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The original Sega GT on the Dreamcast promised a lot and simply didn't deliver in many respects. Wow Entertainment, the team behind the game, hyped it up to be a true Gran Turismo beater, and that it would graphically push the Dreamcast to its limits. However, when the final game was released, it had average graphics, some poor track design, and no-where near the number of features that even the first Gran Turismo game offered, so many dismissed it pretty quickly. It's suprising, then, that they've decided to make a sequel for the Xbox. Will they be able to right the wrongs of the first version and finally deliver the game they promised all those years ago?
Well, first impressions of Sega GT 2002 suggest that a lot of work has gone into improving the game's graphics. While there's no doubt that the Xbox hardware automatically gives them a lot more power to play with than the Dreamcast, the initial screenshots show a marked improvement over the visuals of current Xbox titles. Loads of work has gone into modelling each of the game's vast array of cars, making them look much more detailed than even GT3's impressive models. The game also contains many visual effects, such as accurate reflections, camera focus and motion blur to make the graphics look even more spectacular. In fact, many of the still shots of the game that have been released by Sega are of pre-rendered quality, which has made a lot of people slightly suspiscious. If the final game can actually maintain the visual level shown in the shots, as well as keep a good frame rate, there's no doubt that it will have beaten GT3 in the graphical stakes.
However, one of the defining aspects of the Gran Turismo series has been the sheer number of cars it offers, so can Sega GT 2002 match the 200+ models found in GT3? Unfortunately not, but the game does contain a fairly extensive variety of sports cars, so at least the car of your dreams is likely to be there, even if the one you drive to work in isn't. Sega GT also contains many classic cars from the 70's and 80's, and a special Chronicle mode dedicated to racing them, which might be a refreshing change from the modern vehicles GT3 offers.
The only real problem Sega GT 2002 might have is in its gameplay. The original's cars were quite unresponsive compared with those found in GT3, and despite Sega's good arcade-racer record, the game wasn't very exciting to play. However, the developers are promising that this time the handling of the cars will be as realistic as possible, with data taken from each vehicle's original specifications, although it remains to be seen whether a good balance between realism and fun will be found. Another area of concern is with the game's career-based mode, where you start off with very little money and must progress through the game from slow cars up to the faster ones. Even GT3 got complaints about forcing you to use slower cars for too long, so that the sportier models were only accessible to those who spent months playing the game, and it seems that Sega GT 2002 may well fall into the same trap. Early reports indicate that prize money in Sega GT is quite low, with the emphasis on fine-tuning your car to improve performance as opposed to buying a whole new model.
However, aside from one or two differences, there's no getting away from the fact that Sega GT and GT3 are both from the same mould. Sega's racer will contain all the part-tweaking, car dealerships and numerous racing modes found in Sony's game, and even the snazzy menu screens are going to come under fire from Sega GT's 'virtual garage', which not only shows off your entire car collection but also has all your won trophies displayed in a neat cabinet, and various certificates hung on the wall. However, with GT3 being hailed as one of the best games of last year, to simply match its features is a pretty impressive feat, and with improved graphics there should be little for Xbox owners to complain about.
We hope to have a full review of Sega GT 2002 closer to the game's October release in Europe.
Marc Hull
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