Why is the game called Gran Turismo Sport and not Gran Turismo 7? Sony must have thought “sport” sounds jazzy enough to a new generation of wannabe virtual drivers. Ironically, it turns out the game is more like a stripped-down sports model of luxury cars. There’s less of everything and the rest is streamlined. The true GT veterans are hurt most by the omission of an excessive career mode the previous games were known for. Driving under the new tagline “driving is for everyone”, the developer Polyphony Digital has seemingly forgotten all those hardcore players who bested the insane endurance races with blistering hands. Gone is also the B-spec, the AI driver who took the steering wheel while the player got some shut-eye.

There are only about 140 cars which is just a tad over 10% of the selection available in Gran Turismo 6. The limited collection is focused mostly on new car models with almost all of the fan-favorite classics missing. At least Porsche finally makes an entrance to the series. The driving locations are reduced to 17 and taking into account all the different layouts, there are 39 tracks to race on. Luckily the infamous Nürburgring Nordschleife is still included. When it comes to tuning the cars, upgrade parts aren’t bought anymore. You just choose them from the tuning menus. Considering all these cuts to the game, Polyphony Digital must have felt necessary to ease the new players in. After all, the Gran Turismo series has had a somewhat intimidating reputation of being made for hardcore racing game fans.