Key Takeaways
- Gran Turismo revolutionized the racing simulation genre with its meticulous attention to detail and realism, becoming one of the best-selling franchises in gaming.
- The true quality of a Gran Turismo game is measured by the impact it makes upon release, with some shaking up the genre and others falling short.
- Each new version of Gran Turismo brings endless innovation and continues to push the boundaries of what fans believed was possible.
Over 70 million sales between 8 major products Gran Turismo The franchise is one of the true giants of gaming. With its meticulous attention to detail and focus on realism, Sony's smash hit series revolutionized the racing simulation genre. forzaTo this day, it remains at the top.
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From a technical standpoint, each mainline entry in the series is an improvement over its predecessor, but the true quality of a game is probably better measured by the impact it had upon release. best Gran Turismo While the game shook up the racing simulation genre in a big way, others simply crossed the line.
Updated by Tom Bowen on December 10, 2024: The Gran Turismo franchise has dominated the driving simulation genre for over 25 years now, delivering some of the most realistic racing experiences available on home consoles. Each new series brings endless innovation, and Kazunori Yamauchi and his team continue to push the boundaries of what many fans believed was possible at the time. With the recent release of My First Gran Turismo, now seems like the perfect time to look back at some of the best Gran Turismo games and see how they compare to each other.
All Gran Turismo games (release timeline)
game |
Release date (North America) |
Metacritic Rating |
---|---|---|
Gran Turismo |
May 12, 1998 |
80 |
Gran Turismo 2 |
December 16, 1999 |
93 |
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec |
July 10, 2001 |
95 |
Gran Turismo Concept |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Gran Turismo 4 Prologue |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Gran Turismo 4 |
February 22, 2005 |
89 |
Gran Turismo HD Concept |
December 24, 2006 |
82 |
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue |
April 15, 2008 |
80 |
Gran Turismo (PSP) |
October 1, 2009 |
74 |
Gran Turismo 5 |
November 24, 2010 |
84 |
Gran Turismo 6 |
December 6, 2013 |
81 |
Gran Turismo Sports |
October 17, 2017 |
75 |
Gran Turismo 7 |
March 4, 2022 |
87 |
my first gran turismo |
December 6, 2024 |
Not applicable |
Although included in the table above,
concept
and
prolog
Games are not considered for overall rankings. That's because these games usually act more as precursors to the next mainline game rather than a full-featured release.
10 Gran Turismo Sports
Metacritic rating: 75
After four years of waiting, fans of the series were eager and excited to get their hands on it. Gran Turismo Sports. Unfortunately, much of that excitement quickly faded away in the weeks following the game's release as it became clear just how mediocre the game really was.
To be clear: Gran Turismo Sports It's far from a bad game, but it's not revolutionary either. Despite excellent post-launch support, it had fewer tracks and a much smaller car catalog than its predecessor. This game is also the one that introduced microtransactions to the series, so it loses a few points for that.
- released
- October 17, 2017
- number of cars
- 338
- number of tracks
- 84
- metascore
- 75
9 Gran Turismo 6
Metacritic rating: 81
Although it offers more cars and tracks than its predecessor, Gran Turismo 6 Only about half were sold. This is because many potential buyers felt it was too similar to the fifth installment in the series and contained little innovation.
Strictly speaking, GT6 It could be said to be the better of the two games as it offers more depth, but much of this depth is ultimately superficial. Take the new cars out of the equation and the two games are surprisingly similar, leading many people to stick with the game they already have.
- released
- December 6, 2013
- number of cars
- 1,247
- number of tracks
- 100
- metascore
- 81
8 Gran Turismo (PSP)
Metacritic rating: 74
Despite being first announced at Sony's E3 2004 press conference, it wasn't until late 2009 that Gran Turismo It was finally released on PSP. Whether or not the end result was worth the wait is probably debatable, but if sales are anything to go by, most fans of the series will agree that it probably was.
The game eventually sold just under 5 million copies, making it one of the best-selling PSP games of all time. Unfortunately, the game wasn't as well received by critics as it was by consumers, currently holding an average score of 74 on Metacritic. However, despite these mixed reviews, it was actually quite impressive for a portable driving game of its time, not only in terms of visuals but also in terms of realism.
- released
- October 1, 2009
- number of cars
- 833
- number of tracks
- 75
- metascore
- 74
7 my first gran turismo
Metacritic rating: N/A
my first gran turismo It plays a sort of modern role. concept and prolog Past games give players the opportunity to: Gran Turismo 7 through gear without having to pay for the privilege. Featuring everything from License Center tests to Music Rally races, players can even move their cars to progress to the next race. Gran Turismo 7 Should you decide to upgrade?
Perhaps the best thing is my first gran turismo It supports virtual reality, allowing you to get a taste of what many consider to be one of the best games on PSVR 2. Although it's technically an extended demo, players can expect to spend a ton of time immersed in it. my first gran turismo So you should be able to get a pretty good idea as to whether or not they will enjoy the entire game.
- released
- December 6, 2024
6 Gran Turismo 7
Metacritic rating: 87
After being disappointed GT6 and GT Sports, Gran Turismo 7 For Microsoft in particular, there was a lot of pressure on their shoulders. forza The series has now clearly taken over in the eyes of many. The good news is that the game was able to live up to these high expectations, offering clear and noticeable improvements over the previous two entries in the series.
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Gran Turismo 7 It's beautiful to look at and offers the most realistic driving experience to date. That said, the single-player campaign can get a bit monotonous, and the return of microtransactions has soured the experience somewhat. Still, those looking for a realistic racing simulation will struggle to find anything better.
- released
- March 24, 2022
- number of cars
- 484
- number of tracks
- 108
- metascore
- 87
5 Gran Turismo 5
Metacritic rating: 84
Gran Turismo 5 It is the second best-selling game in the series' history. There is a good reason for this. The PS3's improved performance greatly improved visual fidelity, helping it completely dominate all other racing games of its era.
Featuring over 1,000 vehicles and 72 tracks Gran Turismo 5 It was the biggest Gran Turismo It was the game at the time of release and the most realistic. The care and attention put into perfecting the driving physics is readily apparent to all and is a big part of what makes the game so fun to play.
- released
- November 24, 2010
- number of cars
- 1,074
- number of tracks
- 81
- metascore
- 84
4 Gran Turismo 4
Metacritic rating: 89
Based on the fantastic work of the previous work, Gran Turismo 4 It was everything fans of the series could have hoped for, and much more. Featuring nearly four times as many cars and twice as many tracks, the game helps reinforce the “bigger is better” principle while also benefiting from some fine-tuning under the hood.
Sure, the lack of online play was a bit disappointing, and the lackluster arcade mode held it back a bit. Still, with so much to see and do, players could sink hundreds of hours into the game if they wanted to without getting bored, and more than a few took advantage of this fact.
Gran Turismo 4
- released
- December 28, 2004
- number of cars
- 721
- number of tracks
- 51
- metascore
- 89
3 Gran Turismo 2
Metacritic rating: 93
The first sequel to a huge hit video game can be difficult to get right, with many developers struggling to get it right over the years. I didn't have that problem with Polyphony Digital. Gran Turismo 2 But the game's solid sales figures and impressive response from players and critics alike speak for themselves.
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GT2 We increased the number of cars from 140 to 650 and almost tripled the number of tracks. New game modes and improved mechanics helped further seal the deal and helped solidify the series' position at the top of the racing simulation genre. Perhaps more importantly, it showed that the first game wasn't just a fluke.
Gran Turismo 2
- released
- December 11, 1999
- number of cars
- 650
- number of tracks
- 27
- metascore
- 93
2 Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
Metacritic rating: 95
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is the best selling Gran Turismo It's the game released to date and features the biggest game-to-game improvements in Sony's long franchise history. Considering how impressive it is GT2 In other words, this was no easy task for developers to pull off.
The number of cars fell to a much smaller number of 181, but GT3 It offered more tracks and game modes than its predecessor. Even better, the significant increase in power and disk capacity from PlayStation 1 to PlayStation 2 allows developers to increase detail to incredibly impressive new levels.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
- released
- April 28, 2001
- number of cars
- 181
- number of tracks
- 34
- metascore
- 95
1 Gran Turismo
Metacritic rating: 80
Probably other than that Virtua Fighter and resident evilThere's an argument to be made that no video game has left a greater impression on the genre. Gran Turismo did it The focus on realism and unparalleled visuals allowed the developers to really capture the joy of driving without having to resort to cheap tricks.
Only 11 tracks are available, Gran Turismo It may seem a bit stale compared to modern racing games, but back then, 11 was enough. 140 available cars was a bit too many, and many competitors at the time only had about 10 to 15 cars for players to choose from.
- released
- December 23, 1997
- number of cars
- 96
- number of tracks
- 11
- metascore
- 96
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