''Gran Turismo 2'' is a 1999

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic ra ...

developed by

Polyphony Digital Polyphony Digital is an internal Japanese first-party video game development studio for PlayStation Studios. Originally a development group within Sony Computer Entertainment known as Polys Entertainment, after the success of '' Gran Turismo'' ...

and published by

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

for the PlayStation. It is the sequel to '' Gran Turismo''. It was well-received critically and financially, shipping 1.71 million copies in Japan, 0.02 million in Southeast Asia, 3.96 million in North America, and 3.68 million in Europe for a total of 9.37 million copies as of April 30, 2008, and eventually becoming a

Sony Greatest Hits Greatest Hits is a branding used by Sony Interactive Entertainment for discounted reprints of PlayStation video games. The branding is used for reprints of popular, top-selling games for each console in the PlayStation family, which are delib ...

game. The title received an average of 93% in

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

's aggregate.

Gameplay

''Gran Turismo 2'' is a

. The

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

must maneuver an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

to compete against artificially intelligent drivers on various

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

s. The game uses two different modes: Arcade Mode and Simulation Mode (Gran Turismo Mode in PAL and Japanese versions). In the arcade mode, the player can freely choose vehicles they wish to use, and can enable damage, while the simulation mode requires the player to earn

driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

s, pay for vehicles, and earn

trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, i ...

in order to unlock new and returning courses. ''Gran Turismo 2'' features nearly 650 automobiles and 27 racing tracks, including

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

tracks. Compared with ''Gran Turismo'', the gameplay, physics and graphics are very similar: the only real noticeable difference in vehicle dynamics was the brakes, which became much less likely to lock up and cause the vehicle to

oversteer Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Oversteer is what occurs when a car turns (steers) by more than the amount commanded by the driver. Conversely, understeer is what occ ...

. The major changes are the vastly expanded number of cars, tracks and races in simulation mode. Other differences include that the player can race events separately, if they do not want to enter the whole tournament. The player is no longer able to "qualify" for each race entered.

Development

After the unexpected success of ''Gran Turismo'', lead developer

Kazunori Yamauchi , nicknamed "Kaz", is a Japanese game designer and professional racing driver. He is CEO of Polyphony Digital and producer of the '' Gran Turismo'' video game series. Polyphony Digital He became the president of Polyphony Digital after designi ...

planned to make ''Gran Turismo 2'' "an even better product".IGN Staff (February 10, 1999).
Gran Turismo 2 Gets the Nod
.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

. Retrieved March 11, 2014. SCEA's marketing director (Ami Blaire) had high hopes, stating "the overwhelming and continuing popularity of ''Gran Turismo'' clearly positions ''Gran Turismo 2'' to be one of the hottest titles available for the holidays and beyond".IGN Staff (September 3, 1999).
Sony Stakes December 7 for Gran Turismo 2
. IGN. Retrieved March 11, 2014. Jack Tretton (sales vice president of SCEA) had similar enthusiasm, expecting ''Gran Turismo 2'' to "fly off the shelves faster than the original, continuing the momentum of this incredible franchise".IGN Staff (December 14, 1999).
Gran Turismo 2 Hits Stores in Two Days
. IGN. Retrieved March 11, 2014. Upon the game's release, players shortly found various errors and

glitches A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as amo ...

. SCEA did not ignore the outcry, and offered a replacement if any problems occurred.IGN Staff (January 20, 2000).
Sony Answers GT2 Questions
. IGN. Retrieved March 11, 2014. For example, in version 1.0 of the NTSC-U version of the game, the maximum attainable completion percentage was 98.2%. Another glitch was that no matter what, even if a player saves the game, cars can disappear from their garage. A third glitch was that certain cars would appear in the wrong races. This was most significant in the 30-lap Trial Mountain endurance race, where a 680

bhp BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

Vector M12 LM edition may appear despite a 295-

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

entry restriction, effectively making the race nearly impossible to win. The reason for the maximum completion percentage falling short is due to a planned drag racing mode that was never implemented. The game's soundtrack features the 1998 song "

My Favourite Game "My Favourite Game" is an alternative rock song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for Swedish band the Cardigans' fourth studio album, '' Gran Turismo'' (1998). The song is the album's eighth track and was released as its first single ...

" by

The Cardigans The Cardigans is a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden, in 1992 by guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. Post-hiatus shows sin ...

Reception

Upon release, ''Gran Turismo 2'' sold 815,430 units in Japan during its first week on sale. In the United Kingdom, it sold 130,000 copies and grossed or in its first weekend, surpassing '' The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' to become the UK's fastest-selling title, and it sold about 250,000 copies in its first week. It was a bestseller for two months in Japan and the UK. In the United States, it sold more than units within six weeks, and had sold units by early 2001. In total, it has sold 9.37 million copies worldwide. ''

Official UK PlayStation Magazine An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

'' listed the game as the 4th best of all time. It received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the

Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was originally founded as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), and the ...

(ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom. ''Gran Turismo 2'' received critical acclaim from

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

rated it 8.5 out of 10, recommending it to any gamer, car enthusiast or not, while

rated the game a 9.8/10. In Japan, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' gave it a score of 34 out of 40. Dan Egger of '' Next Generation'' rated it four stars out of five, and stated that "The rushed production of this game botched what could have been a near perfect sequel. As it stands, ''Gran Turismo 2'' is still the best racer ever made. Imagine what it could have been if Sony hadn't bungled the release". ''Gran Turismo 2'' was a finalist for the D.I.C.E. Awards for 1999's "Console Racing Game of the Year", which ultimately went to '' Star Wars Episode I: Racer'' (for

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...

, and Game Boy Color).

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1999 video games Gran Turismo (series) Multiplayer and single-player video games Off-road racing video games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Racing simulators Rally racing video games Split-screen multiplayer games Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Masahiro Andoh Video games set in Colorado Video games set in California Video games set in French Polynesia Video games set in Rome Video games set in Seattle Video games set in Switzerland