Genuinely one of my favorite titles in the Mario franchise. The gameplay can be "primitive" to a certain extent, but the liveliness in style and presentation, is what I mostly charm whenever I pick this again. For some reason (in my opinion), this tends to stand out the most when it comes to 2.5D Mario games.
I've finished the game again, and the only words I have to describe this, is nothing short of spectacular! Plus, this would define the series of what it is now.
It's a shame that the series is no longer running (no pun intended). But none the less, this is a pretty fun experience with two amazing things in one, despite the generally underwhelming gameplay.
A big disappointment when I played it. The story is just a generic fast & furious clone. The optimization is really poor, even though I ran it on PS5. The car variety is mediocre at best. The microtransactions is crazy. And the game quite literally locked me out, saying that I "don't have an EA account."
I spent 2 years on GT7, and for the longest time, I thought the game was pretty damn good. The visuals are spectacular, the road grip is a lot more realistic (probably specified for the regular civilian drivers), and it was really cool seeing the older circuits from previous installments return. Looking back however, the campaign was quite crappy and not what I expected, plus why are the vehicles so expensive? None the less, it's best to continue enjoying this title, until GT8 finally comes out.
Despite online services being shut down, I still find it quite relaxing to play. I mean, it's only $20 these days. But it shouldn't define the visual presentation and feeling of realistic driving, that a child or senior may want to go for. In other words, if you want to take photos with cars, race in a "campaign," or simply collect vehicles, this is your GT.
A very good step-up from its predecessor! After finishing the career, it was pretty fun being able to try out all kinds of cars from a huge number of brands, and driving on awesome new tracks was crazy! Although there are some bugs and weird glitches here an there, it can be a nostalgia-worthy try if you do play this again.
Some of the positives of this game, was that it defined what a sim-racing experience should be. Which I felt that Sony executed the elements, pretty neatly in Gran Turismo. The 3d graphics are good for its time, and so the amusement/driving factors. Although it has shown plenty of age, and the limited amount of circuits or manufacture variation, is preventing me from putting Gran Turismo at a high spot.
The continued progression system of kudos, makes this an interesting experience on the 360. But the games strange optimization, and unusually small amount of things to do, made me put this at a low spot.
After playing through most of it, the general game feels a bit too similar to FM3, but I still appreciate the slight upgrade in visuals/sound, and the boost in manufacture and track variety. The music specifically, is very mesmerizing but extremely soothing to listen to. Top Gear, your awesome!
A big upgrade to its predecessor! I grew accustomed to the games more sophisticated elements/theme, that remind me of modern gran turismo titles. But it still offers a boost in graphical performance and driving mechanics, that make this a fun sim-racing experience! *PS* I love the progressive campaign also!
The experience does stand out in terms of goals and design, compared to the more mature themes of Motorsport 3 & 4. But playing those two again, they offer a much better feel to the driving and can do quicker inputs (from what I can tell), plus the enhancement of graphics, is preventing me from putting this specific game at a higher rating.
