Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 2

Genre: Racing Simulation

Number of Players: 1 - 2

As Gran Turismo fans await the next installment of the series to finally emerge, either the long talked about PSP version of the game or the future of the series, Vision Gran Turismo (or perhaps GT-HD) Polyphony Digital has another trick up their sleeves that might be the thing to pass the time away. GT is undoubtedly the king when it comes to real auto simulation, but there are other forms of racing that has gained attention, and one of those would be motorcycle racing.

Tourist Trophy works on the same engine that GT does, but instead of countless cars that you can find, you will get behind the throttle of a motorcycle, and all of them digital recreations of actual bikes that you could buy just about anywhere. Just like with GT, there isn’t a story mode, and the game doesn’t need one, but just because you’ve spent countless hours playing Gran Turismo, Tourist Trophy isn’t a game that you can jump right into and think that the mechanics are the same.

Let me illustrate this a bit further. With GT, body damage hasn’t yet been included as part of the game play, so my classic style of playing would be hitting the highest speed that I can, then taking corners at a speed that is beyond what should be used. Hitting a wall isn’t a big deal, nor is “nudging” another racer to the side because again, body damage doesn’t count for anything. While that might be true of Tourist Trophy, hitting a corner at about 80 resulted in this: my bike went one way, I went the other. No, using the break is the key to getting through these courses.

GT4 gave those that played the third game a chance to import their save files and by-pass the licensing mode, but I found that it was a necessity since the bikes don’t operate quite the same way. While I already knew this, I just was under the assumption that it was going to be the case, especially with the same engine. No, licensing courses are a must, not only to teach you the finer arts of riding, but to unlock some of the more advanced courses.

There is another difference though, and you won’t necessarily be involved in races featuring a number of other bikers, nor will you gain money to buy new bikes. Instead, the challenges in this game have you decided what type of bike you want to acquire, then you will compete against another rider to win it. Either stay in front for 10 seconds or so, or manage to cross the finish line first, and the bike is yours. The nice thing with this is that there are instances where you can actually accomplish your goal in just a few seconds if you know how to handle your bike properly. The races themselves also allow you to win bikes as well as additional gear to wear.

The ability to tweak and adjust the bike is found here as well, but it’s not nearly as extensive as what GT is. You can play around with the exhaust, the tires, balance, and the drive train of the bike and you also can change what your riding form is. This will let you determine how you lean into the turns and such. Also, races allow you to take photographs and see a replay. This is all quite familiar for many GT fans; in fact, there are things that might be a bit too familiar. Many of the Gran Turismo tracks are found in Tourist Trophy. The game does have some exclusive raceways that will not be found in GT, but many of these are a bit on the small side, though that works perfectly considering that your riding a motorcycle, not driving a car.

You have access to a garage of course where you can take a look at your bike or change the gear that you’re currently wearing, but as you may have already guessed, there is another mode; arcade. Here, you can select the track, the bike, and everything else, and compete against another player. There is no online mode however, but even GT hasn’t yet incorporated that, but I’m sure that’s something that will be seen with the next generation of simulator.

Tourist Trophy really doesn’t look that much different from what GT does, and if there were any enhancements done, I failed to notice them. Even so, the game does look amazing and that’s part of the entertainment value of the games that Polyphony has been creating.

The problem that I found while playing this game however is that no matter how good it looks, it’s a pale imitation of the GT games and instead feels more like an excuse to sue existing tracks to simply make a quick buck. Tourist Trophy needs to have some differentials added to set it apart. More racers of the track, different types of races, maybe even a dirt bike mode that is would fall somewhere between GT’s rally mode and any number of motocross games. Unless you’re dying to hop on for ride to kill some time before Polyphony’s next generation auto simulator, I’d say that this is at least worth a rental, but probably isn’t going to be the thing to satisfy most Gran Turismo fans.

-mike-