The best-looking racer ever? No, the best-looking game ever

Just as soon as we got all excited about Gran Turismo 2 coming out this December, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. debuted GT2000 (or Gran Turismo 2000) on PlayStation2 last Monday. By far the most incredible-looking game at the Tokyo Game Show, Gran Turismo 2000 made its own still-in-development brethren look like an 8bit NES game almost instantly.

If anything bad can be said about GT2000, it's that the game looks too good. Yeah, we know that sounds like criticism for criticism's sake, but it's rare that even the most polished, manicured, pampered, spiffed out car looks as good as these. It's like Sony and Polyphony reinvented car wax or something, or added diamond chips to the paint coat of each car. Brand new Dodge Vipers coming straight off the conveyor belt look like a sad sack of potatoes in comparison to these cars.

It appears that thousands of polygons make up each vehicle. It's hard to tell from this early stage if Bezier curves are already implemented, but the smooth, fluid car designs show no sign of seams, clipping or a sharp edge out of place. And, of course, the backgrounds and streets were finely detailed, to an extent that hasn't been seen before on the PC or the Dreamcast.

But if the sharpest-looking cars in the world didn't grab us instantly, the ferocious sense of skill required to play the game sure did. There's no doubt about it - GT2000 isn't for the faint of heart. You must be skilled in order to play, and for that to happen you'll have to play a lot. It's not just casual playing, either; you must learn the courses and the cars. Don't go out picking an A-grade car, manual gear shifting and selecting 'drift' in your first race. Heck, don't pick that combo for the next six months...

Gran Turismo 2000 is the most impressive game of the show, hands down, and undoubtedly the best reason to buy a PlayStation2.


Courtesy of IGN.com