Finally the "Real Racing Simulator" is now portable to bring with us anywhere we please. Gran Turismo PSP (GTPSP) developed by Polyphony Digital and published by SCEA has been released for the Playstation Portable after being announced nearly five years ago. Can it live up to the status of the ultimate racing simulator that it’s predecessors have been named?

Everything from the original Gran Turismo Hud appears in GTPSP. You can tell it is a Gran Turismo game from looking at a screenshot. The font and layout looks exactly like every other Gran Turismo game in the past. The car models are pretty sharp and detailed for the PSP while the scenery is average. The graphics aren’t the best on the system, but considering the game boasts a constant 60FPS, there’s nothing to scoff at.

The presentation and gameplay are transcendent. Gran Turismo PSP has every aspect of a Gran Turismo title except for one important piece; a career mode. That’s right, GT PSP does not have a career mode, a basic feature from all previous titles. Single Player and Driver Challenges are the main game modes you can play. Single player is basically an exhibition mode with drift challenges, time trials, and standard races to choose. The game includes 30 tracks, all of which are unlocked straight from the beginning. The way the game works is that the more you race and the longer you race, your driver rank will increase. This in turn, increases the difficulty of the AI to make the races more challenging. The higher your rank gets, you’ll earn more money to spend on one of the 800 cars in the game.

The races are only limited to four cars on the track. You versus three other AI doesn’t really feel that competitive, but it is still satisfying to beat the hell out of their lap times. The game controls very well with the analog nub of the PSP. It feels exactly like its console counterpart. They emulated the feel of the console version to the PSP right on point. The physics of the cars and the handling have been coded nicely to fit the gameplay on the PSP.

The audio in Gran Turismo is fresh, but it does not sound like any type of improvement when you are dealing with all the complexities of all the different engine noises. Behind the roar of the engine is the european techno/house music that you have already heard before. For those of you that are not fans of this type of music, you can create your own playlists of MP3s and listen to your custom soundtrack while you race.

Gran Turismo does have a multiplayer portion of the game. The only damaging aspect of the multiplayer is that it is not infrastructure mode. GT PSP only contains a limited Ad-Hoc multiplayer mode in which players can trade their vehicles and race against three of your friends. I did not get to try this, but I’m betting it would have worked well. The absence of an online race mode is a letdown, but doesn’t affect the game that much. All previous Gran Turismos (except Prologue) haven’t had online play, so it’s not a giant surprise that the portable version does not have it.

Gran Turismo PSP is definitely a stunning accomplishment for a portable title. It’s definitely the best racing game you can get (excluding the obvious, Mario Kart) your hands on. The only aspects that hinder this game is lack of an online mode for multiplayer and the omitted career mode. Everything else about Gran Turismo PSP is solid. It would definitely make a nice stocking-stuffer for racing game fans to find.

Gameplay

Graphics

Sound

Overall