GT4 with half the number of wheels and half the fun

Tourist trophy sort of came to me as a surprise. I never really knew about it and the commercials for the game were few on TV. I've maybe seen the commercials twice until my friend bought it and told me what an outstanding game it was. I honestly didn't have high expectations for the game when my friend lent it to me. Just from the screen shots, it was gran turismo 4.

I'm not drawn into the game that deeply because bikes are just bikes as far as appearance. Most of the time i pass by a bike, i'd say "nice bike" and it would have been one from the early 90s and I wouldn't know. If it looked shiny it looked nice. The worst part about this game is just that. All the bikes looked nice because they are all clean and hardly look any different. It's very hard for me to differentiate bikes like how I would differentiate cars in GT4. I mean, i like bikes and i like how they sound as they zip by but a game featuring about 120 bikes isn't really as appealing as it sounds. As i've mentioned most of the bikes look the same to me. The only way i can tell the difference between a honda and a ducati is by the decals. But more importantly, like in gran turismo 4 the bulk of the vehicals are japanese based. when GT4 announced that there are around 750 cars i thought wow, must be tonnes of content, but it's just really a huge batch of skylines and nsxs. The 8 series for BMW was completely absent from the game. It is likewise in tourist trophy. 70% of the bikes are from japan. the only different i can tell between the bikes is playing the game.

The aim of the game is like it's very successful sister game, GT4, where it mimics realism of the real life counter-parts as closely as possible. I say mimic and not simulates because of the types of collisions that occur that can get someone killed in real life. maybe the day system would count for something if the rider were injured. Instead they put in time penalties for any collisions akin to the rally penalties in GT4. it doesn't matter if you hit the opponent or the opponent hits you. if you contact something you're gonna pay the time penalty. if the rider is customizable on how he rides then i think there should be a system that prevents the rider from riding. gt4 is the only game i've played that doesn't have a game over which sometimes isn't a good thing. tourist trophy lacks the game over as well. having such small penalties really deters the drive to actually playing the game with effort. All the player has to do is just get the fastest bike and destroy the computers. The game is highly unbalanced where in some races. No race against the computer is really close or very exciting. once you pass the computer, it's like time trial. again akin to Gt4. the AI is terrible and follows the one line and sometimes take turns unnecessarily slow. which leaves gaps between the riders on the map. sometimes the one dominant computer would leave the last two places far far behind. sometimes the dominant computer would be far far infront of me even though i'm racing in a class of 600cc bikes. the game has almost no single player value. the number of opponents is 3. so what about those motogp races with like 20 bikes? i really wish there would be a race where there'd be more than 3 other bikes and a whole lot of empty space between the riders.

By far the worst aspect of the game is that the bikes are pretty much concrete. if a bike is underpowered it's going to stay that way. there is no money in the game and that could only mean that there are no upgrades and no bikes that can be purchased. the only thing you can do to the bikes is just tiny tweaks like gear ratios and tires. the other adjustable aspect is the rider. you can win riding gear and customize what the rider wears and how he or she rides. so how does one get bikes? simply by winning events and passing license tests. Yes, those license tests are back but they seem exceedingly simple compared to GT4. once you have your first bike and get all the licenses, you can proceed to racing in some of the unlocked events and the player can conceivably unlock dozens of bikes within the first few hours of play. the more events you win the more things you unlock. it's as simple as that.

All the bikes have distinct feels to them. some are more powerful and some are more nimble, but that is expected of a game that is based off on realistic models of real world bikes. you can choose a bike from 1 of 12 manufacturers and ride on courses that are borrowed from GT4. just to name a few of the not so well known companies; ducati, triumph, aprilia etc. the engine for the game looks the same but lower and when the view is changed to the first person perspective, it feels like a very rushed job for the view of the gauges. it sort of feels like a bitmap has been pasted at the bottom of the screen sort of like the old doom days with the weapons in front. i got a very unpolished feel for the visuals because of this.

The thing i absolutely hate about this game is that it features only sports bikes. why can't the game feature some other types of bikes like concept bikes and even choppers or harleys. and those types of bikes are by no means bikes meant to be raced but i mean, there were like many many different types of cars in GT4. there was even the old time 15hp ford antique car. so why not some antique indian motorcyle or something? is it just me who's not seeing different bikes or do you really need to unlock them? i don't think harley davidson is a small name when it comes to two wheeled vehicles. sure, all the super bikes sound good with the high pitched screaming. but i'd like to hear that low roar as well.

two player mode is probably the only place where the game shines. it's just much more fun to be playing against a human player but that can be said with any game. am i going to buy this game just for two player aspect? no. i already have GT4 which has quadruple the depth and twice the fun. i'm glad i just borrowed it. it's just a very very watered down gt4 on two wheels. polyphony should have just stuck with creating a better gran turismo. i guess the fan base for bike is infinitessimally small when compared to cars.