Motor Toon Grand Prix
Sony's first major in-house kart racer, precursor to Gran Turismo.
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The game's exaggerated art style came from illustrator Susumu Matsushita.[1] Polys Entertainment, a development group inside Sony Computer Entertainment, created the kart racing game Motor Toon Grand Prix.[2]
Making and release
Development was led by Kazunori Yamauchi, who joined Sony hoping to use the PlayStation's 3D graphics for a realistic racing simulation.[2] Yamauchi's initial proposal was rejected as too ambitious, so he opted for a simpler kart racer with broad appeal after the success of Super Mario Kart.[1] Akihiko Tan was hired as the car simulation engineer and wrote the physics models for all the cars.[3][4] The game originally planned PlayStation Link Cable support but used split-screen multiplayer instead.[4]
Yamauchi later regretted being convinced to release the game with unresolved technical issues.[5] The gameplay engine from Motor Toon Grand Prix was later used as the basis for Gran Turismo.[6] A year and a half was spent on production, with the development team pursuing a realistic driving feel even though the visual style was cartoonish.[5] To align with the PlayStation's launch, the development team hurried to complete the game in the last three months of its schedule.[5]
What the cited sources add
Famitsu scored the game 27 out of 40, with individual scores of 9, 6, 6, and 6.[7] Next Generation praised the Time Attack mode but found the two-player modes disappointing due to the split screen and inability to choose the same car.[8] Computer and Video Games called the game a "rush job" and noted that issues made some gameplay elements "frustrating".[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hodges, Tim, "Origin Story: Kazunori Yamauchi & Shuhei Yoshida Look Back at Gran Turismo<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Inception", Sony Interactive Entertainment, October 13, 2023; Reilly, Luke, "How Gran Turismo Changed Racing Games Forever", IGN, May 3, 2022; Giles, Richard, "Gran Turismo<nowiki>’</nowiki>s Kazunori Yamauchi: We've never stopped having fun", The Guardian, October 13, 2013; Famitsu staff, "次世代ゲーム機ダービー PS ポリポリサーカスグランプリ", ASCII Corporation, August 19–26, 1994, p. 117; Next Generation staff, "ng alphas: Motor Toon Grand Prix", en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yamauchi Kazunori, "「グランツーリスモ」シリーズは25周年！ ポリフォニー・デジタル代表取締役 プレジデントの山内一典氏からのメッセージ", Sony Interactive Entertainment, December 23, 2022; Next Generation staff, "Motor Toon Grand Prix", Next Generation, March 1995, p. 84–6; PS Blog staff, "映画「グランツーリスモ」9月15日 日本公開記念──山内一典インタビュー", Sony Interactive Entertainment, September 14, 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Next Generation staff, "ng alphas: Motor Toon Grand Prix", Imagine Media, January 1995, p. 64–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Polyphony Digital staff, "Who Works Here: Staff Interview - Akihiko Tan", Polyphony Digital, 2018; Next Generation staff, "Motor Toon Grand Prix", Next Generation, March 1995, p. 84–6; Next Generation staff, "Motor Toon Grand Prix", Next Generation, March 1995, p. 84–6 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wong, Jonathan, "SEMA: Pursuit of perfection keeps Gran Turismo 5 in the pits", Autoweek, November 3, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rodriguez, Tyrone, "GT Histriology", IGN, March 16, 2004; Next Generation staff, "ng alphas: Gran Turismo", Imagine Media, December 1997, p. 110 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "プレイステーションレースゲーム一覧", retoro.g-player.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Motor Toon Grand Prix" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Next Generation staff, "finals: Motor Toon Grand Prix", Imagine Media, April 1995, p. 87; Patterson, Mark, "Review: Motor Toon Grand Prix", Computer and Video Games, February 1995, p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Motor Toon Grand Prix (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Motor Toon Grand Prix (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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