Answer these two questions: First, do you like Gran Turismo? Second, do you like motorcycles? If you answered "yes" to either of those questions, you owe it to yourself to give Tourist Trophy a try.
To give you a little history, I played the original Gran Turismo and GT2, but lost interest after that for the duration of the next two installments. More cars, more courses; been there, done that. I need something new! It's as if Polyphony is spying on me, for they've made something capable of freshening up the tried-and-true for me. How? By subtracting two wheels.
Sure, there are other things that have changed. Rather than adding turbo kits and doing weight reduction on your ride, you learn when to tuck down or adjust your riding style to add or subtract lean. This does as much or more for your handling and performance as those aforementioned tweaks. It takes some getting used to, but ultimately feels like you're more in control of the action.
Tourist Trophy sidesteps the monotonous grinding of the GT series by removing money from the equation, and I commend them for that. In GT, you had to buy a cheap, lame car and do the same low level races over and over until you could finally afford something respectable, let alone upgrades for it. Not so in Tourist Trophy, and their approach makes it feel more like a game and less like work. Jump right into the career mode, head for Challenges, and start filling up your garage. Don't forget to earn those licenses along the way, but other than that, getting new crotch-rockets is only as hard as they are to race against.
See, the way you open up bikes is by giving them about a 10-second lead, then trying to overtake them and stay in front for either 10 seconds or 'til the race is over, whichever comes first. Personally, I love this approach, because it keeps you from suffering the frustration of wiping out on the last turn of the race and having to do it all over again. Get in front and stay there for 10 seconds and the bike is yours, simple as that.
Article comments
1 - George
Yes, it's a great game, and I've really enjoyed it. However, when checking my game status after winning every race challenge, every license category, and all the bonuses I can find, it says my game progress is 77%. What might I be missing?
2 - DDD
Yes, I experienced the same issue on a PAL version in Australia - all complete - 23 race challeges won, all licences cleared on gold - 5 special rce bikes won but the game records 69%
Is there a hidden section to the game? I wonder if we have to win every bike on offer?
Really enjoyed the game as it rewards clean technical riding, much like the GT series. I like how there is a sense of inertia and tyre scrub if off line. Makes flip flops feel very rewarding when you get the line just right.
BTW - I wish the AI was tougher as once you get your head around riding the tracks the AI is slow, exactly the same bike is slower for the AI in a straight line. Hardly a fair comp at all.