In the year 2001 Polyphony Digital released a new Gran Turismo in Japan which was called Gran Turismo Concept. Basically this game was really not part of their initial plans. It came about after car manufacturers actually approached Polyphony, instead of the other way around, to ask if they could make a new game with their new concept cars in it to help spread the word about their planned automobiles.

Polyphony agreed and the game was born. Later on in 2002 they released a new version which was only being sold in Europe (i was able to buy a copy too). This was called Gran Turismo Concept: Tokyo-Geneva 2002 and included concept cars from the Tokyo Auto Show, Geneva Auto Show and also some from the Detroit Auto Show. A selection of 94 cars was available along with five tracks to race them on. One of those five tracks was having it's first PS2 outing, but was not new to Gran Turismo. Have a read below to find out a little more.

Read my review

RACES

If you're the kind of person who likes long games then this one isn't for you as it can get finished in under two hours! But don't let that put you off. You can still do the licence tests and the races with three difficulty levels, with some cars having a much closer race than others. An incentive to doing the races and getting gold on the licences is that you win a car for every race completed. So long as you finish first.

Free Run allows you to do just as it says. You can do eight million laps of one track if you wanted (i'm positive i wouldn't be able to sit for that long though). If the thought of licence tests puts you off then you might like to know that this is by far the easiest Gran Turismo game in existance. It is basically meant as a GT for beginners, although experienced players can also find a challenge or two. This game is roughly just the arcade version of GT3.

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CARS

Cars are what this game is all about. But then again that's what all the Gran Turismo games are about. Hhhmmmm... But this one is more so about cars than the others. Probably. I think. Maybe... I'm not making any sense. There are actually more than 94 cars in the game, there are over 250 but thats including all the GT3 cars which are unfortunately not driveable (although you can race against them).

There are 20 of them below but if you want to check out the whole lot then click here.
~ Ford Ka
~ Mazda 6
~ Lexus SC 430
~ Nissan Skyline GT-R M-Spec (R34)
~ Chevrolet Corvette Z06
~ Volkswagen Golf GTI
~ Mercedes-Benz SL 500
~ Jaguar S-Type R
~ Audi RS-4
~ TVR Tuscan Speed 6
~ Daihatsu Copen
~ Pontiac Solstice
~ Nissan 350Z
~ Suzuki GSX-R/4
~ Hyundai Accent WRC Rally Car
~ Honda Mobil 1 NSX JGTC
~ Nissan Pennzoil Zexel GT-R JGTC
~ Toyota Esso Ultraflow Supra JGTC
~ Audi ABT Sportsline TT-R DTM
~ Ford Falcon XR8 V8 Supercar (Tickford)

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TRACKS

As mentioned, there are five tracks in GT Concept and all of them have been in Gran Turismo games previously. They all have improvements from their last outing in either GT1, GT2 or GT3. Mainly visual enhancements, but they all look much more realistic now and that only makes for better replays.

Midfield Raceway
~ Was last seen in GT3 and improvements to the track surface such as more tire marks have been made. Now the most realistic looking track in replays.

Tokyo R246: Akasaka
~ Was last seen in GT3 and like Midfield it has more tire marks on the track surface making it look extremely realistic also. Apparently there is a new car outside the Honda building on the main straight.

Swiss Alps
~ Was last seen in GT3. Noticeable improvements are on the wooden bridge you cross over at the halfway mark it now has white signs on the bridge ends so that you can tell where the edge of the bridge is without smashing into it like many of you probably have. I haven't. I'm too good for that. Too good. Never hit it. Nope... *cough*

Tahiti Maze
~ Was last seen in GT3. To be honest this track is absolutely perfect as it is so i haven't really noticed any improvements but there must have been some because it too looks much better now.

Autumn Ring
~ Was last seen in GT2. All i can say is that it's about time it returned. Here it is under the power of PS2 and by George has it made the transistion, from PS One to PS2, well or not! It's also the most 'interactive' out of the five tracks. The usual brake markers etc can be hit and flown into the distance, but this track (a first for Gran Turismo) has moving ground... in a way. If you drive on the grass under the trees which are browning in the Autumn wind, the leaves lying on the ground will fly up behind you - the faster you go the higher they get! Looks really good in the replay!

For more information on the tracks please click here.

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