To avoid the inevitable confusion, a short lesson in trivia and the English language.

"Homologate: Verb. Sanction, allow, esp. to approve or confirm officially."

- Merriam-Webster's English Dictionary.

In the specific context used by Sega to subtitle their new racing game, "homologation" refers to the approval of a course or competing vehicle by the governing body of a particular motorsport (NASCAR, FIA, SCCA, et cetera). For further information, including a list of currently homologated vehicles for grand touring and other competition, I recommend the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile website at www.fia.com. We now return to your regularly scheduled preview.

Unless I miss my guess, Sega GT is Sega's first effort at a simulation racer. If it isn't, my memory is obviously failing, which is indeed a possibility. But the point is that this sort of thing has not, historically, been their cup of tea. Daytona, Sega Rally, Manx TT, and Sega Touring Car were all thoroughly arcade-style presentations, and CART Flag to Flag wasn't anything except very, very boring. Sega GT, on the other hand, clearly drinks from the same well as Polyphony Digital's famous Gran Turismo, and perhaps a little bit surprisingly, it shows off a comparable level of craftsmanship. Well, I'll qualify that - I'm not sure Sega GT pushes the Dreamcast as far as GT2 pushes the PlayStation, but no matter, I'll leave that to the folks on Usenet to fight over. Long and the short of it, Sega GT looks good and controls tightly. Over the next few days, we'll see how much replay value it packs into its array of tracks, cars, and modifications, but for now, indications seem very positive on that front.

However good Sega GT is in its own right, though, comparisons to GT2 are going to get a little hard to escape, so I'd ask you to be forgiving if that particular theme starts to wear. The first thing you'll notice if you happen to play both games is that they look quite a lot alike. Which is only natural, of course, because they're both supposed to look like GT racing. In case you couldn't guess, however, Sega GT looks much, much better. Everything is in high resolution, particularly the game's wide selection of sports cars and sleek GT1 competitors. The Car & Driver set should have as much fun with Sega's game as they did with Gran Turismo, or indeed even more, given the far superior quality of the Dreamcast-rendered polygon models. Corners and edges are much smoother, and the little details stand out even better - you can clearly read the authentic logos on your Skyline or Integra Type R.

Once you get out of the select screen and onto the road, you should be equally impressed by the world outside the driver's seat. Effects like lighting and lens flare are handled beautifully, and some of the trackside detail is frankly stunning. The towering skyscrapers of the Night Section course stretch so far into the sky that you can't see their tops, and the storefronts facing the street are covered in bright hi-res texture art. Pay even more attention, and you'll notice all kinds of nifty little details. My favorites are in the Night Section, just outside downtown, where little tracking lights blink to point your way in the turns. What's even more impressive about the backgrounds is how well draw-in is handled. The game has an exceptionally long draw distance, and when features of the environment do appear out of nowhere, they fade in very smoothly, aided by a neatly-applied touch of fog effects.

It's probably the size and detail of the environment that results in the slightly lower than expected framerate. Sega GT does not run at 60 frames per second - instead, it seems like it's been locked down at thirty. Is this to the game's detriment, though? This isn't a situation like Sega Rally 2 where there's a theoretically "perfect" counterpart to compare the game to, and honestly, I prefer the fixed 30fps to DC Rally's vertiginous fluctuations. Sixty frames might be a little nicer to look at, and it would aid the sensation of speed in a more arcade-style game, but the game's high resolution helps balance the framerate as far as graphical smoothness is concerned.

As a driving experience, then, Sega GT is visually superb. Devotees of simulation racing will be equally pleased to know that it controls tightly as well. As for something to compare it to, Gran Turismo is the name that inevitably arises, but for some reason, that doesn't feel right. Yes, it's very much like GT, but not entirely the same. Sometimes it's it a relatively obvious way (collisions seem to throw you off more in Sega GT, both when you impact the wall and other drivers), sometimes it's in a way that's deuced hard to put your finger on. Every so often, Ridge Racer springs to mind, although maybe it's just the music that makes me think of that (the Sega GT soundtrack is a very RR-ish mix of light rock and pulsing techno, with incidental vocals). Driving one of the powerful cars, like the Castrol Supra, you can occasionally throw yourself into a smooth powersliding groove that reminds me a little of Namco's arcade games.

But leaving aside my demented imaginings, this is still a very realistic simulation racer, and a well-done one at that. The control feels solid, firmly conveying your grip on the road as your suspension rocks back and forth in the turns. It's interesting to play through a race in the first-person view, and then watch yourself in the replay mode (as is par for the racing course these days, Sega GT includes an excellent cinematic replay feature). You can see particular moments of the race from the outside and remember how they felt: an especially smooth turn, swapping paint early in the race, or sliding out of control as your brakes lock up and crashing into the wall. The track design tests your skill with a wide variety of challenges, including wide, sweeping turns, dense series of S-curves, and tricky chicanes.

Most of these impressions, as you might guess, come from the single-race mode, which lets you jump straight into a limited selection of cars and tracks. We've only gotten a chance to dip our toes into the Championship mode, which is set up just like Gran Turismo's simulation mode, complete with aggravating license tests. The Sega GT licenses don't involve specific tests of skill, though. Instead, each class is composed of one-lap time trials in cars produced by a selection of automakers - there's an STi test, a Mugen test, and so forth. As you might expect, perhaps with a somewhat heavy heart, the tests must be conquered before you can buy yourself a car and really cut loose. But they're not inordinately difficult, and the prize, of course, is worth the effort.

Some of us have wondered exactly what the motivation behind Sega GT was. Did Sega make a GT racer for the sake of making a GT racer, or did they make a GT racer because Sony had a nifty one too? I suppose it's just one of those things you can chat over when you're bored. Whatever Sega's reasons for making the game were, Sega GT is none the worse for them. Viewed just as a game, rather than a maneuver in industrial competition or what-have-you, Sega GT looks like an entertaining, involving experience. As we dig deeper into it, we'll provide more detailed impressions and opinions.

Sega GT Movies

Integra Type R (happy, Henry?) - 2.9 MB
Type R Part 2 - 2.6 MB
Castrol Supra (GT1 cars should not be driven on cobblestones) - 1.4 MB
Castrol Supra Part 2 (asphalt is much friendlier) - 4.0 MB
Nissan Skyline (ah, the Skyline) - 3.8 MB
Nissan Silvia (GT version) - 4.2 MB
Honda S2000 - Night Ground Track - 3.2 MB
S2000 Part 2 (Ah, I love this car so...) - 3.1 MB
Mitsubishi GTO (the tunnels are very Ridge Racer as well) - 3.9 MB