PSX GAME RECOMMENDATIONS |

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Games are recommended on a four-point scale like those "strongly agree/disagree" questions you get on surveys. This scale goes "Strongly", "If you like this kinda game", "Watch it online", and "Avoid at all costs" from best to worst. It's one part how likely I am to replay the game and one part how likely I am to recommend it to fans of that game's genre. I'm not in the business of objectivity, just what's fun to me. No reason to play a game if you're not having fun, yeah?

[#] Gran Turismo 2 (Sony, 1999)

I know what I said about the famous games here—I love Gran Turismo 2, and we're talking about it. This is a game that has captured me for five months on and off, beckoning me to the bedroom to finish it off (my save, of course), the perfect balance between in-depth car tuning just before it gets boring and arcade excitement just before it gets goofy. Throw in some 25 absolutely iconic courses, a killer soundtrack featuring The Cardigans, Garbage, Soul Coughing, and Stone Temple Pilots, and oh yeah—almost 650 cars from over 50 manufacturers—and this is the premier PS1 racer. Does it hold up? My God yes.

What strikes me about the heart of the GT2 simulation is how varied all the cars feel. Everything from drivetrain to car weight to tire softness to gear transmission ratios to turbo kits (the cheap and fun way to cake a race!) noticeably affect how your car handles. The courses requires you to practice, appealing to drive but each with their tricky spots, and when you do get good at navigating one, satisfying doesn't begin to cover it. (Of course, the lack of damage modeling means you can drive like an idiot, crash, and use other cars as bumpers, but this game would suck if I had to worry about totaling my car or dying mid-race, so that's a good thing.)

Gran Turismo 2 was legendarily rushed in development, and there are complaints I could raise with it (like how impenetrable it is in its early game unless you use a setup to get a nice car quickly), but it really doesn't detract from how enveloping yet approachable the experience is. Once you start unlocking cars and getting into the weeds of all the manufacturer races and rallies (and less pleasingly, two hour real-time endurance races), GT2 becomes less of a racing game and more a big car collecting playground you'll never quite find the other side of.

Reviewed	Supports analog controls?	My favorite part	Recommended?
August 22, 2024	Yes	Caking races with finely tuned cars	Strongly

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