Sega GT Online – XB – Review

The first thing
gamers should know about Sega GT Online is that it retails for only twenty
bucks.  TWENTY BUCKS!  That’s right, for the price of only four super-sized fast
food meals, gamers can get a quality racer that will eat up hours and hours of
time, test their mechanical and driving skills, and are Xbox Live compatible for
the first time.  True, it may merely be Sega GT 2002 with online features and
minor upgrades, and true, it may not even compare to Xbox’s top driving dog
Project Gotham Racing 2, but for the price of a twenty, its value throws it
right into the fight as one of the better racers. 

The mildly popular
Sega GT series can easily be referred to as Gran Turismo light.  It offers much
of the vehicle tinkering that Gran Turismo specializes in without having to be
Mr. Goodwrench to understand what’s going on, and this is where Sega GT finds
its niche.  There’s no messing around with gear torque, axel heights, or tire
rotation, but there are plenty of upgrades that explain what they do in plain
English (well, being Sega, it’s broken English).  The rest of the game operates
much like an abridged version of Sony’s GT3 with stage races, license tests,
several cars to purchase and unlock, and shops with upgradeable parts.  Though
there isn’t much groundbreaking from this series, it’s a tried and true system
that works well for racers, particularly for those who not only like to collect
cars, but customize them to their liking.

The bulk of the
game is Sega GT 2002 mode.  Sound familiar?  It should, because this mode is
pretty much the exact same game as Sega GT 2002.  Some new cars have been (the
total reaches more than 165) added but that’s about it.  Racers start off with a
sack of cash to buy a new car and begin their career.  The purchasable cars are
slim at first, but hey, you can’t expect to start off with a sick car straight
away.  There are several makes of car to purchase including Lotus, Peugeot,
Ford, Mitsubishi, and heaps of others, but many won’t be within price range
until further into the game.  After a ride is purchased, it’s time to hit the
tracks and make some dough, since this is what the game is about.  Competitions
come in the form of Official Races or Event Races.  The Official Races are the
main progression in the game and yield valuable licenses that grant access to
successive stages and larger payouts.  Event races are extra competitions that
are handy for bulking up your wallet for better cars, parts, etc.  One note
about this mode for previous owners of Sega GT 2002: although it claims to allow
for importing your entire Sega GT 2002 game into online, it actually does not.
Cash can be imported, but cars cannot.  Bummer.

There are other
modes to tangle with, but they pale in comparison to the Career mode.  Quick
Battle is great for multiplayer action and supports up to four players.
Chronicle Mode allows gamers to select a classic car and race them against CPU
controlled cars.  Place third or higher, and advance to the next race after
upgrading the car.  The game ends when you fail to place third or better.  By
advancing in this mode, cars can be unlocked for quick battle.  Time Attack is a
simple drive through the course as fast as you can mode.  Any lap can be
recorded as a ghost car and loaded later to rage against.  Gathering mode is a
collection of mini-games that earns money and cars for the Sega GT mode.  These
mini-games include Time Survival (meet the checkpoints and keep on racin’),
Technical Test (identical to license tests, race a lap in a designated time
without making mistakes), and Gymkhana (race through cones and finish quickly).
While these other modes seem to offer plenty of diversity in the game, they wear
out their welcome quickly.

Other features of
the game are either hit or miss.  The game does have a damage meter, but the
damage does not effect driving.  After the race is completed, the car damage is
repaired by taking moolah out of the prize winnings.  Even the sharpest of
drivers will have a hard time avoiding damage because of the AI of the CPU
drivers.  They all drive like narcoleptic grandmothers on a Sunday drive,
crashing into walls and seemingly deliberately smashing into the player. 

And now for the
part you’ve all been waiting for, the online mode.  Yes it does allow you to
compete online and race against other Xbox Live gamers, and yes, you can trade
cars and parts online (which is tres cool), BUT (and this is a big but), the
online mode is clumsier than Erkel after a few apple martinis.  The menus,
interface, and actual gameplay all suffer from poor design and lackluster
performance.  There are some great ideas in here, notably the ability to
describe a created game and trade parts and cars, but navigating the online mess
is horrendous pain in the trunk.  All the normal Xbox Live features like
Optimatch and Quick Match are there, but they’re nearly useless as you can’t
wait in a game lobby for a race to finish, and you can’t tell which games are in
the middle of a race.  If you can actually find a game online (most people seem
content to trade parts and cars or just chat), the performance is jumpy and one
of the poorer Xbox Live performances out there.  In short, it’s a mess.  Now
this twenty bucks thing is making a lot more sense. 

Now that that’s
taken care of, let’s take a gander at the graphics and sound.  Having stiff
competition from the Project Gotham Racing and Grand Turismo series, Sega GT
Online actually stands up fairly well for a budget title.  The game supports
480i for you HDTV folks, but even in standard mode the game looks great.  The
tracks do lack a little shine and are fairly mundane, and you won’t see any
gorgeous lighting effects you’ll see in Gran Turismo or any gorgeous cityscapes
like PGR2, but the graphics do the job adequately.  The audio is another story.
Again, maybe I’m doing this game injustice by comparing it to GT and PGR, but
the sound effects just sound tinny.  Skids and engine revs just don’t have the
life they need to give the feeling of slamming on the accelerator.  If I’m
holding the accelerator down with the force of a ton of bricks, I want to hear
this puppy roar.  The soundtrack also leaves something to be desired, from
outdated techno-bleeps to licensed independent punk tunes.  Thankfully the game
allows for custom soundtracks so you kids can listen to your Britney Spears or
whatever else is the flavor of the month (just kidding, guys).  To summarize,
graphics decent, audio thumbs down. 

It’s important to
realize that some of you out there will absolutely love this game.  If you enjoy
the idea of collecting cars, souping them up and tricking them out, and selling
or trading them like Pokemon cards, this game is right down your alley.  Looking
for a great racer and stiff online competition?  Look elsewhere, my friend.
Owners of Sega GT 2002 will have to decide if the online mode is worth spending
an extra twenty.  If you’re looking to trade cars, it is.  If you’re looking to
race ‘em, no.  If you haven’t had a chance to play Sega GT 2002, it’s definitely
something to consider.

Sega GT Online is
rated T for teen and has a retail price of $19.99.

Gameplay: 7.0

I have major
issues with the steering being too sensitive, but most everything seems to chug
along quite nicely.  Outfitting cars and stocking up the garage is always fun,
but prepared to invest some time to do so.

Graphics: 7.5

A bit drab, but
the cars definitely look like their real-life counterparts.  A little more spice
to the track detail would have made a HUGE difference.

Sound: 5.0

Just throw on your
custom soundtrack and listen to your own tunes.

Difficulty: Easy

There isn’t a
whole lot of challenge, unless you consider spending hours earning money a
challenge.  As long as you have money, no race is too hard.

Concept: 8.0

I’m a huge fan of
the idea of trading parts and cars online, and I hope that future racers (and
other genres) push this concept.  Imagine trading RPG characters or swords…
stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Multiplayer: 6.5

Sega GT Online
should have a much better online experience.  But it doesn’t.  Sad, sad, sad. 

Overall: 7.0

It’s only twenty
bucks!  IT’S ONLY TWENTY BUCKS!  I’ve reviewed my share of twenty-dollar games,
and this is by far the best of the budget bunch.  But if you’re in the hunt for
a great online driving game, bite the bullet and spend an extra thirty
for Project Gotham Racing 2, the premier Xbox racer.