Pros: Carrozzeria (make your own car!), graphics, car selection, replay value, cheap!
Cons: Steep learning curve, track selection
The bottom line: A solid racing title that is plagued by a steep learning curve. However, the variety and Carrozzeria makes up for it.
Overall: 8

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 9
Sound: 8
Concept: 9
Replay Value: 10

Unless you've been comatose for the last few years, you know that the Gran Turismo series (by Polyphony Digital for the Playstation) are considered the best racing games ever. They have literally spawned a huge industry in a game genre that previously only drew hardcore fans. Most games that try to emulate with or compete against Gran Turismo are lacking in some aspect(s), but Sega's addition could have been a rival to the crown, if not for the tremendous learning curve.

Like the Gran Turismo series, Sega GT is a 'club racer' simulation, placing you in the drivers seat to buy, upgrade, and race otherwise normal sports cars. It includes roughly 130 cars and several tracks, and pits you in various different challenges. This is the action in the main Championship mode. There is also a 2-player mode, time trials, a VMU mini-game, and internet connectivity.

In many respects, Sega GT is very much a copy of the Gran Turismo series. However, this isn't neccessarily a bad thing; The Gran Turismo formula worked, and there aren't many different ways to approach this subject. Criticising it for this is like criticising the newest fighting game for being similar to all the others.

Start Your Engines...
The bulk of the game takes place in the Championship mode. This mode starts you off with a small amount of cash ($10,000, enough to buy a cheap used car), and lets you loose. There are a handful of races you can try right away, but to progress any further you must earn your license through a series of tests, as in other games. Sega GT takes what I find to be an excellent approach to testing; instead of having to do many small, tedious tests, the tests here are full course runs with a car sponsored by the manufacturer.

Each test course has two time limits; one for the minimum of passing the test (fairly easy to do), and one to claim first seat and set the track record (fairly difficult). Each class has 6 manufacturer sponsors, however you only need to pass one test for each class (there are four classes, Extra, B, A, SA). This means testing takes a minimal amount of time; most players can get all four licenses within 15 or 20 minutes.

Placing first seat, however, gives you an extra bonus. It qualifies you for a Works Race sponsored by that manufacturer, in a special racing model of one of their cars. Win that race, and you get to keep the car - for free! Die-hard players will want to collect all of these Works Cars.

And They're Off!
Once licensed, the gameplay is pretty typical. Enter events comprised of several races, win them to earn more money and buy more cars. Sega GT departs from convention in it's own ways, though. The feature I most liked was the seperation of the classes. It's not done by power or some other arbitrary means, but instead by engine size, making the field much more level. In addition to that, each class has seperate races with their own requirements; for example, one race will only allow cars without turbo- or superchargers, and another will allow only cars without any engine modifications.

Speaking of modifications, there is a great selection available. Not only can you do the obvious engine, suspension, tire, etc, modifications, but there are many tuning options. Turbo or supercharger boost can be fine tuned, as can the gearbox and many aspects of the suspension. Some powerful cars can be tuned to insane levels, with well over 1000 horsepower.

In addition to the regular races, there are a handful of seperate challenges. There are two different drag races, a maximum speed challenge, a couple time trials for prizes, and a 15-lap endurance race. To me, 15 laps isn't much of an endurance, and I would have liked to see more of these with exotic prizes, but the other challenges make up for that.

Now to Joe in the Garage
Perhaps the most important aspect of this game is the Carrozzeria. This feature lets you actually build your own vehicle, starting with an engine size and type, the addition of a turbocharger, supercharger, or none, placement of the engine and selection of drivetrain, and selection of preset body styles. While 130 standard cars is a good amount, there are thousands of possibilities in the Carrozziera. You can make your average V6 front-wheel drive sedan, an exotic mid-engined V12 monster, or an asphalt shredding, supercharged, V8 terror.

The Carrozzeria has it's own licenses, allowing you to make cars with larger engines and different body styles. These tests are closer to the traditional license tests found in many other games, with the difference that you use the cars you make in the factory. If you make a well-balanced car, it helps you that much more to open up other possibilities. Also, as you play and win races, more and different body styles are opened up.

Overall, the Carrozzeria is my favorite aspect of the game. It's probably the one thing that really keeps me coming back, just to see what else can be done.

It's a Beautiful Day at the Track...
Graphics in Sega GT are what you would expect from the Dreamcast. The framerate is smooth (I couldn't possibly tell you specifically how many FPS though), the car models are well-detailed and lacking any sort of jagginess or clipping, there is virtually no pop-up, and textures are smooth. In-race graphics look a bit odd because of a lack of reflections (it seems like the sky doesn't reflect off the cars), but replays are stunning.

The menu system looks good too, and is easy to navigate. You don't need to go through four menus and find the right dealer to buy or modify your cars, everything is one or two selections away. The sliders used when modifying your car are sensitive to the analog triggers, which is a nice bonus.

Looks Like he's Having Some Diffculty out There...
The main thing bringing Sega GT down is the difficulty level, and specifically the learning curve. It features an excellent physics model that really takes factors like weight transfer into account, but can be hard for people used to games like Gran Turismo where sliding around is the call of the day. Losing traction is not a good thing in Sega GT, and neither is contact with anything other than the road.

Beginners will have a hard time adjusting to the style of driving that is required; early braking, smooth turning, easing on the gas. This is complicated by the fact that early cars generally handle poorly, so it's hard to determine if it's the car or driver at fault. Luckily, with some modifications, it gets easier, and midway through the game it's easy to get the hang of it. But, just when you thought you had it figured out, the more advanced, faster cars crop up, which are even harder to handle. At that point, mastering tuning is a must to continue.

Given this and the fact that touching the wall scrubs off speed at an alarming rate, some of the most enjoyable races are those at the lower levels, with slower cars. Once the game is done, it's most fun to go back and race the weaker cars. Luckily, the AI is pretty decent, actually responding to you and other cars instead of following one strict line around the track.

Looks Like a Problem Around Corner 3!
The other major detractor to the game is the blandness of the tracks. There is a good selection, and they do have different personalities, but none of the courses are very technical. The city courses come close, but still aren't up to the level of, for example, Metropolis Street Racer. Still, there is a variety, and the simplicty of the courses makes them easy to learn so that one can focus on driving.

There is also some internet connectivity. You can go online and upload or download ghost replays to race against other people. You can also compare your best times to those on the site. However, because most people have cheated, the highest scores are impossibly fast. Also, there is rumor that Sega is disabling all of it's SegaNet services, so it's unclear whether or not this option will still work. It's interesting while it does, though, and there is also extra information to be had which makes playing and tuning easier.

When Sega GT was released, it got a lot of flak for being so similar to the Gran Turismo series yet with handling so different. Fans of the other games wanted to like Sega GT because of it's interesting approach, but couldn't get used to the handling. It was released a while after Gran Turismo 2, and well before Gran Turismo 3, and did a great job of providing a solid title to hold fans over until then.

Overall, Sega GT is a worthy addition to the library of any racing game fan. The avergae player may find it a bit difficult, but if you stick with it, it's very rewarding. With the price now below $10, there really isn't much to lose, so I recommend this game to anyone who has already played through Metropolis Street Racer or Test Drive: Le Mans and wants something new.