15 years and what you still remember?

[TheEdge]

Of course, summing it up I was 25 years old on my first hand of GT but not so serious that time until GT3 came up, and i won't forget beating that M34 NTSC and PAL version of GT4 all with a clean lap. Now I'm 40 but due to other games I discovered my playtime for GT diminished, but my love for Gran Turismo still remains. I can still remember GTVAULT and GT3Times and that German site GTRP where you can upload your time/replay to compare with others.

How about you?

 

[Blank_Redge]

...haha. Another 40 year old bloke here.

Hrm... which iteration of GT was it that allowed a BLISTERING 60 fps gameplay unlock (albeit without smoking tyre effects) after beating the game?

I remember that version of GT well, and *actually* playing the 24 hour races, straight through.

 

[sk8er913]

Well I am an 18 year old so, Ill go back to 2001... What I remember is... GT500 Skylines on Laguna Seca. I also remember buying the Astra DTM car, and my brother in law said "Why did you buy that piece of junk, I'm saving up for this one." *'99 Toyota LMP*

 

[JER_CREST]

I was 16 when GT1 came out and loved it first off, and I cut out a two page magazine advert for it maybe I will take a pic of it. My favorite car was the Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo VR-4 modified all the way up to 930hp and doing 230mph on Test Course.

I have been playing the Gran Turismo franchise ever since.

 

[regnar]

I was 35, quit playing arcade games in the eighty's, while visiting my sister for Thanksging in '98, her kids had a new PS1 with a demo of GT1, after playing it a bit got hooked. As soon as I was back from my trip purchased a PS1 and GT.

 

[HBR-Roadhog]

My first encounter with GT was with GT4. My brother brought it with him on vacation and had me run a few laps. At first I wasn't to sure about it but then he had me attempt a lap on Nurburgring in an RUF. I thought wow, what a difficult track, I love it. I bought a PS2 and GT4 right away and proceeded to knock minutes off my lap times around the ring which rapidly became my favorite track. I also grew to love El Capitan and Seattle. Then came the A-Spec point hunting trying to win all those races for 200 points or the max you could get with some pos car with high miles and dirty oil or underpowered or lousy tires or all of the above.

Lots of hours spent on that game over the course of about 2 years.

 

[eran0004]

...haha. Another 40 year old bloke here.

Hrm... which iteration of GT was it that allowed a BLISTERING 60 fps gameplay unlock (albeit without smoking tyre effects) after beating the game?

I remember that version of GT well, and *actually* playing the 24 hour races, straight through.

It was the very first Gran Turismo and was called "Hi-Fi mode" or something like that. I did a lot of laps around SSR11 like that

 

[JacoJa]

I was 10, and I used to wake up early, early in the morning long before the rest of my family on weekends so I could sneak downstairs and play GT1. I could sometimes complete an endurance race before my parents woke up, and I claimed I had only been playing for about 5 minutes. Occasionally I was banned from the PS1 because I played GT1 too much.

Luckily I don't have that problem any more.

 

[daus26]

Man, I was only eight when I played GT1 in 1998. The game introduced to me, the greatest generation of JDM cars that was the 90s. I knew about NSX, Evos, Stis, Skylines, RX-7s, Silvias, GTOs, Supras, FTOs, etc. before the majority of the people in the US even knew what Civics and Corollas were. Kids at schools would ask me what my dream cars were and when I mentioned Skyline and Evos, they were clueless. And now, a lot of young folks know most of these cars.

As far as the game goes, I remember golding and completing everything at least twice. The 60 lap endurance at Grand Valley didn't feel long at all. I somehow enjoyed it through the end. Same goes with the license test. Golding them was a fun thing to do. It was a game that introduced the "racing line" and I've never played racing games the same way again after playing GT1. Thank You Kaz and PD for your hard work.

And oh yeah, the fun times when you could race modify your car! I actually didn't know I could do such a thing after playing it for months or so! Once I discovered it, it felt like a new game haha. I always wondered how I couldn't get certain "R" cars in the game. I always wanted that white/red ralli art Evo that I always saw in the GT World Championship.

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

I got introduced to GT back in '98 when my dad rented it from the video store, I was quite young and wasn't too bothered. Then I had a copy of GT2 bought for me a couple of years later, I played it and loved it! I had nearly 350 cars where most of them were race modded and after working so hard to get the cars I wanted the memory corrupted and I lost everything! I then moved onto GT3 with my first PS2 in '01 and have loved GT ever since.

 

[SagarisGTB]

I think I was only 9 when I got hooked on the Clubman S5 demo with the NSX, Subaru and Corvette. My parents bought me the game a short while later and I played it for years. So long in fact, that GT3 was already out when I was ready to move on. I simply couldn't believe GT2 could improve on the masterpiece that was GT1, so I sort of ignored it (I only bought GT2 for the first time second hand after GT4).

But GT3 certainly caught my attention with it's life-like graphics and amazing cars and I was quickly addicted to it as well. But having learned from my previous mistake, I was keen waiting for GT4 as well and I was online regularly looking for new info and screenshots as they became available. I don't play any GT nearly as much as I used to, nor can I get so hyped up about a new game anymore either, but I still appreciate what GT/PD has done in the past and look forward to recapturing some more of that magic with future GT games.

 

[MockngBrd]

i remember playing till 6am everyday and then going to bed for 2 hrs before waking up again for school

 

[phil_2001]

I will never forget two of the licence tests the Viper GTS one on Special Stage R5 and the TVR Grifith on Special Stage R11 in GT1. Especially the last one. I never ever put so much effort and felt so much satisfaction in any GT game after that. I mean like that much. Mainly why is this is because GT1 was so out of competition back then.

The learning curve in GT1 was grand, and that TVR test was insanely hard to do gold, but it was not worth it if it wasn't so rewarding. Very rewarding. I am currently 30 y. of age.

 

[shawtyoner]

My first taste of GT was at a friends house back in 2001. He had a PS2, and GT3, and I fell in love with it from that day on. I had no idea what GT was, at the time I had a Dreamcast and I was hooked on Tokyo Extreme Racer. But to this day, I still remember racing around Smokey Mountain, I was amazed with the graphics, and I remember just being blown away with how great it felt. Everything I had played up to that point was just arcade based stuff, so this blew my mind! I went out and bought a PS2, GT3 and the Driving Force wheel soon after.

 

[HAL20XX]

It was the very first Gran Turismo and was called "Hi-Fi mode" or something like that. I did a lot of laps around SSR11 like that

Same here. Specifically an ITR on SSR11. I'm trying to remember how that mode was unlocked. Was it from beating all of the races?

 

[Lord Protector]

I'm 17 now but my GT life started back in 1999 when my dad bought PSX bundled with GT. I was very young (4) to understand all those game mechanisms and hated GT in those times. My dad was really tough and wanting me to play the game so bad that I cried from desperation . However after like 2 years I started to find GT fun. The most favorite car in GT was the Chevy Corvette Convertible driving at High Speed Ring. Later my dad"acquired" GT2 which totally blowed all my expectations and was even better in all ways imo. The GT3 is the only GT game I've played very little. To date maybe 3 months cuz I got PS2 just a few weeks before GT4 release which is my favorite GT to date.

Basically I spent all my childhood playing the games and I don't regret nothn' !

 

[PletdeKoe]

The moment I'll never forget is doing my first endurance race in GT2. I drove the Apricot Hill endurance race in my venturi. The first time I had to look out for my tires.

Man do I hope that track returns!

 

[ralph89]

Mine was the turbo sound of GT2 that still keeps ringing every time I see GT2's box. And also the endurance race on SS11 on GT1.. Those sleepless night.

 

[Samus]

First GT memory I have is GT2 and going to do the first endurance race, 30 laps at Trial Mountain. I remember thinking even if I finished last I'd get decent money and then I was amazed that I managed to win it and got the Denso Sard Supra. I would have been 12/13.

I know for a fact I had GT1 but I don't have any memories of that one.

 

[USARMYCOMBATVET]

I picked up GT in 1998 and it was the best game I'd ever played. Difficult but I think that's what always kept me playing. To me, music was always a very large part of my GT Life. I was introduced to acid jazz and I have to say I like it to this day because of this series. However, Gran Turismo 2 to me was and always will be solidified in my memory with these three songs:
"I Think I'm Paranoid" by Garbage
"My Favourite Game" by The Cardigans
"My Hero" by Foo Fighters

...probably because I grew up listening to those bands anyway.
Around the time GT3 came out I was at advanced individual training in FT Gordon, GA for the US Army and missed its release. I picked it up later and it kept my GT habit alive. GT4 has my favorite menu music. GT5's addition of personal background music allows me to evolve my musical taste and, for those reasons, it's still one of my all-time favorite racing series.

 

[Ills1999]

27 when GT first came on the scene. I remember being awestruck by the tuning possibilities.

 

[Feldynn]

I don't remember a great deal about GT1, I mean I remember owning it and thoroughly enjoying it but beyond that it all gets a little hazy.

Most of what I do remember is from GT2, I had the PAL version and was into BTCC racing at the time and remember loving all the different RMs that turned the street cars into those same BTCC cars I watched on TV.

That and just the pure depth and scope of the game, before that I'd played a number of other driving games like the very first NFS game and others of that time. The GT2 particularly (though also GT1 before it) offered such a wide variety of cars and tracks compared to anything else I remember playing back then.

Ok so I'm probably looking back on it all through Rose-tinted Goggles of Nostalgia, but I'm sure I'm not alone there .

 

[Master_gamer438]

Started playing at about 8 years old, 25 now

 

[maxpontiac]

GT1 - Playing this game at Josh's house and buying a PS1 later that week.
GT2 - Losing to my friend Dave in a race and having to hear it from him all the while he refused to race me again.
GT3 - Finally convincing the same guy to play me again and destroying him to the point of Dave never wanting to race again.
GT4 - The Endurance race Pepsi/Pizza marathons my friend Jake and I had every Sunday night.
GT5 - Playing with a friend from Philly (Joe) who talked a big a game and taking our duel to the 'Ring. Needless to say I didn't see his headlights for half the track.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I'm 19 right now.

The original GT was my first PS1 game and the first video I played on a home console. I remember driving the Corvette Grand Sport on Clubman Stage Route 5. I also remember playing the arcade disc on my GT2 and spent a few weeks trying to figure out how to get some of the cars from the intro before realizing that I had another disc (I was 6 years old and very oblivious).

 

[Elitekilla29]

My first gt game I played was gt3 back in 2001 when I was going on 6 years old. I'm 16 now and about to be 17. Gt3 was so great I didn't do the career part of the game but played the arcade mode a lot. My favorite type of cars I use to pick all the time was race cars. I pick other cars as well but those was my favorite. Me and my older brother use to race a lot on split screen even though he won most of the time lol.

Then there came gt4 I started doing career mode a lot on that game. I completed just about all the events. When it came endurance races I did four of them and I had damn near 700 cars. Me and my older brother race on there as well and really equal with him now probably better lol.
Then gt5 came out and I race online just about everyday on there. I did the career mode but not as much as gt4. I still remember that Christmas morning in 2010 when I got gt5. Enjoy the game up to today. Can't wait for gt6.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

My first experience with the GT series was GT3. Wasn't interested at first then found out about making hybrids using Mks program and the Game shark. It allowed us to swap most anything from car to car making the ultimate machines. So dang fun. Then went back and played the other GT games. Still hoping some day we can have in game options to swap engines and other parts. Other games do that just wish we could do that like in GT3 using the hybrids. Maybe some day it will happen.

The most rewarding moment for me when it comes to the GT series is not knowing your car reward. I just love that feeling after a series of races are completed and you see the silhouette of the black car slowly spinning then coming into view. Sometimes 4 cars spinning then it picks 1. Thinking each time. "What is it what is it!!" LOVE that feeling of accomplishment in GT1,GT2,GT3 and GT4.

In fact one of the most rewarding GT moments was in GT3 after struggling to beat the Mercedes event and after I finally beat it, I was shocked to win the Mercedes CLK touring car. I was jumping up and down for joy when I won that car. It was one of the first really good cars I owned. I put a lot of miles on it and made some major progress after winning that car.

I miss that rewarding feeling in GT5. The car just pulls forward and almost every time its a standard car. Not very rewarding at all. Also sick of seeing horns and stupid rewards. "You have 160 cars in your garage here is your reward. A horn" WUT!???

I also still remember how epic the opening trailer was for GT4. Slowly spinning around the Ford GT with the seasons changing then eventually "Panama" playing. Still one of my all time favorite game trailers to this day. I despise the piano pounding opening trailer for GT5. Makes me cringe EVERY time. So I either mute GT5 intro or hit the button to skip it.

 

[Trux]

Great thread. Good stuff from both young and older GT players.

GT in 98 was my first experience but i never really got hooked as i was mainly playing some footy game. Cant remember which but it was probably ISS or PES. I played GT1 casualy and skipped GT2 altogether.

Then my boss at the time brought a TV and his PS2 into the office at Christmas.
He booted it up and showed me GT3. I remember being amazed at the graphics. After letting me have a go he couldn't get me off the thing.
I promtly picked up a PS2 and a copy for myself and played it to death.
Still remember that white MX5 I bought as my first car.. I put so many miles on that car it's unreal.
GT3 gave me many many late nights. Happy memories.

 

[regnar]

I miss that rewarding feeling in GT5. The car just pulls forward and almost every time its a standard car. Not very rewarding at all. Also sick of seeing horns and stupid rewards. "You have 160 cars in your garage here is your reward. A horn" WUT!???

👍

 

[Tunerguy21]

Same here. Specifically an ITR on SSR11. I'm trying to remember how that mode was unlocked. Was it from beating all of the races?

It was unlocked from winning the GT World Championship (the last of the four championships)

My first memory was about '01-'03. I had gotten a PS1 from my uncle and GT1. I remember thinking how unrealistic the physics were; now I'm beating records on all kinds of tracks and easily shaving off seconds from my times. After that was playing GT2 and 3 at my cousin's house. After that I went GT mad. I now have every GT since the first, except for 2 (getting a used copy this summer).