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Car and Driver Presents: Grand Tour Racing '98, known as Total Drivin in Europe (M6 Turbo Racing in France) and Gekisou!! Grand Racing (激走!! グランドレシング) in Japan, is a racing game developed by Eutechnyx for the PlayStation.

The game features races across six diverse locales across the world. Players have the option to represent one of eight racing teams, each tied to a specific country. Five distinct car classes can be driven, ranging from off-road buggies to open-wheel cars. The game supports both single-player and multiplayer modes depending on the chosen gameplay mode.

Across the NA, EU, and JP versions, Grand Tour Racing '98 underwent minor changes in its soundtracks, vehicle lineup, and other features.

Gameplay[]

Grand Tour Racing '98 encompasses six distinct locations that are accessible across all game modes. The five car classes are placed within the appropriate locations, aligning with their performance. Sports and Indy cars take to the speedways of Moscow, Hong Kong, and Japan, while buggies and Dakars tackle the off-road tracks of Easter Island, Egypt, and USA. Rally cars find their perfect terrain on the mountainous tracks of Switzerland, Scotland, and Sweden.

Players are directed to the main menu upon launching the game. Control over the menu settings is limited to Player 1. Navigating with the D-Pad and confirming with the X button, they can select their desired gameplay mode, race, team, and vehicle transmission. The "?" icon takes players to additional settings, such as control configuration, saving/loading game progress, and accessing fastest race times. The "GO!" icon takes them to the chosen race.

Modes[]

Main article: Modes

The main gameplay mode in Grand Tour Racing '98 is One Player, where the player engages in one-time races against seven AI opponents from six locales, each consisting of seven levels. As the player conquers previous levels, subsequent ones increase in difficulty. Completion of the six main levels in a locale signifies the conclusion of that track. Notably, one level within each locale conceals an orange orb. When collected, the orb transports the player to the locale's extra level, which introduces cars that are not naturally suitable for that locale, such as Indy cars in Egypt.

Other single-player gameplay modes include Time Attack, where the player engages in solitary races with the aim to achieve the fastest lap time, and Season, where the player engages in a sequence of races against AI opponents, accumulating points after each race. Multiplayer gameplay modes include Link-Up, Split-Screen, and Head-to-Head, where two players engage in one-on-one races in the latter two, with a more limited selection of races available. Link-Up allows up to four players to race, requiring two linked PlayStations and two copies of Grand Tour Racing '98.

Drivers[]

Players have the option to drive one of eight teams across the various gameplay modes. Each team offers distinct stats and attributes for their vehicles, along with specific strengths and weaknesses when functioning as AI opponents. Notably, certain vehicles and AI dynamics exhibit minor differences in the Total Drivin, M6 Turbo Racing, and Gekisou!! Grand Racing versions when compared to their counterparts in Grand Tour Racing '98.

The eight teams are:

Controls[]

The game offers up to four different controller configurations. The default configuration is Type A.

Button Type A Type B Type C Type D
Button x Accelerate Brake/Reverse Brake/Reverse Accelerate
Button square Brake/Reverse Accelerate Accelerate Brake/Reverse
Button circle Handbrake Handbrake Handbrake Handbrake
Button triangle Rear View Change View Horn
Button left Left Left Left Left
Button right Right Right Right Right
Button up Horn Horn Horn Up Gear
Button down Rear View Down Gear
Button l1 Hard Left Hard Left Hard Left Rear View
Button r1 Hard Right Hard Right Hard Right
Button l2 Down Gear Down Gear Down Gear Hard Left
Button r2 Up Gear Up Gear Up Gear Hard Right
Button select Change View Change View Rear View Change View
Button start Pause/Options Pause/Options Pause/Options Pause/Options

Soundtrack[]

Main article: Soundtrack

Car and Driver Presents: Grand Tour Racing '98 and Gekisou!! Grand Racing features a different soundtrack from the one featured in Total Drivin and M6 Turbo Racing. Jeehun Hwang was the composer for the Grand Tour Racing '98 and Gekisou!! soundtracks. The music from Total Drivin and M6 Turbo Racing consisted of actual records by Quad Communications.

Credits[]

Main article: Credits

Car and Driver Presents: Grand Tour Racing '98 was developed by Eutechnyx. Larry "Smoochy Dancer" Galka was the game's producer and Frank "Dream Driver" Paper was the director. The programming team was led by Andrew Richards, Andrew Perella, and Mark McClumpha.

Version Differences[]

The following outlines the most notable differences among the various Grand Tour Racing '98 versions:

Total Drivin[]

  • Features a different soundtrack from Grand Tour Racing '98.
  • Head-to-Head and Season modes are unavailable.
  • AI opponents drive at different assigned speeds, similar to Gekisou!! Grand Racing.
  • Some vehicles exhibit minor modifications in appearance and functionality, particularly within the sports car class.
  • Kilometers (km) and kilometers per hour (km/h) are used instead of miles (m) and miles per hour (mph).
  • Although speed is accurately converted (e.g., 225 mph in GTR98 = 360 km/h in TD), distance is not converted (50 miles in GTR98 = 50 km in TD).
  • Despite the correct speed conversion, the real-time velocities in Total Drivin are slower due to the game's 50 fps frame rate.
  • Despite the incorrect distance conversion, the relationship between distance, speed, and time is accurate in Total Drivin (distance = speed * time).
  • The starting positions of races in Total Drivin are more widely distributed, leading to fewer early AI pileups and collisions.

M6 Turbo Racing[]

  • Same as Total Drivin, except Ahmed adopts the name M6.
  • Despite the overall similarities to Ahmed, all instances of "Ahmed" are replaced with "M6."

Gekisou!! Grand Racing[]

  • Features the same soundtrack as Grand Tour Racing '98, but the names of the songs are mixed up.
  • AI opponents drive at different assigned speeds, similar to Total Drivin.
  • Some vehicles exhibit minor modifications in functionality, yet their appearance remains identical to Grand Tour Racing '98.
  • The heads-up display (HUD) is positioned on the bottom left of the screen.
  • Kilometers (km) and kilometers per hour (km/h) are used instead of miles (m) and miles per hour (mph).
  • Although speed is accurately converted (e.g., 225 mph in GTR98 = 360 km/h in Gekisou!!), distance is not converted (50 miles in GTR98 = 50 km in Gekisou!!). The real-time velocities in real-time match between Gekisou!! and GTR98 due to the same 60 fps frame rate.
  • Because of Gekisou's 60 fps frame rate, the relationship between distance, speed, and time do not correspond with each other (distance ≠ speed * time).
  • The term "Retire" is used instead of "Game Over" when the player's game ends.
  • Racers cannot be knocked Out of contention after finishing the race.

Cheats[]

There are several cheat codes that players can input from the main menu to unlock levels or features without the need to win any races. Each cheat code requires the player to tap the R1 button to a specific rhythm from a song. A successful input of the cheat triggers an engine sound.

Unlock All Levels[]

To unlock all 36 levels across the six main locales, players can tap R1 to the rhythm of "Ding dong the witch is dead, the witch is dead, the witch is dead". This is the fastest and easiest way to unlock all levels.

Alternatively, the player can unlock levels within each locale individually using the following codes:

  • Moscow: "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way" (from Jingle Bells)
  • Easter Island: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you" (from Happy Birthday to You)
  • Switzerland: "Doe, a deer, a female deer" (from Do-Re-Mi)
  • Scotland: "Hark, where the night is falling" (from Scotland the Brave)
  • Egypt: "Always look on the bright side of life" (from Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life)
  • Hong Kong: Pan flute tune that plays near the temple of the Hong Kong track (between the loop and forked tunnel)

Unlock USA, Japan, and Sweden[]

The player can unlock the three secret locales of USA, Japan, and Sweden by tapping R1 to the rhythm of "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay" (from Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah). These locales are only available in Split-Screen and Head-to-Head.

Disable "Forbidden Zone" Camera[]

Typically, when the player ventures off-track but remains in the race, the camera zooms out until the player is pushed off-screen, resulting in a Game Over. The player can disable this "forbidden zone" camera by tapping R1 to the rhythm of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". This cheat also disables time-out messages, allowing the player to freely explore off-track areas.

Gallery[]


GTR98 Wiki
Locales Moscow Moscow 1Moscow 2Moscow 3Moscow 4Moscow 5Moscow 6Moscow 7
Easter Island Easter Island 1Easter Island 2Easter Island 3Easter Island 4Easter Island 5Easter Island 6Easter Island 7
Switzerland Switzerland 1Switzerland 2Switzerland 3Switzerland 4Switzerland 5Switzerland 6Switzerland 7
Scotland Scotland 1Scotland 2Scotland 3Scotland 4Scotland 5Scotland 6Scotland 7
Egypt Egypt 1Egypt 2Egypt 3Egypt 4Egypt 5Egypt 6Egypt 7
Hong Kong Hong Kong 1Hong Kong 2Hong Kong 3Hong Kong 4Hong Kong 5Hong Kong 6Hong Kong 7
Misc. USAJapanSweden
Teams AhmedMorgenRossiXuLumiereRobertsIvanovBaptiste
Classes SportsIndyBuggyDakarRally
Misc. GameModesSoundtrackCredits
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