Total Drivin PS1 Review

Total Driven, otherwise known as Grand Tour Racing 98 is a very unique racing game that was developed by Eutechnyx for the PlayStation in 1997 and would later be released in Japan in 1998. And this game would be a combination of a variety of different gameplay modes that mixed rally with exotic car racing and and even off-road style racing. 

The game itself would receive mixed reviews from critics and magazines stating that while there was some really good elements in the game and it was very ambitious in what it tried to do, it was somewhat let down due to the sluggish and clunky control system and the aggressive computer AI that leading further into the game, the further you got into it would become a lot more difficult and more unmanageable for most players. 

And those same elements were pretty much mentioned across the board from a multitude of different magazines stating the same thing that what it done, it did do well but there was just too many inconsistencies to make is a worthwhile or classic title in all regards as there were just some elements that were just too inconsistent for it to really step out among its peers. 

But it doesn't take away from the overall gameplay experience like the handling even from my own experience is probably one of its weakest points as yes it's playable and it is achievable to win races and when you get the hang of it you can really push the car to its limits but it doesn't have the same fluent dynamics in terms of how it handles regardless of the mode that you're in compared to other racing games. 

And the fact is you have the aggressive AI that are constantly trying to barge you out of the way and then if they do hit you they will spin you out and especially later in the game when you hit more difficult tracks and variations of stages, one false move and it's pretty much game over because you have to pass through a load of different cars and the problem is is that you may not hit the final car until you've literally regardless of how well you drive you may not reach the final card to overtake until you've literally hit the last corner and last lap of the race. 

That's how long it takes to catch up with them because they're so far ahead of you that it's almost impossible in all regards. It just it's one of those games that it is doable and it is achievable but you will have to put a lot of time into this game two master but even at that it really just boils down to both skill and just pure luck because nine times out of ten in order to achieve the perfect race you have to make sure the various other elements don't happen like people trying to crash you into walls or that you don't crash into walls or take corners at a certain speed at the same time and you have to make sure that when you do approach a car that you're able to overtake them on the first try. 

It's really all down to timing and then just pure luck to really win races outright. It will take a lot of skill in which to do so and more often than not you will end up having to replay the same race again multiple times before you will have one good shot at it to achieve success which will frustrate a lot of players. 

Now the game does have a basic aspect in terms of its entry point for the first couple of races it is fairly approachable for a beginner to pick up and play and you will enjoy it. 

But the difficulty literally from the second track onwards ramps up significantly to a point that at times from a lot of players it can pretty much be unplayable and it's not the diss on the game or to say that it's a bad game when you put all of the negative aspects and niggles aside it is a really good solid racing experience that provides a lot of replay value and a lot of features with loads of different variations of tracks and the fact is you have different types of modes from exotic racing to rally racing, off-road racing and the like. 

It really was an ambitious approach to a racing game, but just in all respects of it, it could have just been a little bit better but again for what it does offer, it is a good solid title like from my own experience when I got to play this game a mate of mine had bought it before Christmas, it was a couple of weeks actually before Christmas of 1997. 

And I remember him taking it over to the house and he was like I'm only after getting this new game I want to try it out so we sat and we played it and I have to say now he's impressed with how the game played but again it definitely looked difficult, it did not look like any easy game to play and I remember going to play it myself and it was a struggle trying to get used to the handling physics as again it isn't the most responsive racing game, it doesn't react the way that you would expect it to compared to other titles out there. But once you put time into it and you got used to it, there is a good experience to be had, again you have a different variety of teams each with a different selection of cars. 

They're all like rebranded models of your typical licensed car, while there are no officially licensed cars in the game, the cars are modeled off of those official cars anything from the likes of Ford Escort RS Cosworth to the likes of the Subaru Impreza, the Toyota Celica GT4, the Lancia Delta Integrale, the Renault Megan rally type cars. 

What it does do it does do quite well and it is a good solid experience for what it provides but it's just the game is just difficult. It's not an easy game to pick up and play, really essentially especially the more you dive into it, it will challenge you it's one of those games that you will play for a while and you'll find you'll have to step away from it for a little while to go back into but you've even found myself personally over the years it's one of those games that I always find myself being drawn back into. 

I always find myself wanting to go back and to play it and to experience it and to try and get that wee bit further in it because with each mode and each variant of track you have a selection of different cars that will change off between buggy, rally and exotic but as you race for one type of car it unlocks different tracks or different variations of the same track as you progress like for instance if you're racing in the Scotland region as a rally car, you will have to keep racing it as that car to unlock all of the varieties of tracks that are available in the game for that particular car but then if you go into another team you have to unlock the tracks again so there's a lot of replay value in the game. 

Now even the menu system with regards to it, I remember playing the back in the day and the menu system can be very very confusing because you don't really know where you're supposed to be because at the time when playing it and I think that was the main issue with the game that magazines had because people couldn't tell if it was a rally game, if it was a racing game it was an off-road game, it was trying to be everything all in one and it was only the more seasoned player years and the people that put time into it and it's only like for myself when you go back to it every so often you kind of get the idea of how the game operates and how the menu systems work because it's definitely not apparent from a beginner perspective. 

If you're an absolute newbie coming into playing this game for the first time, it will confuse the hell out of you because you won't know what type of car you're supposed to choose or what type of race you're supposed to be in you literally just pick a car, you go and then you just kind of hope for the best really as such. 

But even at that you don't even realize that you've unlocked another track until you've actually won the race because it's not really apparent as such. 

The game doesn't really give you that idea that you've done that in all respects to it. 

In fairness to the game regardless of its flaws, in my own personal opinion it is a good solid title for what it does represent and what it tries to do it does do well, it's just for an absolute beginner coming in, there are better races on the system and there are different elements when you compare this version of total driven to The Grand Tour Racing 98, technically they're the exact same game but there are subtle differences in terms of visual references that you can see in that game compared to Total Drivin. 

But technically the tracks and the Dynamics and certain features are almost identical in all respects to them. 

The tracks will test you, the handling Dynamics are clunky and they can be somewhat tricky to get used to because it just feels sluggish especially when you're driving a high speeds and even using the handbrake features when you're using either the shoulder buttons if you use L1 and R1 on the control pad if you press R1 you'll do a handbrake turn to the right and you press L1 when you do a handbrake turn to the left but the problem is if you accidentally press the button during the race you will do literally a 360 spin or a 180 spin on the Fly and it will literally ruin whatever progress you've made in the race and then you have to play a catch up but by then you'll have never caught up with whoever's in first place because they're so far ahead of you. 

Even using the handbrake to travel around a corner, especially a sharp corner sometimes isn't even the best approach because the handbrake system in the game doesn't work well at all. It's actually a poor concept, it's poorly let down because it's overly sensitive which is weird when you look at the handling dynamics of the cars which is completely the opposite like it's a nice idea for what it tries to do but just to so many areas of the game that they could have got right but it just wasn't as executed as well as it could have been and then coupled with that with the aggressive AI especially later on as you progress through the different levels of the game definitely adds to the learning curve and it will cause a lot of frustration for players. 

But in saying that I still really like total driven, I think it's a good solid racer, I still enjoy playing it even though it is frustrating and it's one of those games for some reason like I said it draws me back and every now and then that I just want to go back and play it as I just think there's certain dynamics to the game that are very appealing and they do actually do it quite well but it just lacks in other areas but it's still a good solid experience in my opinion that is what revisiting every now and then if you are into these type of racing games and the fact is they presents something that's different that it tries to be a different style of game where you have different elements both off-road rally and exotic racing all in the one package. 

There are very few games around at that time that were actually able to do that. So at least what it did do it did do quite well and I would love to know your thoughts on total driven or in this case Grand Tour Racing 98 for the PlayStation if you have played it yourself and if so what do you think of the overall experience of these games. 

Did you enjoy it back in the day or maybe not so much? I'd love to hear whatever stories you have at this game so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other racing games similar to Total Drivin you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...