Review

Much as I love Gran Turismo, I must admit that I haven’t played the fourth instalment as much as I had expected. Maybe it was the lack of an online mode that made me stray over to the Xbox with PGR 2 and (to a lesser extent) Forza Motorsport or maybe the format is just starting to get a bit stale? Either way, when Polyphony announced Tourist Trophy I was definitely interested but it seemed like a quick and lazy cash-in.

How wrong could I be? As it turns out, bikes were just the things to revitalise the format and all the developers have done is dump motorbikes into the GT engine, even going so far as to recycle the tracks! What this means, of course, is that it looks simply stunning, GT 4 still ranks as the best looking PS2 game there is and Tourist Trophy is it’s equal in every respect.

As you’d expect the game is split into Arcade and Tourist Trophy modes. Arcade offers a quick fix of races and a limited number of bikes to ride whereas TT gives you literally hundreds of challenges and races to undertake beginning with the licence tests in order to learn the ropes. What is instantly apparent is that being a GT expect doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be an ace here as well.

Knowing the tracks doesn’t give you an advantage either. This is a game about learning the different handling characteristics of the bikes themselves, the licence tests may give you the basics but everything else is up to you. Learning the precise time to lean into a corner and when to apply both the front and rear breaks takes plenty of practice and consequently gives you a great sense of pride when you nail that perfect lap. Also, unlike GT, you are punished severely for any off-road excursions, 9/10 times touching the grass results in falling off your ride and although it only takes a couple of seconds to reseat you sometimes that’s the difference between winning and losing. Although this makes the game incredibly frustrating, in the long-term it also makes it a far more rewarding experience.

To unlock the different bikes you have to complete challenges, there’s no money involved here. If you want a bike you simple select it from the list then must perform a quick overtake challenge in order to add it to you collection. This involves a quick three-lap race in which you must pass your opponent and stay in front of them for over 10 seconds. Any additional parts come with the bike too allowing any wannabe grease monkeys to alter the performance to their specific style of racing.

On the downside: there’s still a gaping hole where an online mode should be. Taking on human opponents is left in the domain of a reasonable but seriously underdeveloped two-player split screen option. There’s also a distinct lack of opponents when playing solo as well. Most of the early challenges and races are one-on-one face offs, but even when you do progress further the maximum number of bikes to a race is only four.

In the end though, Tourist Trophy’s qualities more than outweigh its faults. Compared to its immediate rivals, such as TT Superbikes and Riding Spirits, it rides home in an easy first place, but it could have been so much more!

About the Review

Platform

Sony Playstation 2

Developer

Polyphony Digital

Publisher

Sony Computer Entertainment

Released

29th May 2006