Gran Turismo - The King of All Racing Games — sabukaru (2024)

Firstly debuting in 1997 and developed by Polyphony Digital, the roots of Gran Turismo franchise could actually be traced back to 1992 with producer Kazunori Yamauchi [who is also a professional racing driver] setting out with a group of seven people to create a racing game which took 5 years to fully develop.

The main selling point of the Gran Turismo games since its inception has always been its top-tier graphics, realistic handling, intricate tuning system based on physics principles, along with car sounds actually based out of real-life car recordings.

The series has spanned decades and has always been an exclusive for the PlayStation consoles, it is also the highest selling game under the PlayStation brand with over 80 million units sold since its inception in 1997. Due to its aforementioned high-quality of graphics, Gran Turismo games have often been used by Sony to show the full extent of whatever PlayStation console it happens to release for.

Much of the gameplay of the series derives from the ‘simulation/campaign mode’, where the player is initially given a certain amount of in-game credits to buy an initial car and then progressing by entering races and earning prize money to buy new cars and tuning parts. The series also has a license system [much like real-life motorsports] where players try to complete tasks within a certain time limit and earning different ‘trophies’ depending on the completion time.

Within the sphere of racing games, Gran Turismo reigns supreme as one of the most detailed, and realistic driving experiences one can experience on a gaming console.