need For Speed for the PC. The other games I had in my arsenal of the time were still played but there was just something about driving amazing vehicles on exotic tracks that just drew me in time and time again. Then came Gran Turismo; number two to be exact.

 Love Hate Relationship

This phrase rarely gets used when describing games especially when they are enjoyed immensely on a daily and weekly basis. This game is the first to earn this "Love Hate" title of sorts because it had loads of features and functions that were enjoyable along side features you would rather avoid. You know, like those fun homework assignments with an unwanted twist.

I LOVE the cars that were featured especially the ones that were a bit too slow for my liking. In fact the go to destination for cars was Japan followed by America; can't remember specifics since I was just following some favorite brands that carried over from NFS (Need for Speed). There was even a moment where a movie dictated a purchase decision because I though the car was so amazing in what it could do.

Any way, a little bit of everything was sampled from the game including this nifty feature of custom tuning your vehicle after upgrading the transmission. This was the first game where I was actively taking notes on specs that were getting adjusted. It even went as far as utilizing one cars specs as a blueprint for the other cars that were used frequently.

The customizable gameplay and features provided something new to explore with each achievement and purchase. You're probably wondering where the hate part of the love hate relationship is with all these rainbow and glitter highlights. Believe it or not the least liked part of the game revolves around those mandatory tasks that one must complete in order to progress to greener pastures.

*screams of horror*

Yes other games have been played at this point with similar per-requisites but this one wasn't what one would call with the grain; so to speak. The license tasks that one must complete were by far the most irritating of the time; by time I mean gameplay infancy. Am I impatient when it comes to these tasks? Uh...yeah.

Don't get me wrong, my driving wasn't A-class material but I could drive enough to not crash every waking moment. The rules were a bit too strict for my liking as you had to adhere to them right down to the tee. Stay on the road, do not go off the road and touch earth areas (grass, dirt, etc) and don't hit the walls -- not even lightly.

This drove me batty and the driving video tutorials for how to approach each track did very little in terms of improving one's driving skills. Well to an extent they were helpful but not totally as it felt like things were a little too sensitive on the track. Surprisingly enough, I succeeded in obtaining several of the class licenses along with some special ones but not all of them; not even with revisits in modern times.

This feature alone has brought me, on multiple occasions, to the point of almost destroying my controller. The only other games for the console that came close in terms of controller destruction would be a tie between Soul Blade and Tekken 2. This type of occurrence would not surface again till the PS2 era during sessions involving Soul Calibur 3 (enemies that come to life when close to defeat), Jak-X (explosions out of nowhere) and Tekken Tag (same deal as SC3).

A Special Hailstone Among Snowflakes

Why so furious?

I'm not furious but...the flashbacks just keep coming. Guess the Need for Speed experience made things a little difficult to adjust, sort of, but the game in itself is still enjoyable in its own wonderful way. Seriously, its an amazing classic that's worth exploring with and without special privileges.