All 9 Gran Turismo Games Ranked

It’s almost hard to imagine “Gran Turismo” skipping a PlayStation console, but for the PSP, we can sort of understand why they could have and why they should have. The technical limitations of Sony’s first handheld did not exactly deliver the “Gran Turismo” experience we were wanting. Yes, it featured some of the best visuals on PSP, and there were a vast number of cars to take for a spin. Unfortunately, it’s nothing more than an arcade mode package; there is no career mode of any kind. You can’t even upgrade or tune the cars to your liking. Were we really expected to just sit there and grind for cars for hours upon hours? Yes, we were, and that idea wasn’t appealing in the slightest.

GT6 was a real disaster when it launched. As if releasing just as the new generation of consoles was about to hit wasn’t bad enough, GT6 was an incredibly lazy package and a rather corporate-y one at that. The bigger focus on online races was not what most players were wanting at the time, and the fact that Polyphony put out a “Gran Turismo” that was so buggy and glitchy was alarming. Microtransactions, on the other hand, felt super invasive. Couple these issues with the comically short and easy campaign, and it’s easy to see where more focus was put. This simply was not “Gran Turismo”. It certainly wasn’t a love letter to motorsports and cars either!

Considering the first game’s incredible success both commercially and critically, you’d think the same story would occur with its sequel. Well, kinda, but that’s only when you look at the numbers. Yes, it sold a lot, and it reviewed well. But does that forgive some of the severe bugs that made it past development and studio heads? Many a GT2 player can recall the reports of earned cars mysteriously vanishing for no reason, the frustrating 98.2% completion glitch, and the possibility of more powerful cars appearing in the wrong races which could make your races unwinnable! Sony was more than willing to replace broken copies, but for some, the damage had been done, and it’s sort of why GT2 went down in infamy. Thank god it wasn’t enough to destroy the franchise.

“Gran Turismo Sport” sort of suffered a similar fate as the PSP outing. At launch, GTSport was a game completely focused on online functionality. Everything you did required you to be online in order to play the game. In all honesty, the game did improve over the years; an arcade mode was added in as well as a sort-of single player campaign. On top of that, there is a milestone system that grants additional XP, which helps players unlock tracks and reach Level 20 quicker. The only other gripe we have, and we know we can turn it off, but why is auto-braking set to ON by default in the first place? Regardless, if you bought the game for about twenty bucks, we’d say you got your money’s worth.

GT4 was a bit of a mixed bag, depending on what you were expecting from Polyphony at the time. On one hand, the visuals were slightly better than previous title, and the new B-spec mode was an interesting new perspective, taking players out of the role of driver and into that of a crew chief. Plus, you had the new Driving Missions, Photo Mode, and improved physics. Unfortunately, what stopped most players from visiting or revisiting this installment was the AI as it lacked any kind of reaction or acknowledgement of the player. So, when you got a penalty for bumping into the CPU unintentionally, it made races frustrating. Manners be damned if we’re going to be penalized unfairly!

GT7 certainly saw a rocky start when it launched in 2022. The microtransactions, the miniscule race payouts, the requirement for a constant online connection… It turned off a lot of folks. Yet we cannot ignore the technical marvel that it is. This game makes cars look damn fine! Every curve, marking, groove, and reflection has been accurately rendered and programmed, making every car almost feel as if you’re driving the real thing. The functionality of the DualSense controller only adds to GT7’s incredible level of immersion. Whether the high price of admission is worth it or not is up to you, but if you consider yourself a car or motorsport aficionado, it’s not a bad get!

It’s no surprise that GT5 is considered the superior of the core entries on PlayStation 3. This was where Polyphony really went wild with the advancements that the PS3 brought in its technology. Not only did the cars look the sexiest they had ever been (at the time), but they had new weather effects, highly detailed skid marks, improved visual effects when driving on different terrain, and even a deep system where external damage can result in various mechanical problems for your car. There was also that weird mode where you could use six PS3 consoles to display various windows of your car’s driver seat, but…how many of us actually got to experience that? Regardless, it was an awesome evolution for “Gran Turismo”, albeit a late one.

Surprised? Well, so are we! We actually booted up the original “Gran Turismo” on PS1 and were shocked at how well it holds up today! Obviously, the controls are not as insanely accurate as GT7 or any of the entries that came before it. However, considering the time in which it came out, when 3D gaming was still young and experimental, it is still one of the most impressive games that perfectly showcase the graphical fidelity of Sony’s first PlayStation console. Plus, the short campaign will provide a lovely trip back to a simpler time when you could finish games in an evening or two.

Not to downplay the rest of the series, but we gotta be honest; no other “Gran Turismo” game has reached the same level of excellence as “A-Spec”. Every entry has something to appreciate (except 6). However, “A-Spec” has somehow managed to stand the test of the time despite being a PS2 game. The visuals still make the cars look sexy as hell, the controls still make every car handle like a dream, and it offered some of the most realistic racing simulation we had seen (at the time). Besides, how can you not love a game with car manufacturers like Porsche gracing us with their presence?