Gran Turismo PSP: a second opinion from a disgruntled fan

ARS: Now that Gran Turismo is widely available for the PSP, we decided that it was time to check in with our own racing super-fan to see what he thought of the game. You can read the original review to get started, and his thoughts are below.

Picture the scene: central Kentucky, about five years ago. A friendly neighborhood purveyor of games and game-related accessories (who may or may not now be a well known games editor at a likeable tech website) was all aflutter about a new handheld platform, the Sony PSP. "You should really get one. I know how much you love driving games, and Gran Turismo is just about to be released."

That was five years ago. The failure of Polyphony Digital to release anything on time (ever) reached its apogee with Gran Turismo Mobile, which reached legendary vapourware status until it finally surprised us all by actually being published. Five years in which my PSP sat around in a box not doing much. Five years in which I installed a custom firmware and tried playing GT2 as a placeholder (not worth the effort). Five years in which the existence of GT Mobile became a running joke.

[hay]

Totally agreed. GT is awesome. You can pick it any time, do a challenge or win a race and put it in a pocket after that.
Game looks great, plays like a charm, it's good ol' Gran Turismo in portable version. I still don't get the 7/10 reviews. It's a 9 in my personal opinion.

[table]

perhaps some reviewers don't appreciate that there will be an obvious difference in quality between console releases and handheld releases and therefore they are inevitably judged more harshly. I doubt that there is a set scale that some reviewers go by, they probably just slap a score on it that they think might be right.

[Jamescagney]

Tbh the psp has never made a real mark in handheld gaming with me, while Sony has proven their worth with consoles, the psp has never really made much of an impression.

It may have better hardware, but for sheer quality and amount of games worth playing, the DS exceeds it on every level.

I've had a psp and can quite honestly say it was very rarely used.

[Close_Second]

...clarification on the graphics. When I watch footage of the game on youtube there are times it looks great and other times it looks terrible. Especially the trees and bushes - flat pixelated bitmaps!

I have been in two minds about getting it but I am the kind of gamer that finds sub-standard graphics distracting. I loved Wipeout and Ridge Racer on the PSP. Ignoring the 60fps how do GT:PSP visuals compare to those titles?

[Maddens Raiders]

I'm glad he had a change of mind, GT:PSP is a great game!

edit: ^^ well mate if this doesn't convince you to buy it, I doubt anything "we say" will: http://bit.ly/2PrWb4

[iceman06]

I think that your comment is spot on. The PSP has suffered, in terms of reviews, from the comparison to the big brother consoles (PS2 and even PS3 at times)which I find totally ridiculous. The direct competitor to PSP should be the DS (and all of it's iterations). However, the reviews that I read are continuously saying that it "can't compare to it's PS2 counterpart...or it falls a bit flat in comparison". Well...no sh!t!!! It is a handheld console...with ALMOST PS2 graphics!!! As to GT on PSP...it is a welcome and surprising effort from PD! I know they catch a LOT of flack for their erratic releasing schedule (read---whenever we want to), BUT they have NEVER disappointed...and they didn't with THIS release either.

[Ju]

No worries about "substandard graphics" in GT-PSP. It's one (if not the most) beautiful games on the PSP.

[gumgum99]

This video does the game more justice. Its direct feed and in HD

[Lord_Ranos]

I play alot of Medal of Honor Heroes 2 ad-hoc on PSP with my friends at school.

[NecrumSlavery]

not huge PSP lover, but I have to admit GT PSP looks better than every PS2 GT game. It's really great looking.

[RAM MAGNUMS]

Ds sucks .
Not 1 hardcore game on there & the pen is ghay.
Not 1 game is better than any game I mentions & especially god of war.
Ds has no baseball, no madden, no basketball. No fps, no nothing worth mentioning.

Now I have gran turismo psp. Been playing it everyday & it's incredible.
That's just a few games i played most recently. Since psp's release I've played 10 to 13 games a year.
The ds? Has nintendogs. Gtfo!

In new York it's nothing but psp's in the hands of hardcore gamers. Mostly men.
The ds is a accesorie for middleaged women. Little kids from 5 to 10.
So pardon me as I laugh at any gamer here on this forum saying the ds is thier preference.
You might as well have said you like boys & pink is your favorite color.
Get real.

[Jamescagney]

The ds has so many great games to list it would take forever to note them down. The ds has games to appeal to everyone including the hardcore gamer. The psp just hasn't got the same amount of quality titles that the ds has.

[RAM MAGNUMS]

Graphically, much better than wipeout & ridge racer.
Ever since resistance retribution I've noticed all the latest psp games take a graphical upgrade.

Today, no other hand held is producing these graphics.
Gt psp is smooth as butter. You can feel it.
It's great.

10 out of 10 for me.

[RAM MAGNUMS]

Are you serious?
Psp has my favorites:
castlevania
patapon
killzone liberation
the metal gear series
monster hunter
resistance retribution
medal of honor
god of war
syphon filter
gran turismo
tekken
dissidia
final fantasy
motorstorm artic rift
ghouls & goblins

man! Psp got everything!

Every genre covered with more than 1 great game in it that will change your life.

[cloudkev]

i love it, 9 out of 10 for me.

[Why Dat]

I would give the game a 9/10 too, and I am TERRIBLE at driving games!