Gentlemen, start your engines!

Feel the power of authentic sports cars as you race over 140 American, Japanese, and European cars in SCEA's Gran Turismo for the PlayStation. One of the earliest adopters of the Dual Shock controller, Gran Turismo was in development for three years before its release in the middle of 1998. The game introduces actual real-life car performance, throttle response, handling agility, drive train and real engine sounds. It also features a new real time, reflective showroom shine effect on every car. One or two players can race over 11 unique tracks plastered with recognizable brand name billboards scattered about.

The game gives you the ability to customize your car any way you like. You start off with 10,000 credits and must select a desired car manufacturer to purchase your favorite car. Some of the manufacturers include Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, Acura, Honda, The New Dodge, Mazda, Subaru, Aston Martin and TVR. There are more than a hundred cars to choose from, new and used. In the Tune Up Shop, you can upgrade them with: more horsepower, better wheels and brakes, a new muffler, tweaked transmission, gear ratio, downforce, tougher suspension, an air cleaner, replaceable intake and exhaust parts, and even a turbo package or better spark plugs. And you can also save up and go for broke with special edition cars!

Remember your first driver's exam? With the License Test Center, you can take it for a spin when you challenge yourself in some brutal driver's license exams that train you to remember when to start and stop, survive sharp turns, and stay on the pavement. If you pass your exam you'll not only earn your driver's license, but also some hard cash. Enter the various races that require your type of license to drive whether it be international or Laguna Seca. If that's not enough, keep it going by earning two more class licenses.

If you'd rather race right away, go for the Arcade Mode for one or two players. And then review your replays in the Replay Theater. Choose from automatic or manual transmission. There's even a Time Trial mode where you can race your own "ghost car", or challenge a friend in two-player Battle Mode. You can save your status and settings on any memory card from five to 15 blocks. In Simulation Mode, having a clean car doesn't affect its performance but it does affect the value of your car if you need to sell it! For just 50 credits you can go to the Car Wash menu and take care of the whole shebang. Make sure you check out what your true acceleration and top speed is in the Machine Test menu.

With all these features and options, including a pit stop and multiple camera angles, Gran Turismo gives you an encyclopedia of cars and promises a visual and audio experience of the real thing. "The Real Driving Simulator." Buckle up!

  Manufacturer's description:

Feel the power of 140 authentic sports cars!

Welcome to the most advanced racing game ever created. Encounter exhilarating high-speed racing in 11 stunning environments. Feel handling agility and throttle response so convincing, the car seems to be an extension of yourself. Experience the extraordinary world of Gran Turismo!

* In-Depth Simulation Mode

Purchase new/used vehciles, as well as vehicle parts

* Realistic Vehicle Physics

All cars replicate actual performance, handling, drive-train and real engine sounds

* Customization

All vehicles are totally customizable

* Arcade Mode with jumps and power slides

* Revolutionary 3D graphics

* 11 Highly Detailed Tracks

* 2 Player Racing

* Save your customized vehicle to a memory card and race a friend

Gran Turismo took the PlayStation to new graphical standards. It also advanced the racing genre with its inclusion of full Arcade and Simulation modes. Along with the two modes of play, players also found themselves with a plethora of cars (new and used), tracks and car settings. Gran Turismo 2 takes everything in the original and adds to it with more cars, more tracks, more car manufacturers and even rally racing. Replays can be saved to a memory card and unlike the original, viewed from camera angles selected by the user.

Arcade mode has players racing each track on a variety of difficulty settings. Winning on each setting will release new cars and tracks. Every car featured in the complete game will not be found in this mode, but instead only a select group. However, this time around players are now allowed to use the cars that have been purchased and modified in Simulation mode. This mode has another connection to Arcade mode as well: obtaining licenses will unlock tracks in Arcade mode. Time Trial, Ghost Car, Replay Theater and Rally modes are also included in Arcade mode, however rally mode exists only as a time trial here. In order to race against opponents on rally tracks, players will have to purchase a rally car in Simulation mode.

After trying out the Arcade mode, users can pop the second disc into their PlayStation and try out Simulation mode. Simulation mode starts players off with a set number of credits (Gran Turismo's money system) with which to purchase a car and car parts. There are a few new cars that can be purchased with the starting credits, but the majority of cars that fall in this price range are used. After choosing a car and/or upgrading it, players cannot necessarily enter a race. First they will have to obtain at least one of the six licenses (only five are available from the beginning). Players of the original Gran Turismo can avoid the license tests if they have a memory card containing their saved data from the original game. Gran Turismo 2 can read the data from the first game and automatically award you the licenses that were obtained.

License tests typically place players on a stretch of track and give them a goal that must be met. Goals include such challenges as coming to a complete stop in a designated area before the time limit expires, and completing a full lap of a track within a time limit. Demonstrations of each license test have been included for those drivers who have difficulty passing the tests. Each individual license allows players to enter particular races. The highest license level will in turn open up the races with the largest credit prizes. Plus, as a bonus, if a player earns gold standing in all of the tests of a single license, a special car will be awarded.

One aspect of Gran Turismo that caught the attention of game players was the number of cars that could be driven in the game -- 140 in all! If you thought 140 was a lot, how about more than 400? Yes, Gran Turismo 2 features over 400 cars. Many of the cars are simply different models of the same type of car but there is still a large variety due to the inclusion of more than 35 car manufacturers. Also, while taking the cars for a spin users will be treated to music by such artists as Garbage, Foo Fighters, Soul Coughing, The Cardigans and Beck.

  Manufacturer's description:

The world's most advanced racing game returns with thunderous new features.

Over 500 racing machines from world-class manufacturers.

ALFA ROMEO JAGUAR PEUGEOT

ASTON MARTIN LANCIA PLYMOUTH

AUDI LISTER RENAULT

BMW LOTUS RUF

CHEVROLET MAZDA SHELBY

CHRYSLER MERCEDES-BENZ SUBARU

CITROEN MERCURY SUZUKI

DAIHATSU MG TOYOTA

DODGE MINI TVR

FIAT MITSUBISHI VECTOR

FORD NISSAN VENTURI

HONDA OPEL VOLKSWAGEN

* All vehicles are designed according to their exact specifications and are fully customizable.

* Insane Arcade Mode with power slides, burnouts, jumps and excessive speeds

* Killer soundtrack from star-studded bands

* Benchmark 3D graphics

* Intense two player racing