tony hawks pro skater 2 is second on that list, disagree whatever you want, but thats just nonsense.

because clearly the best racing games we're the Colin mcrae rallygames aside form mario kart and the older f1 games

Colin Mcrae games were fine, but nothing came close to the leap foward for a genre that the initial release of gran turismo did for driving games.

Prior to GT, racing games had at best a handfull of fixed spec cars and tracks, GT took a tired genre and injected a change that has stood the test of time, even to this day, 20 years on, racing games often fall short of providing the same level of customizability and choice as the original GT.

Metacritic doesn't mean crap. Gran Turismo 3 will always reign supreme in the franchise and the most memorable racing game ever.

kowenicki said: I agree. Ground breaking. GT is the best GT ever. Some youngsters may disagree.

why not 2?

i loved 2 over one, and 3 was just alot prettier

kowenicki said: kirby007 said: kowenicki said: I agree. Ground breaking. GT is the best GT ever. Some youngsters may disagree. why not 2? i loved 2 over one, and 3 was just alot prettier Because 1 was just so innovative and new.  Its the best experience I have had within the genre ever and will probably remain so due to the wow factor of the time.  (great soundtrack too).

agreed, thats what a lot of people miss, we argue over graphics and stupid shit now, but ultimately, gt6, forza 5, neither one really do much to innovate over the previous itterations, when GT hit, the jump was absolutely insane.

I remember being sat there, doing the driving tests, now you play GT and its like, "ugh, freaking tests, let me race already", but back then, even the damn tests were exciting and new, and people spent litterally days trying to gold every one, thats before they even scratched the surface.

Thats why to me, and thankfully, metacritic, GT was and still is the greatest racing game of all time.

I seriously doubt we are ever going to see a game innovate a particular genre in such a way ever again.

I was never able to get into GT1. I think I was a bit too young to appreciate it at the time and found the realistic handling a chore.

That said though, I still get chills from the EU intro video for the game. That Chemical Bros remix of Everything Must Go is stunning for the game intro, shame the full thing isn't a patch on the Manics song.

It was a truly ground breaking game for it's time. I also think Gran Turismo was the revolution that changed the face of what was expected in a console game. Before that, ports of Arcade Racers and games with a handful of vehicles and tracks were acceptable for a £39.99 price tag. Suddenly, people expected lots of courses and even more cars.

It was pretty much the death knell of the traditional arcade racer.

GT1 was the reason i gave up on N64, i used to play top gear rally on N64 and loved it. when i came across GT1 and ridge racer 1 at a fiends i was sold

Wrong. When you make statements such as:

"Here's to Gran Turismo, the greatest racing game of all time.",

Here's a few elements of truth to process and realize my (and his) point:

- You're going by metacritic score to validate a (no doubt pioneering) game from 3 generations ago

- For most games, and CERTAINLY for simulators, there is no doubt that the successors will always best what came before. Hence, when it comes to which games are the "best", then GT1>GT2>GT3>GT4>GT5>GT6, since each iteration has improved on every single aspect of what came before.

- Making the assumption that one cannot compare sims across different gens (and I'd argue this is valid) then one must compare the metacritic of GT6 with the last Forza on 360 in order to ascertain what is the greatest racing sim of all time

- With such grandiose words used by you, it is rather remarkable that you call GT a "racing game" when most hardcore fans would feel insulted by such a statment.

This is why you're phrasing in the TITLE and OP are distasteful and arguably incorrect.

Finally, I agree that this thread seems like a direct response to the Forza one. In that case; it seems a little pathetic.

It good to see how the driving physics improved... it is crazy better today in GT6 than what it was in GT.

That's your opinion, however I simply came to the conclusion while reading the other thread that the reality is simply that the first GT is by far the best racing game to date, that, my friend, is why my OP actually has substance and thought put in to it, and however hardcore fans may feel about the "racing game" usage, that is what the genre for the first title essentially boiled down to, despite the game itself carrying the tagline "real driving simulator".

Of course, if you want to debate wether or not gran turismo should be classed as a racing game or a simulator for genre, then you have virtually every games website on earth that lists it as a racing game to convince, not just me.

As for me displaying my opinion, in the line "here's to gran turismo, the greatest racing game of all time.", actually providing reasons for this in the thread explain why i have that opinion.

I do admit though, including the "according to metacritic" section of the title was done tongue in cheek, regardless of it actually being the highest scoring title in the racing genre, but with that in mind you do not however see me mentioning metacritic in the opening post, anywhere, because unlike the other thread, my observations are based on meaningful achievements such as, as i have been discussing with kowen, great strides that have far reaching effects on a genre, rather than churning out the same product with a new set of clothes.