Gran Turismo: a hugely successful saga

2/1/2022

The wait is nearly over: Gran Turismo 7 will finally be available in March.

Millions of players the world over are waiting for this game with bated breath, a game that certainly won’t disappoint, confirming its position as the pinnacle of racing games.

The fanatical attention with which the cars in Gran Turismo have been created, in terms of both graphics and content, is nothing new, but the series will take another step forward with GT7 also thanks to Brembo. Indeed, for the first time, Brembo will become official partner in braking systems of Gran Turismo™7, offering its high-performance braking systems to enhance the driving experience in Gran Turismo™ 7.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be able to talk about how Brembo products will be included in Tuning options of GT7, enhancing the gaming experience . In the meantime, let’s talk about how we got to GT7 by going over previous instalments of Gran Turismo, genuine milestones in a series that taped into the desire of thousands of fans to race and tune cars worldwide.

1) Gran Turismo (PlayStation)

The first, the original Gran Turismo, had its western release in May 1998. It was love at first sight thanks to the incredible amount of innovation. It featured no fewer than 178 cars, an incredible figure for the time, especially since they benefited from realistic behavior in the various stages of driving as well as their resemblance to the real vehicles.

Another luxury was the presence of dream cars (like the Impreza Rally Edition or Corvette 96) alongside subcompacts like the legendary Mazda Demio. They could all be tuned, but all tuning and all new purchases required money won by winning races. You needed to acquire licenses to take part in the challenges with the most prize money, another treat the game had in store.

2) Gran Turismo 2 (PlayStation)

The incredible success of the first Gran Turismo led to the development of a second game, which came to North America just before Christmas 1999 and Europe shortly after. The introduction of German, French and Italian vehicles and more British, Japanese and US brands led to a total of 650 cars, even including models from the sixties, seventies and eighties.

There number of tracks increased considerably (27 compared to 9 in the first game), including rally tracks and other ones that really exist, like Laguna Seca and Rome city track. Other new additions were the endurance races, where it was necessary to make at least one pit stop, one-make championships and competitions for cars from a single country.

3) Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PlayStation 2)

Available from July 2001 in North America and Europe, the third instalment in the Gran Turismo series exploited all of the PS2’s superior capabilities: where the previous version employed 500 polygons in bringing the cars to life, 4,000 were now used for each car, displaying details that had never been seen in video games before, like the disc brakes on the rear wheels.

The result of such painstaking work brought the number of cars down to 181, but great strides were made in the behavior of the console-driven cars. The driving physics were also enhanced, especially in the rally challenges. Nineteen circuits were available, 14 of which could also be driven backwards. It all contributed to making GT3 a fan favourite.

4) Gran Turismo 4 (PlayStation 2)

Featuring over 700 cars, 80 different manufacturers and dozens of racing experiences, Gran Turismo 4 went on sale in December of 2005, stunning players once again, in part because of the variety of vehicles and tracks available. The game also offered a B-Spec mode on top of driving, like a manager game in which the player handled the driver’s career.

Another warmly received development was NOS (nitrous oxide), which could be used for no more than about 30 seconds a race. The player was also asked to manage the pit stop for the first time, selecting which tires to change and whether or not to refuel. There was also a lot of public appreciation for the brand-new snow races with their studded tires. The 5-second penalties for hitting walls and rivals were a little less popular.

5) Gran Turismo 5 (PlayStation 3)

GT 5: Prologue came out in 2007 to satisfy the cravings of the fans, with the help of 6 Ferraris that it featured. In November 2010, Gran Turismo 5 arrived, with the public blown away both by the number of cars available – more than 1000 – and the level of realism: more than half a million polygons were used for each model in the Premium category.

Damage from collision was implemented for the first time. The transition from day to night was spectacular, as were the changing weather conditions and their effect on driving. Cars from the NASCAR championship made their debut, as did karts.

6) Gran Turismo 6 (PlayStation 3)

Outdoing the quantity of it’s predecessor seemed impossible, but Gran Turismo 6 raised the bar even higher when it came out in December 2013. There were 1,279 cars from 112 automotive brands and 41 tracks offering over 86 layouts, as well as the ability to race a wide variety of race categories such as rally, endurance, and NASCAR as well as drive some prototypes that never made it to the road or track in reality.

The latitude and longitude of each track were considered in order to establish the hours of daylight, and the play of light and shade on the bodywork. Players also had endless possibilities for creating their own tracks using the Track Path Editor, and there was even the option of racing on the Moon with corresponding gravity values to match, demonstrating the developers’ attention to detail.