It's always interesting to see how other racing game franchises changed right after the release of the first Gan Turismo. The easiest example is probably the Need for Speed series, which up to Hot Pursuit from 1998 had a pretty simple tournament mode. With the next game, High Stakes, they added a full-fledged career mode where you earn money, can buy and upgrade cars and use them in events with specific entry requirements. The exact type of campaign that Gran Turismo has arguably pioneered.
NFS HIGH STAKES in 1999 also have difficult tournament events and special events, plus exclusive cars like HOLDEN COMMODORE V8 SUPERCAR and Pennzoil Nismo R34GTR. The special events that i remembered the most in High Stakes are CLK LM Trophy, Porsche Trophy and Blue Lake Elimination Cup.
Or the start of the intro - the dark, quiet track and road. Traffic lights. Trailer opening up, showing the rear of the R33. Its easily one of the best intros ever, and I've never missed MOtC, personally. Its a great track, but I doubt I would prefer it over the chemical brothers track / PAL intro.
This was my 3rd PS1 game and man it was the best thing I got. My dad was a petrol head and this game made me one too. He taught me the car brands, driving techniques, upgrading and tuning etc. This is how one game can really affect life.
@ I play it on duckstation from time to time. The handling is still better than most new arcade racers. Can’t believe this was all done on a 30 year old machine.
GT1 was the first Gran Turismo I owned, and even today, this and GT2 are the two GT games that I revisit the most. Speedrunning and doing challenge runs of both of them are so fun to do.
The arcadey-like handling in Arcade Mode is only applicable in international versions, because in the original Japanese release, the handling physics carried over from the GT Mode.
Growing up being a Sega then Xbox player I never really grew up with GT (As obviously I played Forza n everything else that was on Xbox) but I always wanted to play it which I never got around to till last year when I bought my PC and emulated it, and absolutely loving it. I don't play the new ones but GT to GT6 I play quite a bit especially GT4(Especially because of this channel and DustinEden ) I have learnt a lot from this channel about GT(Also normal racing too) and became a fan of GT Ironically since the GT Critique Video and have been watching ever since. 🤣
GT1 was the game which made me into cars. I was 5 when first time played it on my uncles PS1, than on 6th birthday got the same disk with brand new console. Was a bit strange that I had Japanese version of the game (100% pirate game, like all ps1 games in Ukraine back then). License test were a hell for 6 y o me. But I played and played and played. Thanks for childhood, Kazunori...
Thanks for this video! I actually remember when this was the ONLY GT game available and i still have fond memories of playing it to this day. It's theme and vibe was something else to other racing games that meant you could keep coming back. The very faint sound of the crowd cheering as you started the races made it feel like everyone had come to watch it and gave life to the game. I'm glad you made a good comment on the poll at the end, I had voted for GT2 because the game at the time was closer to perfection than what GT4 was at the time of playing that. Before people start barking nonsense at me I loved GT4 and can fully understand why it got the most votes. The graphics were great at the time, it had more modern cars, great car physics in comparison, more tuning, the Nürburgring, etc. and as Mr Rofl here said, they are all deserving of being great for one reason or another. A lot of people forget that the features of GT1 like test run, qualify and standing starts as the default race start is something I'm sorely missing to this day. If GT1 had GT7's core mechanics of graphics, sound and physics then it would make for an amazing game. I'm looking forward to the cover of the other games and I've got a feeling we'll all see why each one has it's amazing and MEMORABLE points along with the flaws of each game. I say memorable because it's a sign of what was actually great about a game over something like GT6 which tbh I forget it because it was a linear version of 5 which GT5 in itself felt messy (from memory) in its career over 4. It goes without saying that the ideal GT game would be to have many races to enter (for a variety of cars on a great selection of tracks) until the main 'GT World' event series would come up, that way we can get our 'rags to riches' story in our own way before entering with the pros and beating the world championship and thus the game. It's the modern GT games like from 6 onwards that made the career feel too linear rather than giving us the freedom to beat the game as we wish which makes them annoying. I could honestly (like Roflwaffle) talk all day about Gran Turismo but I'll end my post there because no one is probably reading at this point! :P Last final thing is that I agree on how a good soundtrack helps more than you think into making a GREAT game, no matter the genre.
I adore the Gran Turismo series. I have always been into cars ever since I was a small child. The Gran Turismo series has only increased that love of cars. They have also massively improved my knowledge of cars, makes, models etc etc. I own a copy of every Gran Turismo, sometimes multiple copies, Standard and collectors, sealed GT2, GT3 Press Materials, Prologues etc.
GT1 will always have a special place my heart. Still remember playing this with my dad, made some awesome memories Roflwaffle thank you so much for this video, really enjoy watching your content 🙏😁
This is the one game from the mainline of the series that I haven't played. A while back I saw two copies in a used game store while on a road trip and almost bought one, but when I looked to check the condition of the disks, I noticed it was a two-CD case with only one CD each. I tried to make sure it was a one-disk game on my phone, but the signal was too weak to load anything. I feel like I could have just checked for the words "disk one" or "disk two" on the CD. Next time! I imagine the double-height CD case was just used to hold the thick booklet you mentioned.
Great job with this mini documentary on Gran Turismo. I am really looking forward to your video on GT2, which was my introduction to the series and still my favorite. I think something has to be said about whichever version you personally played first, it will always hold a special meaning for you. I was not surprised to hear you first came to the series with GT3, as you have many times expressed your admiration for that chapter of the series.
I'm currently playing GT1 for the first time and its honestly so fun, as youve said a bit rough around the edges but racing is reeaally engaging and the vibe is one of a kind
OMG the soundtrack at 26:53 immediately hit me! Instantly reminded me of being 16 in 98 and playing GT constantly. It's amazing how something can take us back in time. Hearing the soundtrack is like seeing a friend again after years apart ❤
@10:33 Here i am, a bit tad long than 26 years after i started up the original GT for the first time. Still the same exact feelings, the anticipation, the chills... That's something that'll never ever go off, whatever happens. Even if dementia or alzheimer knock the door one day.
I also started with GT3 when I was little, but I will always remember keeping my PS2 on overnight with a fan to keep it cool when playing GT1 because I didnt have a memory card. Those were simpler times.
Some of my best childhood memories are doing that Gran Valley 300km as a kid with my Dad and that intro is core memory for me, I still remember the excitement I would get every time booting it up. It can’t be understated how game changing and influential the first GT was. What I find really interesting is that it took until the PS2 and Xbox to release for anything even remotely similar to appear. It’s definitely the game I have the most fond memories of, but I didn’t choose it as my favourite simply because as you stated, it is just very dated now. Still fun to play and can be emulated on most android smart phones now, but it does lack some key features that are non negotiable for me now.
Funnily enough I was inspired by your videos to dig out my original GT1 and GT2 at my parents home. Very much nostalgia goggles - it seemed amazing at the time but has dated so much as the series has evolved.
This series is great...I am really, really looking forward! I hope you can include gt5 prologue in the gt5 episode, for me it was a turning point in refinement and of course the first mass participation online mode. I think it was the first online racing experience for millions of us and the game was way more intense and Rewarding for me at this point...thank you for all of these videos, I feel nothing will ever surpass this game at a personal level and you put these together like you feel the same!
Iwas there when GT came into the scene... lol I was a kid, and I have to say I absolutely loved it, it was exactly what i was looking for, it wasnt a game for me, it was real... countless hours, learning about the cars, upgrading them and racing them, learning the racing lines and yes... the tires, ecu and lightweight stage 1 were basic cheap ways to upgrade with great return
Take a look at what was available in 1998 and you'll see how big of a thing GT was when it launched :3 Straight from the intro, the game hit me really hard, but I started loving it after discovering how much there was in it, like racing modifications, and the hidden extra cars from winning races. On real hardware and a crt tv it still looks good to me today, they kinda lost the visual style in GT2 (on top of everything else that was lost for rushed release of the sequel) GT took 6 years to develop, and GT2 was released one year after lol, while they were also working on GT3 at the same time
covering only the main 6 gran turismo games? cmon rofflewaffle wheres the video dedicated to the Gran Turismo Concept: Airtrek Turbo Special Edition. the franchise isnt the same without it!
i can say that i have played 1-6 and even the psp version when i had one, this is one of those things that make me feel old but in this case its a badge of honer
All of us OG fans are old guys now, we have to be considering the series has been around for 27 years now. I started playing GT2 in 1999 when I was in my junior year of college, and have never looked back. Pushing 50 years old now and still play Gran Turismo, mostly 7 now, weekly. Although I have introduced my son to the series and we play 3 and 4 together a lot. 1 & 2 are "too pixeley" for him 😂
Yes, those 15 seconds also give me chills today, even after all those years. I remember me and 2 friends being completelly shocked in awe when we first played GT1. WTF how this game have a Subaru wagon? And then we watched the replays and our heads exploded.
I never played gt1 until after I'd owned gt2 for a couple of years. That said, I can thank gt as a series as the main reason why im a car fan now. 25 years later im still playing the franchise. Thanks Kaz (:
Great video, I definitely agree with the sentiment at the end. GT1 might have walked so GT2 could run, but it has enough charm and unique qualities to make it well worth a revisit. The tuning strategy in this game is fascinating with how power upgrades massively affect how the car launches and accelerates, and running it in 60 FPS on DuckStation fixes its main flaw of bouncy physics. Hard-Tuned Cup is one of the most challenging events in retro GT as well, it's an intense set of races, even if you enter with an OP car like the GTO MR or R33 Skyline.
I'm probably alone here in saying that the original (PAL) GT is the best one, to me. It also introduced me to Feeder. I still can't quite get on with GT having a jazz soundtrack and not something more edgy like we got for the PAL version of GT. It also introduced me to my favourite car, the Honda NSX. Great video Roflwaffle,. thank you!
15:02 something I never really see talked about is GT3’s arcade mode and how, by beating each course as they’re presented on hard mode, can unlock more cars and more tracks for said mode! It’s something that blew my mind at the time and I remembering sinking many hours into it when I was younger :D
Great part 1, looking forward to the rest! This was my first GT game of many. I can't imagine I was very good at ~10 years old, but that was part of the joy of the RPG eh elements, as you described them: I could usually upgrade my car until it didn't matter any more. 😂 P.S. Honda dealership music (EUR/NA) still slaps.
Absolutely love GT. My favorite game series of all time and sole reason I'll buy a PlayStation. Appreciate the video because along with content like this and GT7, I'm falling back in love with it again. Think I'm going to buy me a wheel/peddle set up because I've been wanting to for 20 years now.
I'm curious if you'll cover Concept Tokyo-Geneva and the Prologue games or just the main titles. Either way, a fantastic video all over, I think that not enough people cover games as it was at the time that it launched as that really shows how great the original GT is. I just never had it as a kid and started with the sequel. The only reasonable response to GT2 at launch is that of absolute shock, GT1 was big enough a title for the console
I was 8 when GT4 was released. I had played 1-3 but 4 was were I put all my hours for years later. My first car was a crx bcuz it was always a joy in the game
I picked up GT1 in the US when it came out (I was 17 at the time), and ever since then, I've picked up every new release of GT on day one. However, I still give GT1 a full play-through about every 2 - 3 years during the autumn to winter months. There's something about its simplicity that strikes this elegant balance of depth and brevity. I'm also fully aware that nostalgia plays a huge role in my enjoyment. I prefer GT1 over GT5, GT6 & GT Sport.
I started with gt3 like you but i love gt1 i got it a few years ago its one of those games i cant explain why i like it over other games with more content i just do
As someone who’s first game was GT5 Prologue (I was born in 2007) I still use the D-Pad and face buttons to this day in GT7, although it is a bit more tricky as physics have improved an insane amount. I do play GT7 with a wheel now so I rarely ever use the controller nowadays
GT1 was my first game on PS1. A child in Ukraine could not dream of such graphics and such a rich game component, as most people had bootleg NES (Dendy) and those who were richer had Sega Mega Drive II. But my father through my grandmother in Israel found a PS1 with a couple of demo games at a nice price and what luck that the GT1 disk was not a demo version or something like that. This game showed me how much I might not want to go to school because no one else would win the Special Stage Route 11 All-Night Endurance Race but me. Also thanks to this console I was motivated to learn English from early childhood, because I didn't understand the words and what the game wanted from me, so I asked my mom to find me an English-Ukrainian dictionary, because I wanted to find out what this amazing game wanted from me. The first two parts of this series are forever in my heart as they accompanied my childhood and fueled my already strong love for cars. What's funny, I found this bug with lifting the rear of the car when I was a kid, as I was a fan of hot rods and dragsters at the time. I love this and the game and periodically return to the old parts of the series, but now not on the old PS1, but on Steam Deck. Thanks for the warm retrospective and for stirring up my old memories.
I wish I was older when playing the original gran turismo, i was too young at the time to understand how to upgrade cars effectively and manage the in game money
I remember as a kid I'd always struggle with Midfield Raceway as I didn't know about brakes, yet the adult me laughs at the kid me sliding off onto the dirt. That, and calling race cars "Model Cars"....
I had two demos of this game and played the hell out of them (The Pizza Hut disc is an all time GOAT), kick started my love for cars, racing games, and the series. GT3 was my first properly owned one, but GT1 will always hold a special place.
wow . . . 19 votes for GT1 in a poll . . . I personally disregard the idea that both GT1 and GT2 are obsolete. Due to the limitations of the console, both games end up being extremely dense on their experience, without feeling like a marathon in order to beat, they are the perfect games for when you are craving for a more thoughtful racing experience, but don't want it to linger too much on your head, a perfect game to just fully get drowned in on a weekend
My goal was always to obtain every car in GT2. I don't play it as much anymore with all the newer versions out for years now, but here I am 26 years later and I still have the stack of memory cards each with a full garage. I believe there were around 800 unique cars in the game and each garage on each card could only hold 100. I have 600+ on 7 cards 😂
One interesting thing : Gran turismo 1 is affecting *A LOT* of most tuning companies nowadays by also using "stage" system in tuning which never done before gran turismo introduced it
Another quality video, Roflwaffle. In the case of GT1, I think its legacy cannot be overstated. GT4 is about as good as things got, but notice how in GT7, when they attempted to revitalise the series, they took a lot of imagery from the original by bringing back tracks like High Speed Ring and Deep Forest, as well as the Castrol Supra GT? It's because the first game got it right from the start, and its iconic foundations carried over to the rest of the franchise. I agree that I'd rather play GT2 (which I've actually started replaying) or the later sequels over the first game, but the role in which it played for Polyphony, plus how dramatically it shifted racing games fundamentally, means that this game will always be the most important game in the series.
I love it too. It painted cars and racing as hardcore, and while I think that the jazz fusion is very classy and well-made, it still doesn't fit racing car culture imo.
Yeah those dealership music were iconic. And also each sorta convey the vibe of said brand. For example Dodge having that menacing beat hinting at the beast that is the Viper and Toyota with that sick bass intro hinting to the "boss" car that is the Castrol Supra, just to name a couple.
I'll never actually be able to finish or beat the game, even with my knowledge of the game as an adult today I simply can't attain the IA license, and even the A license is a full weekend of struggle just to get the bronzes for myself - but this game is and forever will be one of my all-time top 5 favorites
I keep wishing for some indie dev to make a classic GT game with tons of *not maniacally detailed cars,* no internals and most importantly, without real brands (like this there would be total freedom of how it is developed), entirely focused on reliving the classic experience of starting from the bottom.
You said it really well. Gran turismo is nothing without a really good single player. Thats what GT series is built on a solid and good single player campaign.
Man, I remember in those early GT's you could grab a Mitsubishi FTO/GTO for pennies early game and, Lord above me, when upgraded those cars were simply slaying anything you could race them against. The depth of the in-game upgrade model, the feeling of real weight and speed when you eventually get out of the Demio, the absolute size of the game, unmatched by anything else out there. Great games for the serious race Player who was never fulfilled by the Ridge Racers and other clunky also-rans. Superb. I haven't played GT since GT4, no bias, just haven't owned a PS since then. If I had to pick a favourite of those first four I think it would be GT3, although I spent much more time in GT2. All superb, regardless.
As you said at the end, people don't vote for GT1 because it was improved upon, but when I bought a PS1 6 years ago now, GT1 and GT2 were still at the top of my list. It felt so ... cool to play. Maybe it's a hipster thing in that my full playthrough of GT1 was at around the time of the PS5 release, but the menu music, especially the dealership themes, are still among my favorites in the entire series. Personally, the only PS1 game I'd play above GT1 is GT2, mainly due to the increase in both car count and race events, but nothing else even comes close to just how good Gran Turismo was. On the PS2 however, as good as GT3 and 4 are, the opposition had closed the gap significantly. Also side note, the games basically got unlicensed spoofs recently in the Super Woden GP series, and despite their looks and camera (it's a 2.5D racer) they're actually really fun to play. If you have a bit of money left and want to buy something related to GT, they're probably closer to the PS1 GTs than the newest GT games are.
Regarding the intro music difference in Japanese / PAL version, its also worth noting that the soundtrack for Gran Turismo was vastly different between the games. IIRC the japanese version had the jazz type music we all know from Gran Turismo 4, while the PAL version had the legendary electronic music. The Moon Over the Castle soundtrack would be out of place in the intro considering the games menu music in the PAL version. I feel like the PAL intro music and general soundtrack gave the game a very unique and "dark" vibe that I remember fondly.
now i have no basis on what i'm about to say. just personal observations. the UI is stark and bright orange because it invokes memory of driving at night. as in, at the time, when it's night on the road, EVERYTHING's orange, or somewhere within the 'yellow' spectrum. just because of the technology used at the time. orange-ish street lights on the main streets, some houses or areas are still lit by orange-ish outdoor lights. most importantly tho, at the time at least for japanese cars, the dash/gauges backlight that isn't lit orange is not exactly common, because they're all lit by simple small incandescent light bulbs, which are cheap and plenty and proven and reliable just a thought
I definitely agree with those who say GT1's shorter career is a good thing since it gives players a good reason to go back and try different progression paths: with a relatively small time investment, players can experience the same career in a new way that feels refreshing. Very little grinding is necessary to acquire the necessary cars to progress, and many different cars are viable, so you're encouraged to try them all. I've never touched several of the cars in GT2, meanwhile, since many of them are bad or otherwise pointless to use beyond curiosity or challenge runs. The tuning interface of GT1 is also better, although I appreciate GT2 adding limited-slip differentials. The Megaspeed Cup is another great thing in GT1 and easily my favourite event in the game. I wish GT2 had kept the same power levels for its cars as GT1 and had an event like the Megaspeed Cup for such monstrously powerful cars.
Wish PD would put an April 1st joke into GT7 where the menus, sounds and graphics are ripped directly from GT1. Considering that each car was only a few hundred polygons and the incredibly low resolution vehicle textures it wouldn't take long for the artists to make (unlike the 18 months or so for a single car in GT7).
I think I've finished GT1 years ago and to this day am still obsessing over doing Grand Valley 300km, the original SSR11, and the race cars including the LM Editions. Can't lie when I say that this game still got me on chokehold even after all these years lol. Doing Grand Valley 300km on other games are fun too. I think I did one or two on Sports Car GT (PC version), someone made Grand Valley already, and it feels like a proper sports car race even with the base game cars. I'd assume people also did it at least once on other games, like rFactor, GTR2, or maybe AC. EDIT: How can I forgot the Japanese OST? 🤦🏻♂️
should of included a segment about the special 60fps mode and how that pushed the hardware to it's limits ( or was that mode in GT2 ? am not sure tbh )
It's always interesting to see how other racing game franchises changed right after the release of the first Gan Turismo. The easiest example is probably the Need for Speed series, which up to Hot Pursuit from 1998 had a pretty simple tournament mode. With the next game, High Stakes, they added a full-fledged career mode where you earn money, can buy and upgrade cars and use them in events with specific entry requirements. The exact type of campaign that Gran Turismo has arguably pioneered.
NFS HIGH STAKES in 1999 also have difficult tournament events and special events, plus exclusive cars like HOLDEN COMMODORE V8 SUPERCAR and Pennzoil Nismo R34GTR. The special events that i remembered the most in High Stakes are CLK LM Trophy, Porsche Trophy and Blue Lake Elimination Cup.
Gan Turismo
I love Moon Over the Castle but man. That PAL intro. When the logo explodes and the engine revs kick in. That moment made me a petrol head.
Or the start of the intro - the dark, quiet track and road. Traffic lights. Trailer opening up, showing the rear of the R33. Its easily one of the best intros ever, and I've never missed MOtC, personally. Its a great track, but I doubt I would prefer it over the chemical brothers track / PAL intro.
That opening FMV was the envy of every N64 fanboy; I can still remember running it through my 200W stereo and being entranced.
@@k1mura92the ending theme also.
my waffle has been rofled 🥰
Is this the new snake is solid?
@neringalukoseviciute1787 no, its the turismo thats been gran'd
@_Sur22_ Oh. I thought it was the rick thats been rolled, but that would be too silly
I hope you don’t expect child support from him.
Such waffle, much rofl?
GT1's aggressively orange UI makes it feel like you're looking at some 80s data monitor.
Or even 1970s data CRT TV.
Somehow reminds me of several older cars with orange digital interface.
"Aggressively Orange" makes me think of what the nicknames of the other title's UI would be.
@@rodsk8dude731the 600bhp Copperhead Concept Car sadly only returned in 1 Gran Turismo game (GT1 1998).
GT1 really was ahead of it's time. That cannot be understated, even if GT2, GT3 & GT4 took the foundation GT1 laid and built a great tower upon it.
Absolutely. GT5 also despite the total number of events took quite a big reduction despite it has separate A or B Spec career modes.
This was my 3rd PS1 game and man it was the best thing I got. My dad was a petrol head and this game made me one too. He taught me the car brands, driving techniques, upgrading and tuning etc. This is how one game can really affect life.
Pretty much similar story with me
I can relate for the most part. I'm falling back in love with it all over again right now
@ I play it on duckstation from time to time. The handling is still better than most new arcade racers. Can’t believe this was all done on a 30 year old machine.
@@coreyaldridge1753same man. I still love playing GT1 on my PS3 till this very day.
@@ramadhanisme7Gran Turismo 1 despite it has the least amount of cars in the entire franchise, its still 10/10.
GT1 was the first Gran Turismo I owned, and even today, this and GT2 are the two GT games that I revisit the most. Speedrunning and doing challenge runs of both of them are so fun to do.
The arcadey-like handling in Arcade Mode is only applicable in international versions, because in the original Japanese release, the handling physics carried over from the GT Mode.
I think literally the only difference is the game speed is slightly sped up. I'm pretty sure that's it.
@@JackFoxtrotEDMArcade mode in GT1 also plays quite speed up.
Growing up being a Sega then Xbox player I never really grew up with GT (As obviously I played Forza n everything else that was on Xbox) but I always wanted to play it which I never got around to till last year when I bought my PC and emulated it, and absolutely loving it.
I don't play the new ones but GT to GT6 I play quite a bit especially GT4(Especially because of this channel and DustinEden )
I have learnt a lot from this channel about GT(Also normal racing too) and became a fan of GT Ironically since the GT Critique Video and have been watching ever since. 🤣
I've always wondered which combination of engines is in that part of the intro. Definitely gives me "the fizz", even all these years later.
GT1 was the game which made me into cars. I was 5 when first time played it on my uncles PS1, than on 6th birthday got the same disk with brand new console. Was a bit strange that I had Japanese version of the game (100% pirate game, like all ps1 games in Ukraine back then). License test were a hell for 6 y o me. But I played and played and played. Thanks for childhood, Kazunori...
Coco Hayashi was only 4 years old when she played Gran Turismo 1 for the 1st time in 2006.
This series is a love letter to the Gran Turismo games, and I'm here for it. Fantastic work from Mr. Waffle as always!
Thanks for this video!
I actually remember when this was the ONLY GT game available and i still have fond memories of playing it to this day. It's theme and vibe was something else to other racing games that meant you could keep coming back. The very faint sound of the crowd cheering as you started the races made it feel like everyone had come to watch it and gave life to the game.
I'm glad you made a good comment on the poll at the end, I had voted for GT2 because the game at the time was closer to perfection than what GT4 was at the time of playing that. Before people start barking nonsense at me I loved GT4 and can fully understand why it got the most votes. The graphics were great at the time, it had more modern cars, great car physics in comparison, more tuning, the Nürburgring, etc. and as Mr Rofl here said, they are all deserving of being great for one reason or another. A lot of people forget that the features of GT1 like test run, qualify and standing starts as the default race start is something I'm sorely missing to this day. If GT1 had GT7's core mechanics of graphics, sound and physics then it would make for an amazing game.
I'm looking forward to the cover of the other games and I've got a feeling we'll all see why each one has it's amazing and MEMORABLE points along with the flaws of each game. I say memorable because it's a sign of what was actually great about a game over something like GT6 which tbh I forget it because it was a linear version of 5 which GT5 in itself felt messy (from memory) in its career over 4.
It goes without saying that the ideal GT game would be to have many races to enter (for a variety of cars on a great selection of tracks) until the main 'GT World' event series would come up, that way we can get our 'rags to riches' story in our own way before entering with the pros and beating the world championship and thus the game. It's the modern GT games like from 6 onwards that made the career feel too linear rather than giving us the freedom to beat the game as we wish which makes them annoying.
I could honestly (like Roflwaffle) talk all day about Gran Turismo but I'll end my post there because no one is probably reading at this point! :P
Last final thing is that I agree on how a good soundtrack helps more than you think into making a GREAT game, no matter the genre.
This channel is great. It's amazing how good it actually is. From commentary, insight, editing, visuals and music. Absolutely flawless
I adore the Gran Turismo series. I have always been into cars ever since I was a small child. The Gran Turismo series has only increased that love of cars. They have also massively improved my knowledge of cars, makes, models etc etc. I own a copy of every Gran Turismo, sometimes multiple copies, Standard and collectors, sealed GT2, GT3 Press Materials, Prologues etc.
It really makes you feel like gran turismo
GT1 will always have a special place my heart. Still remember playing this with my dad, made some awesome memories
Roflwaffle thank you so much for this video, really enjoy watching your content 🙏😁
This is the one game from the mainline of the series that I haven't played. A while back I saw two copies in a used game store while on a road trip and almost bought one, but when I looked to check the condition of the disks, I noticed it was a two-CD case with only one CD each. I tried to make sure it was a one-disk game on my phone, but the signal was too weak to load anything. I feel like I could have just checked for the words "disk one" or "disk two" on the CD. Next time!
I imagine the double-height CD case was just used to hold the thick booklet you mentioned.
I own both gt2 and gt1 gt2 uses 2 disks gt1 uses 1 for some reason it's a 2 disk case like you said
Great job with this mini documentary on Gran Turismo. I am really looking forward to your video on GT2, which was my introduction to the series and still my favorite. I think something has to be said about whichever version you personally played first, it will always hold a special meaning for you. I was not surprised to hear you first came to the series with GT3, as you have many times expressed your admiration for that chapter of the series.
Dude, when is that Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball retrospective video coming out? I though you were the number one expert on that.
shut up
Yeah... all for the physics, right? XD
@Sammael66685 right
I'm currently playing GT1 for the first time and its honestly so fun, as youve said a bit rough around the edges but racing is reeaally engaging and the vibe is one of a kind
OMG the soundtrack at 26:53 immediately hit me! Instantly reminded me of being 16 in 98 and playing GT constantly. It's amazing how something can take us back in time. Hearing the soundtrack is like seeing a friend again after years apart ❤
@10:33 Here i am, a bit tad long than 26 years after i started up the original GT for the first time. Still the same exact feelings, the anticipation, the chills... That's something that'll never ever go off, whatever happens. Even if dementia or alzheimer knock the door one day.
loved the manual of gt
I also started with GT3 when I was little, but I will always remember keeping my PS2 on overnight with a fan to keep it cool when playing GT1 because I didnt have a memory card. Those were simpler times.
Some of my best childhood memories are doing that Gran Valley 300km as a kid with my Dad and that intro is core memory for me, I still remember the excitement I would get every time booting it up.
It can’t be understated how game changing and influential the first GT was. What I find really interesting is that it took until the PS2 and Xbox to release for anything even remotely similar to appear.
It’s definitely the game I have the most fond memories of, but I didn’t choose it as my favourite simply because as you stated, it is just very dated now. Still fun to play and can be emulated on most android smart phones now, but it does lack some key features that are non negotiable for me now.
Funnily enough I was inspired by your videos to dig out my original GT1 and GT2 at my parents home. Very much nostalgia goggles - it seemed amazing at the time but has dated so much as the series has evolved.
Yeah his videos and some memes posted by BK4 are what made me go buy every game except for 4, which I haven't found yet.
I still revisit 2 once a year just to feel alive. It's a fun one to do restricted runs in (i.e. drive train or country)
It makes me so happy that I was born the exact day GT1 came out in Japan. And it turns out I grew up loving cars lol
One the 2 first Gran turismo I still having on home since 2001 bring me memories...a lot of memories. Great video bro
This is the best review of the first GT I've ever seen. Well done!
I'll be there for the next reviews of course 😎
This series is great...I am really, really looking forward! I hope you can include gt5 prologue in the gt5 episode, for me it was a turning point in refinement and of course the first mass participation online mode. I think it was the first online racing experience for millions of us and the game was way more intense and
Rewarding for me at this point...thank you for all of these videos, I feel nothing will ever surpass this game at a personal level and you put these together like you feel the same!
Gran Turismo 1, even 27 years after release still fantastic.
Love the idea for this series! I'd love to see you dive into GT clones in the future like Enthusia!
Iwas there when GT came into the scene... lol I was a kid, and I have to say I absolutely loved it, it was exactly what i was looking for, it wasnt a game for me, it was real... countless hours, learning about the cars, upgrading them and racing them, learning the racing lines and yes... the tires, ecu and lightweight stage 1 were basic cheap ways to upgrade with great return
Take a look at what was available in 1998 and you'll see how big of a thing GT was when it launched :3
Straight from the intro, the game hit me really hard, but I started loving it after discovering how much there was in it,
like racing modifications, and the hidden extra cars from winning races.
On real hardware and a crt tv it still looks good to me today, they kinda lost the visual style in GT2 (on top of everything else that was lost for rushed release of the sequel)
GT took 6 years to develop, and GT2 was released one year after lol, while they were also working on GT3 at the same time
10:26 this gives me goosebumps everytime I watch
Same here, such nostalgia
Yeah, that musical buildup is extremely energetic... I kinda forgot... It was nice to remember
covering only the main 6 gran turismo games? cmon rofflewaffle wheres the video dedicated to the Gran Turismo Concept: Airtrek Turbo Special Edition. the franchise isnt the same without it!
No, the real highlight is the BMW 1 Series Virtual Drive.
@@indigomizumi GT4 Prius Trial Version my beloved
36:13 that finish was a chef’s kiss 🗣️🤌
i can say that i have played 1-6 and even the psp version when i had one, this is one of those things that make me feel old but in this case its a badge of honer
All of us OG fans are old guys now, we have to be considering the series has been around for 27 years now. I started playing GT2 in 1999 when I was in my junior year of college, and have never looked back. Pushing 50 years old now and still play Gran Turismo, mostly 7 now, weekly. Although I have introduced my son to the series and we play 3 and 4 together a lot. 1 & 2 are "too pixeley" for him 😂
Love your videos man, always a pleasure to watch
Yes, those 15 seconds also give me chills today, even after all those years. I remember me and 2 friends being completelly shocked in awe when we first played GT1. WTF how this game have a Subaru wagon? And then we watched the replays and our heads exploded.
I never played gt1 until after I'd owned gt2 for a couple of years. That said, I can thank gt as a series as the main reason why im a car fan now. 25 years later im still playing the franchise. Thanks Kaz (:
I love this videos so so much, thanks a lot for these reviews and opinions, this is one of the best GT channels out there!
You came through with this at the right time. Definitely subscribing
Great video, I definitely agree with the sentiment at the end. GT1 might have walked so GT2 could run, but it has enough charm and unique qualities to make it well worth a revisit. The tuning strategy in this game is fascinating with how power upgrades massively affect how the car launches and accelerates, and running it in 60 FPS on DuckStation fixes its main flaw of bouncy physics. Hard-Tuned Cup is one of the most challenging events in retro GT as well, it's an intense set of races, even if you enter with an OP car like the GTO MR or R33 Skyline.
I just installed duckstation for gt1 again and here you’re doing that vid, no coincidence.
I'm probably alone here in saying that the original (PAL) GT is the best one, to me. It also introduced me to Feeder. I still can't quite get on with GT having a jazz soundtrack and not something more edgy like we got for the PAL version of GT. It also introduced me to my favourite car, the Honda NSX. Great video Roflwaffle,. thank you!
So, uh... do you have an NSX?
@@sleazymeezy I'm not that lucky. Such a great car. GT is as close as I will probably get.
Excited for the rest of the series
Gran Turismo 1, FIFA 99, DESTRUCTION DERBY 1995, GRAN TURISMO 2, and Castlevania SOTN are my 1st PS1 games i ever played...😢
Looking forward to the videos on the rest of the series lets go
No wonder why it became the most sold ps1 game
i am a simple man
i see new roflwaffle upload, i clicks it
15:02 something I never really see talked about is GT3’s arcade mode and how, by beating each course as they’re presented on hard mode, can unlock more cars and more tracks for said mode! It’s something that blew my mind at the time and I remembering sinking many hours into it when I was younger :D
Great part 1, looking forward to the rest! This was my first GT game of many. I can't imagine I was very good at ~10 years old, but that was part of the joy of the RPG eh elements, as you described them: I could usually upgrade my car until it didn't matter any more. 😂 P.S. Honda dealership music (EUR/NA) still slaps.
Absolutely love GT. My favorite game series of all time and sole reason I'll buy a PlayStation. Appreciate the video because along with content like this and GT7, I'm falling back in love with it again. Think I'm going to buy me a wheel/peddle set up because I've been wanting to for 20 years now.
New vid - YES!!!!!!!
Thanks, as *always*, @Roflwaffle.
Long live Gran Turismo.
\m/,😊,\m/
You _can_ technically start racing right away by entering a Spot Race, but Spot Races pay out very little and are unnecessary for finishing the game.
I'm curious if you'll cover Concept Tokyo-Geneva and the Prologue games or just the main titles.
Either way, a fantastic video all over, I think that not enough people cover games as it was at the time that it launched as that really shows how great the original GT is. I just never had it as a kid and started with the sequel. The only reasonable response to GT2 at launch is that of absolute shock, GT1 was big enough a title for the console
I like the outro, that was very clever of you :)
I was 8 when GT4 was released. I had played 1-3 but 4 was were I put all my hours for years later. My first car was a crx bcuz it was always a joy in the game
I’m really looking forward to this series man! 😁
I picked up GT1 in the US when it came out (I was 17 at the time), and ever since then, I've picked up every new release of GT on day one. However, I still give GT1 a full play-through about every 2 - 3 years during the autumn to winter months.
There's something about its simplicity that strikes this elegant balance of depth and brevity. I'm also fully aware that nostalgia plays a huge role in my enjoyment.
I prefer GT1 over GT5, GT6 & GT Sport.
I started with gt3 like you but i love gt1 i got it a few years ago its one of those games i cant explain why i like it over other games with more content i just do
As someone who’s first game was GT5 Prologue (I was born in 2007) I still use the D-Pad and face buttons to this day in GT7, although it is a bit more tricky as physics have improved an insane amount. I do play GT7 with a wheel now so I rarely ever use the controller nowadays
GT1 was my first game on PS1. A child in Ukraine could not dream of such graphics and such a rich game component, as most people had bootleg NES (Dendy) and those who were richer had Sega Mega Drive II. But my father through my grandmother in Israel found a PS1 with a couple of demo games at a nice price and what luck that the GT1 disk was not a demo version or something like that. This game showed me how much I might not want to go to school because no one else would win the Special Stage Route 11 All-Night Endurance Race but me. Also thanks to this console I was motivated to learn English from early childhood, because I didn't understand the words and what the game wanted from me, so I asked my mom to find me an English-Ukrainian dictionary, because I wanted to find out what this amazing game wanted from me. The first two parts of this series are forever in my heart as they accompanied my childhood and fueled my already strong love for cars. What's funny, I found this bug with lifting the rear of the car when I was a kid, as I was a fan of hot rods and dragsters at the time. I love this and the game and periodically return to the old parts of the series, but now not on the old PS1, but on Steam Deck. Thanks for the warm retrospective and for stirring up my old memories.
GT1’s Pal/NTSC-U intro lives rent free in my mind.
I wish I was older when playing the original gran turismo, i was too young at the time to understand how to upgrade cars effectively and manage the in game money
Fantastic video!! I can't wait for the GT2 video!! 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
10:04 the greatest GT intro and music combination!
I remember as a kid I'd always struggle with Midfield Raceway as I didn't know about brakes, yet the adult me laughs at the kid me sliding off onto the dirt. That, and calling race cars "Model Cars"....
Christmas Day, 1998 was quite a life-changer.
I had two demos of this game and played the hell out of them (The Pizza Hut disc is an all time GOAT), kick started my love for cars, racing games, and the series. GT3 was my first properly owned one, but GT1 will always hold a special place.
Looking forward to the next chapter of this series of videos 😉
wow . . . 19 votes for GT1 in a poll . . .
I personally disregard the idea that both GT1 and GT2 are obsolete. Due to the limitations of the console, both games end up being extremely dense on their experience, without feeling like a marathon in order to beat, they are the perfect games for when you are craving for a more thoughtful racing experience, but don't want it to linger too much on your head, a perfect game to just fully get drowned in on a weekend
My goal was always to obtain every car in GT2. I don't play it as much anymore with all the newer versions out for years now, but here I am 26 years later and I still have the stack of memory cards each with a full garage. I believe there were around 800 unique cars in the game and each garage on each card could only hold 100. I have 600+ on 7 cards 😂
One interesting thing :
Gran turismo 1 is affecting *A LOT* of most tuning companies nowadays by also using "stage" system in tuning which never done before gran turismo introduced it
Another quality video, Roflwaffle. In the case of GT1, I think its legacy cannot be overstated. GT4 is about as good as things got, but notice how in GT7, when they attempted to revitalise the series, they took a lot of imagery from the original by bringing back tracks like High Speed Ring and Deep Forest, as well as the Castrol Supra GT? It's because the first game got it right from the start, and its iconic foundations carried over to the rest of the franchise.
I agree that I'd rather play GT2 (which I've actually started replaying) or the later sequels over the first game, but the role in which it played for Polyphony, plus how dramatically it shifted racing games fundamentally, means that this game will always be the most important game in the series.
I still play GT1 on my PS2 once a month.
Obtaining the licenses originally annoyed me so much that I spent hours, and lost a job!
Nice retrospective
I think I'm also in the minority, but I love the US menu soundtrack more. I feel the unique dealership music/themes were very fitting.
I love it too. It painted cars and racing as hardcore, and while I think that the jazz fusion is very classy and well-made, it still doesn't fit racing car culture imo.
Yeah those dealership music were iconic. And also each sorta convey the vibe of said brand. For example Dodge having that menacing beat hinting at the beast that is the Viper and Toyota with that sick bass intro hinting to the "boss" car that is the Castrol Supra, just to name a couple.
Such as the one theme also known as _You can't afford them_
Aston Martin iirc.
@@CB-L Good ol' Bri'ish engineering
For me Gt1 pal stays beside Lotus3 in category of "we have music and are not afraid to use it".
I'll never actually be able to finish or beat the game, even with my knowledge of the game as an adult today I simply can't attain the IA license, and even the A license is a full weekend of struggle just to get the bronzes for myself - but this game is and forever will be one of my all-time top 5 favorites
As the old saying goes:
"Just because you did it first doesn't mean you do it best."
That's true. They did make gt2,3,4,5 and 6.
I keep wishing for some indie dev to make a classic GT game with tons of *not maniacally detailed cars,* no internals and most importantly, without real brands (like this there would be total freedom of how it is developed), entirely focused on reliving the classic experience of starting from the bottom.
You said it really well. Gran turismo is nothing without a really good single player. Thats what GT series is built on a solid and good single player campaign.
Man, I remember in those early GT's you could grab a Mitsubishi FTO/GTO for pennies early game and, Lord above me, when upgraded those cars were simply slaying anything you could race them against.
The depth of the in-game upgrade model, the feeling of real weight and speed when you eventually get out of the Demio, the absolute size of the game, unmatched by anything else out there. Great games for the serious race Player who was never fulfilled by the Ridge Racers and other clunky also-rans. Superb. I haven't played GT since GT4, no bias, just haven't owned a PS since then. If I had to pick a favourite of those first four I think it would be GT3, although I spent much more time in GT2. All superb, regardless.
The GTO LeMans car in GT1 was untouchable. The FTO LM was no slouch either! Those were the cars that once you had the credits, were the game beaters.
As you said at the end, people don't vote for GT1 because it was improved upon, but when I bought a PS1 6 years ago now, GT1 and GT2 were still at the top of my list. It felt so ... cool to play. Maybe it's a hipster thing in that my full playthrough of GT1 was at around the time of the PS5 release, but the menu music, especially the dealership themes, are still among my favorites in the entire series.
Personally, the only PS1 game I'd play above GT1 is GT2, mainly due to the increase in both car count and race events, but nothing else even comes close to just how good Gran Turismo was. On the PS2 however, as good as GT3 and 4 are, the opposition had closed the gap significantly.
Also side note, the games basically got unlicensed spoofs recently in the Super Woden GP series, and despite their looks and camera (it's a 2.5D racer) they're actually really fun to play. If you have a bit of money left and want to buy something related to GT, they're probably closer to the PS1 GTs than the newest GT games are.
Regarding the intro music difference in Japanese / PAL version, its also worth noting that the soundtrack for Gran Turismo was vastly different between the games. IIRC the japanese version had the jazz type music we all know from Gran Turismo 4, while the PAL version had the legendary electronic music. The Moon Over the Castle soundtrack would be out of place in the intro considering the games menu music in the PAL version. I feel like the PAL intro music and general soundtrack gave the game a very unique and "dark" vibe that I remember fondly.
now i have no basis on what i'm about to say. just personal observations.
the UI is stark and bright orange because it invokes memory of driving at night.
as in, at the time, when it's night on the road, EVERYTHING's orange, or somewhere within the 'yellow' spectrum.
just because of the technology used at the time.
orange-ish street lights on the main streets, some houses or areas are still lit by orange-ish outdoor lights. most importantly tho, at the time at least for japanese cars, the dash/gauges backlight that isn't lit orange is not exactly common, because they're all lit by simple small incandescent light bulbs, which are cheap and plenty and proven and reliable
just a thought
My roflwafflecopter goes SWOHSWOH
I definitely agree with those who say GT1's shorter career is a good thing since it gives players a good reason to go back and try different progression paths: with a relatively small time investment, players can experience the same career in a new way that feels refreshing. Very little grinding is necessary to acquire the necessary cars to progress, and many different cars are viable, so you're encouraged to try them all. I've never touched several of the cars in GT2, meanwhile, since many of them are bad or otherwise pointless to use beyond curiosity or challenge runs. The tuning interface of GT1 is also better, although I appreciate GT2 adding limited-slip differentials.
The Megaspeed Cup is another great thing in GT1 and easily my favourite event in the game. I wish GT2 had kept the same power levels for its cars as GT1 and had an event like the Megaspeed Cup for such monstrously powerful cars.
Nice review, I'll fire up duckstation and see what where it all started!
Wish PD would put an April 1st joke into GT7 where the menus, sounds and graphics are ripped directly from GT1.
Considering that each car was only a few hundred polygons and the incredibly low resolution vehicle textures it wouldn't take long for the artists to make (unlike the 18 months or so for a single car in GT7).
This game walked so the others can run, this is my best way to put about Gran Turismo 1
If Gran Turismo is so good, why havent they made a Gran Turismo 2 through 7?
edit: oh my fucking god
My First Gran Turismo (ahem) was the OG. I got it with the Playstation and another ‘Odd’ game
I think I've finished GT1 years ago and to this day am still obsessing over doing Grand Valley 300km, the original SSR11, and the race cars including the LM Editions. Can't lie when I say that this game still got me on chokehold even after all these years lol.
Doing Grand Valley 300km on other games are fun too. I think I did one or two on Sports Car GT (PC version), someone made Grand Valley already, and it feels like a proper sports car race even with the base game cars. I'd assume people also did it at least once on other games, like rFactor, GTR2, or maybe AC.
EDIT: How can I forgot the Japanese OST? 🤦🏻♂️
should of included a segment about the special 60fps mode and how that pushed the hardware to it's limits ( or was that mode in GT2 ? am not sure tbh )
21:23 "What would be the point in 150 cars if you can complete the game with just 1 or 2" i feel like it was personal when you wrote this 😂
exited for the 4th part of the series