Which is the best GT so far? Time to make a poll. --- GT4 still in the lead.

[Famine]

No, but I can accept a little worse or smaller single player if online is good.

And that's just what we've got.

Only online is rarely good. Online means your game experience depends on other users. This works reasonably well with FPS - party up with a couple of mates and go killing. If the other party are nobs, killing them is more fun. Do that with a racing game and you need the other people to go by the same rulebook you're using. If they're nobs... Well, there's 1,100 posts about it here.

COD is basically an online game with an apology for a single player campaign that gets you used to using the various weapons - scopes, sniping, tubing, grenades, flashbangs, C4 and claymores - before you get there. That mechanism can't carry over to a racing game.


As I said before, there's no reason why GT can't have a complete stable of cars available for online (just like GT4 had, in fact) in addition to a strong single player. GT6's single player is actually quite good, but doesn't come close to using the assets it has wisely because it simply has too many assets to need wisdom in using them.

I love GT3, but you can't ignore the dull 20 lap races on the test track that seemed to come up in every professional mode event.

I'll raise you three 24 hour races, two on the same track, with five AI cars and permanent daylight.

Or how you slow down relative to the AI in long events because of deteriorating oil. Or the AI going 5 seconds a lap faster after a pit stop.

That's programming oversight, not poor game design.

I also prefer GT1 and GT3, but I'd say you're underselling GT4 a bit here. Gt4 had flaws, plenty in fact, but it offered plenty of "game" and innovations, in addition to the massive content. I would not agree with placing GT4 in the same category as GT5 or GT6, or even GT2.

GT4 suffered exactly the same issues as GT2 - an excess of events that were no more than a single race excuse to use a car you wouldn't otherwise use just for the sake of using it, with unnecessarily fiddly entry requirements. GT4 also piled a veritable boat load of prize cars - often the same car as you'd just had to buy to do the race - into the bargain as if to show just how many assets the game had.

There were loads of races - it's just that so few of them were worth actually doing because they were not planned well.


As a quick reminder, in the months leading up to November 2011, I replayed every GT game from 0-100% (102% in some cases ) so that my avatar could be written. I remember every detail, painful and joyous, of the five main titles (and the Prologues, Concepts and GTPSP) over the course of those repeat playthroughs - no rose-tinting here. If you were to thrust the titles at me and tell me I could play only one for the next day before [hypothetical death scenario], it'd be GT3.

 

[DeriaHanuj]

I mainly miss the tracks GT4 had ... There were some pretty ones. I mostly miss the 'Tahiti Maze' dirt track.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

I need to get GT3 again by the sound of things. Only played that for a few laps, didn't get to play much on it due to trading it for another game. Hopefully it works with G27 steering wheel.

 

[MatskiMonk]

There's a new way to use content that wasn't possible in GT1-4: Online.
That's no excuse to stop producing single player experiences but it isn't as important as it once was.

I seriously hope game producers don't share your viewpoint, sadly though, I'm worried they do more and more.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure online stuff is great and everything, but as someone that's been playing computer games for around 25 years or so, I kinda like the idea of being able to buy a game, and for it to deliver the best experience possible, without relying on an excellent internet connection, a group of friends, or the good manners of others. Fact is, I don't get so much game time these days, neither do my friends, and when they do, mostly they're playing FIFA or COD.

GTAV is the example I keep using, but that game was such a huge disappointment, R* went to the effort of creating a vast environment, with lovely detail and mechanics, creating interesting characters... but for what? There was so little to keep you playing in the offline mode, I'm sure 50% of my game time was spent in the sub searching for things. Once I got to the ending movie, I've not played it since... I'm a massive fan of the GTA series, and this was a real disappointment, it was painfully obvious that offline was not much more than a tutorial for GTAnline. To digress even more, it's why I feel that Red Dead Redemption is probably the best game the R* has produced, they put the effort into the characters and the environment (and the engine), and then used it to tell a good story.

I can see why game producers would go down the route of targeting online more though, whether online or offline they have to create the assets, with online, it just needs a framework to work within, with offline they need to put the effort in to a "story" too, even if in PD's case it's just a question of creating engaging B, A, IB, IA, and S races.

The world around GT has changed quite a bit, there's more competition for a start, there's also more awareness of the subject matter -- by this I basically mean the internet. PD could "get away" with things because people just didn't know about certain things, and there wasn't the community there is now, GTP is great, but it does have this effect of taking one persons hopes, dreams, gripes, and bus, and spreading them to the masses. The technological bar is now much higher too, GT's original USP was the number of real cars in the game, this USP is so much harder to keep these days, because it takes so much more time to model the cars... so what does GT need to do... reinvent itself with a new USP? Or invest heavily to maintain its original USP. I'd prefer the latter to be honest. FWIW, I don't see GT has changed much over the years, in some ways this is good, in some ways it's bad...

... over it's life, GT has had all the right elements, what PD has so far not done, is stitch them together in one game. I fear that by the time they do (if they do), such is the slow pace with which PD work, it will already have been totally surpassed by other games.

I'll always remember GT1, and 2.. and to some degree GT4 as being better than they were, 5 came close - the course creator was almost genius, but was badly executed, and 6 is technically the most advanced. It's a tough choice.



tl:dr... I dunno.

 

[Ryk]

Hard question.
I had a senior moment and actual had a go on GT2 the other day - fully expecting to be transported to those great days skipping over the curbs at Seattle in the blazing sun (I thought it only ever rained in Seattle?)

Wow - not only did it feel strange trying to pitter patter along High Speed Ring on a DS3 and buttons.
Ouch.
But at the time it was so good. (honest kids - you forgot about the chug along 20 frames a second and horrid pop up and the god awful tyre screech sound ... When you were pushing the envelope (GT - The Real Office Stationary Simulator!))

GT6 just has the sweet spot at the moment when I drive, cars always feel like the early stages of a crash, just about on the verge of losing control.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I need to get GT3 again by the sound of things. Only played that for a few laps, didn't get to play much on it due to trading it for another game. Hopefully it works with G27 steering wheel.

I am currently playing GT4, 5, and 6. Using a CSW for 5 and 6 and a G27 for 4. GT3 was terrible with the G27 and I suspect its due to the 200 degree rotation limit versus 900 for the other 3. I gave up on GT3 because I just can get into using a hand controller to drive a car anymore although it was great back in the day right after GT1 was released up until I got a G25 for GT4.

 

[Zuku]

Exactly.

2, 4, 5 and 6 are just content, not game. They were just swamped with cars and tracks, while the actual game behind them was paper thin - 6 isn't the worst offender for unnecessary events with picky rulesets and a track shoehorned in just so you can say the car and track have been used, but it has so few events of any kind that you almost long for the days of an event created as an excuse to use a car you wouldn't ordinarily use.

I drove every car in GT2, GT4 and GT5 and I'm getting on with driving every car in GT6 - but who else amongst us can say the same? The volume of content masks the quality of the game and the fact people keep voting for content over game explains why we keep getting more content and less game.

Don't get me wrong - I like content. As I said, I drove every car in those games. But it needs to be used - and used wisely - or it's just filler.

GT1 and GT3 used what they had the best.

I can agree with you just wanted to see if it was going to be more thought than the usual if you know what I mean.

I can agree with driving most cars I can at least say I touched many of GT4's cars for the simple reason that many events required you to become a little creative. In GT4 not so much I only owned last I remember was less than 50 cars before I gave away my own copy.

Wasn't at the advanced races yet though believe I was still in the A bracket, but even still by the time I got to that many cars I could tell wouldn't need many more. Because most of those cars were getting reused in other events so you know.

 

[spencer7x7]

For me, Gran Turismo 2 was the best of them all, with 3 being a close second. GT2 has a huge amount of content, a whole lot of races (more than 5 or 6), lots of iconic cars like the Escudo and the Midget II, etc. I've heard 4 is good but I have not played it ever. GT6 and 5 are close third since they have both advantages and disadvantages.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

GT3 and GT4 were my two favorite, with the nod going to GT4 just slightly...it felt more special. GT5 was such a disappointment that I haven't even bought GT6. This is significant, because it's been the only GT title I haven't purchased. I simply will not buy another game until the sound is improved, it's an absolute deal breaker.

 

[Chrunch Houston]

I thought about this for a while and then voted for GT5.

Yes, GT4 was awesome, with all of the tracks and the huge career mode.

But GT5's online element more than made up for the lost tracks. And now, with the online, I don't give a crap about the career or arcade mode.

I voted for GT5 only because it was much more finished than GT6.

I certainly hope that GT6 will get all of it's promised content. Then it will be my favorite.

 

[PAPPACLART]

GT4 for me.

 

[ShiftingGears]

GT2 had the best tracks, and the physics were fun. GT4 was just chronic understeer, and having to manually turn traction control off for every single car coupled with the most cumbersome menu design out of any Gran Turismo to date means that I have zero reason to ever pull it out again.

 

[ImmalovemaGTR]

GT 4 because of the epic childhood I had with it
I bought it because I played GT 3 at my friend's Playstation 2 back then and I loved it.

GT 1 is also epic, but I bought it about half a year ago, so don't have such epic memories with it.

I never played GT 2.

5 and 6... They are epic games, especially 5, which was the only game I played from December 2010 up to December 2013... I also have awesome memories with it, but they are not as childhood-ish as the ones from GT4...

GT6 is a standalone game, but on the other hand it is GT5 2.0, somehow... it is a nice game, but it is not what I expected it to be, not yet (future updates?)

 

[Islaygaz]

For me it was between 2,3 & 4. GT2 was the first game where I actually understood how to tune a car. GT3 I spent hours after school playing, especially the Côte d'Azur endurance race for some reason. But I went for GT4 because I just feel it has been the best GT game overall so far.

 

[GranTurismoer]

Just as I predicted - GT4 to retake the lead after all the gt6 hype calms down.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Considering its launch date, GT4 was quite spectacular on the PS2. At its launch there was nothing even close to GT4 on a console. I still love that GT4 intro video.

When it comes to ease of use with hybrids, I had an insane amount of time into GT3. In fact I still have more time into GT3 than any other GT. The hybrids made GT3 so much fun. I am also enjoying GT6. So I guess I would have to give the 2nd place vote to GT6.

 

[-Cheezman-]

I remember when GT4 first came out, it was in my PS2 disc drive for months after. In fact, the only reason I took it out was so I could use HD Advanced to write it to the HDD I put in my PS2. I want to say GT4 is the best GT of the series, it may have not been perfect, but, it was the most memorable and enjoyable for me.

GT5 and GT6 really.... fell from grace.

 

[linoleum]

When it comes to ease of use with hybrids, I had an insane amount of time into GT3. In fact I still have more time into GT3 than any other GT. The hybrids made GT3 so much fun. I am also enjoying GT6. So I guess I would have to give the 2nd place vote to GT6.

Absolutely agree on the hybriding for GT3..... it really extended the fun factor. And no consequences of cheating online!

 

[Zuku]

Just as I predicted - GT4 to retake the lead after all the gt6 hype calms down.

I figured as much too, but I feel bad for GT3 still remember as a kid hearing Snoop Dogg's Rap Song on there it was kinda of hilarious to me at the time. Given what GT kind of was, but it also had an unlocking mode in fact that's what I loved about GT3 the most in Arcade mode you didn't get everything like how it is right now.

Now it's just HERE TAKE IT I miss games that made you work for it if even just a little.

 

[dylansan]

I got a lot of enjoyment out of GT4, despite never finishing it. I was glad to have the used car dealerships back after GT3, and the sheer number of cars, old and new, really made me appreciate a variety of cars. But if I wasn't so young and impressionable back then, and had more car knowledge already, I probably wouldn't have found it so interesting.

Famine's probably right about GT3. From what I remember there were few cars that had no use in game, as pretty much every car had some event it would be competitive in. GT4 had many cars that were basically just meant to be owned and maybe driven, but not really raced. GT5 and 6 suffer from this as well (as a direct result of pulling cars from previous games). The solution, in my opinion, is not to remove cars, but to make sure every car has at least some race that it will do well in. And more restrictions to make sure the races are evenly matched.

For instance, in GT4 onwards, there's been a kei car event, but half of the cars are completely useless because they're so old. You need a Cappuccino or a Beat to be competitive, and classics like the Subaru 360 are rendered pointless. GT4 mitigated this a bit by having many one make races. I also really enjoyed the missions in GT4, in particular the ones with a slow classic car given a head start against the big monster race cars. Definitely enjoyable for me.

So ranking these games purely on the enjoyment I got out of them, I'd have to choose GT4, though GT3 may have been a better game on the whole. I was probably just too young to enjoy it. And I've never actually played GT1, so I can't judge that. GT5 and 6 stand no chance for me. There's just not enough races and most of them are short and boring. I'm going to refrain from voting but this is an interesting topic and I hope to see more discussion on what makes games good, so it can be used to make progress in the future.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

It blows my mind that not only is GT6 actually in contention for the top spot, but that GT5 has amassed more votes than GT1.

Shame on you, GTPlanet. Shame on you.

 

[dylansan]

It blows my mind that not only is GT6 actually in contention for the top spot, but that GT5 has amassed more votes than GT1.

Shame on you, GTPlanet. Shame on you.

Most people voting have probably not played GT1, if it makes you feel better (in hindsight, it probably doesn't...)

 

[cjr3559]

Here's why I can't (and didn't) vote for GT4. While I loved GT4 and played it a LOT, the fact that GT5/6 have day/night and weather transitions seals the deal. GT4 had a great B-Spec mode, but while extremely cool, what was the point running a 24-hour event when the time or weather never change? I also remember wishing there was Ferrari and Lamborghini, and well, we got them by GT5.

Meantime I can't recall much about GT3. I'd have to go back through it again to see how I feel about it. It was excellent, but I purchased it kind of late and GT4 was on the scene pretty quickly. If I had to rank the titles it would be:

GT6
GT4 & GT5 (tied)
GT2 (because it was the first one I ever played and got a ton of mileage out of it)
GT3
GT1

 

[drivatar]

At its launch there was nothing even close to GT4 on a console.

Forza Motorsport was released a few months later.
Online, damage, livery editor, Ferrari, Porsche, ...

 

[daisho13]

GT4. Still a very flawed game, but so good in most ways that it didn't matter. Features were mostly finished, Bspec was great integrated instead of separated out even if Bob was a pain to train.

 

[apexpredator100]

It blows my mind that not only is GT6 actually in contention for the top spot, but that GT5 has amassed more votes than GT1.

Shame on you, GTPlanet. Shame on you.

Part of the reason might be that people didn't start playing the GT series with GT1, and others might have been too young back then. There's no shame if some people find more enjoyment in playing GT5 than GT1. Whatever floats their boat.

 

[dimassa19]

And that's just what we've got.

Only online is rarely good. Online means your game experience depends on other users. This works reasonably well with FPS - party up with a couple of mates and go killing. If the other party are nobs, killing them is more fun. Do that with a racing game and you need the other people to go by the same rulebook you're using. If they're nobs... Well, there's 1,100 posts about it here.

COD is basically an online game with an apology for a single player campaign that gets you used to using the various weapons - scopes, sniping, tubing, grenades, flashbangs, C4 and claymores - before you get there. That mechanism can't carry over to a racing game.

As I said before, there's no reason why GT can't have a complete stable of cars available for online (just like GT4 had, in fact) in addition to a strong single player. GT6's single player is actually quite good, but doesn't come close to using the assets it has wisely because it simply has too many assets to need wisdom in using them.I'll raise you three 24 hour races, two on the same track, with five AI cars and permanent daylight.That's programming oversight, not poor game design.GT4 suffered exactly the same issues as GT2 - an excess of events that were no more than a single race excuse to use a car you wouldn't otherwise use just for the sake of using it, with unnecessarily fiddly entry requirements. GT4 also piled a veritable boat load of prize cars - often the same car as you'd just had to buy to do the race - into the bargain as if to show just how many assets the game had.

There were loads of races - it's just that so few of them were worth actually doing because they were not planned well.

As a quick reminder, in the months leading up to November 2011, I replayed every GT game from 0-100% (102% in some cases ) so that my avatar could be written. I remember every detail, painful and joyous, of the five main titles (and the Prologues, Concepts and GTPSP) over the course of those repeat playthroughs - no rose-tinting here. If you were to thrust the titles at me and tell me I could play only one for the next day before [hypothetical death scenario], it'd be GT3.

Five GTs from 0-100%...👍 ...talk about mission 34...

 

[Samus]

Part of the reason might be that people didn't start playing the GT series with GT1, and others might have been too young back then. There's no shame if some people find more enjoyment in playing GT5 than GT1. Whatever floats their boat.

Yes I would imagine a lot of those voting for GT5/6 are those that either haven't played the first four at all or who have only played them after GT5/6. IMO you can't gain a true feeling of what those earlier games were like at their time after playing the newer ones and having preconceptions of how things in the modern games weren't there back then. That doesn't mean they weren't as good though, but you really do have to judge the games based on their time.

The Aston Martin DB5 was great when it came out but if you drove it after a DB9 I'd imagine you wouldn't find it too good.

 

[GranTurismoer]

You have to judge each game for how good it was at the time.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Forza Motorsport was released a few months later.
Online, damage, livery editor, Ferrari, Porsche, ...

That's why I said "at its launch". And yes, I know all about Forza and love that series. In fact Forza is the series that pulled me away from GT. I just didn't want to bring that into this thread. Already enough Forza vs GT threads.

Absolutely agree on the hybriding for GT3..... it really extended the fun factor. And no consequences of cheating online!

The best part about the hybrids was it allowed us to create pretty much any vehicle we wanted. Drivetrain swaps, engine swaps, and much more. All features this series has NEVER had. Hopefully in GT7.