Motor Toon Grand Prix
Cover art
Developer(s)Japan Studio (Polys Entertainment)[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)Kazunori Yamauchi
Producer(s)Toshiyuki Miyata
Yukio Nagasaki
Designer(s)Kazunori Yamauchi
Programmer(s)Yoshihiko Kurata
Artist(s)Susumu Matsushita
Composer(s)Seiji Toda
Hideya Nagata
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Motor Toon Grand Prix[lower-alpha 2] is a racing video game developed by Japan Studio's Polys Entertainment and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released exclusively in Japan on December 16, 1994. The game and its sequel were directed by Kazunori Yamauchi, and are precursors to his subsequent racing series Gran Turismo.

Development and release

Kazunori Yamauchi was the game's director.

Motor Toon Grand Prix was developed by Polys Entertainment, a division within Japan Studio, the first-party software developer for Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). Japan Studio was established to create software for Sony's debut home console, the PlayStation. Although they had assisted Media.Vision on the PlayStation title Crime Crackers, Motor Toon Grand Prix would serve as SCE's first major in-house project.[2] They received additional support from third-party developer Bandit,[3] a company which specialized in localizing games for overseas markets.[4] Development was led by Polys Entertainment director Kazunori Yamauchi, who had joined Sony in the hopes of utilizing the 3D graphical capabilities of its next generation console to craft an exceptionally accurate racing simulation. However, as Yamauchi was new to the industry, his proposal was seen as too ambitious by SCE and was initially rejected.[5] With the success of simpler kart racing games (most notably Super Mario Kart) proving highly successful, he instead opted for a less sophisticated work with a potentially broad appeal.[6][7] The project began under the working title "Poly Poly Circus Grand Prix".[8][9][10] Illustrator Susumu Matsushita was brought in to provide his signature art style for the game's exaggerated character and vehicle designs.[1][9][11]

Production on Motor Toon Grand Prix lasted a year and a half.[12] The team strove to replicate a realistic gameplay experience in spite of its largely cartoon aesthetic. This meant attempting a sophisticated driving simulation without distracting from the game's enjoyment. "Basically we're not trying to fake reality – I'd rather create the sensation of handling a remote control car but with the kind of dynamics that you'd expect from a real car," Yamauchi stated. "The cars' suspensions actually work – we've attempted to simulate the dynamic forces as they go around corners."[9] Akihiko Tan was hired as the game's car simulation engineer. Enthralled by the capability of a home console running 3D computer graphics he only thought was possible on expensive workstations, Tan eagerly joined the staff half way through production and wrote the physics models for all the cars.[13] As development progressed, the Gouraud shaded polygons of the characters and vehicles were given texture mapped anthropomorphic features while its environment graphics were simplified to maintain a smooth frame rate.[3] It was originally announced that the game would have PlayStation Link Cable support for its multiplayer option, but a split screen mode was implemented instead.[3]

Staff rushed to finish the game during the final three months of development in order to meet a target completion date coinciding with the PlayStation's launch. Blaming exhaustion and lack of sleep, Yamauchi recalled that he was ultimately convinced by studio higher-ups that their work up to that point was "good enough" and that they should skip resolving certain technical issues in favor of just releasing it. Yamauchi regretted this decision as he claimed consumers shared concern of these issues when critiquing it.[12] Motor Toon Grand Prix was released exclusively in Japan on December 16, 1994, less than two weeks after the PlayStation debuted in the region.[14] Months later, Sony executive director Phil Harrison called Motor Toon Grand Prix a launch underperformer and "not indicative of the products that are coming down the line" when previewing the PlayStation's retail availability in North America and Europe.[15] Despite this claim, a direct sequel, Motor Toon Grand Prix 2, was released internationally in 1996.[6] As the first installment had not been localized, the sequel dropped the number "2" in its title in North America.[16][17] Shortly thereafter, Polys Entertainment was rebranded as Polyphony Digital. SCE allowed them to complete work on the first entry in the long-running, realistic racing franchise Gran Turismo, basing its gameplay engine on the one originally crafted for Motor Toon Grand Prix and refined in its sequel.[18][19]

Reception

Next Generation gave it two out of five stars. They highly praised the Time Attack mode, but said that the two-player modes are disappointing due to the split screen cutting away too much of the player's forward view and players not being allowed to choose the same car. They further criticized that "the odd foibles of MTGP and the unnatural way in which the cars handle means it falls well short of Ridge Racer in challenge and excitement."[24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Additional work by Bandit.
  2. ↑ Japanese: モータートゥーン・グランプリ, Hepburn: Mōtātoūn Guranpuri

References

  1. 1 2 3 Famitsu staff (January 6–13, 1995). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: モータートゥーン・グランプリ". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 317. ASCII Corporation. p. 37.
  2. ↑ Yamauchi Kazunori (December 23, 2022). "「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" [The Gran Turismo series is celebrating its 25th anniversary! Message from Kazunori Yamauchi, President and Representative Director of Polyphony Digital] (in Japanese). Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Next Generation staff (March 1995). "Motor Toon Grand Prix". Next Generation. No. 3. Imagine Media. p. 84–6. ISSN 1078-9693.
  4. ↑ PS Blog staff (September 14, 2023). "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" [Commemorating the release of the movie Gran Turismo in Japan on September 15th ── Interview with Kazunori Yamauchi] (in Japanese). Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  5. ↑ Hodges, Tim (October 13, 2023). "Origin Story: Kazunori Yamauchi & Shuhei Yoshida Look Back at Gran Turismo's Inception". Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Reilly, Luke (May 3, 2022). "How Gran Turismo Changed Racing Games Forever". IGN. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  7. ↑ Giles, Richard (October 13, 2013). "Gran Turismo’s Kazunori Yamauchi: We've never stopped having fun". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  8. ↑ Famitsu staff (August 19–26, 1994). "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" [Next Generation Game Console Derby PS: Poly Poly Circus Grand Prix]. Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 297. ASCII Corporation. p. 117.
  9. 1 2 3 Next Generation staff (January 1995). "ng alphas: Motor Toon Grand Prix". Next Generation. No. 1. Imagine Media. pp. 64–5. ISSN 1078-9693.
  10. ↑ Edge staff (October 1994). "PlayStation: Sony reveal gameplan". Edge. No. 13. Future plc. pp. 6–7. ISSN 1350-1593.
  11. ↑ Play staff (January 2004). "Interview: Susumu Matsushita". Play. No. 25. Fusion Publishing. p. 28. ISSN 1537-7539.
  12. 1 2 Wong, Jonathan (November 3, 2010). "SEMA: Pursuit of perfection keeps Gran Turismo 5 in the pits". Autoweek. Crain Communications. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  13. ↑ Polyphony Digital staff (2018). "Who Works Here: Staff Interview - Akihiko Tan". Polyphony Digital. Archived from the original on September 2, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  14. ↑ Sony staff. モータートゥーン・グランプリ [Motor Toon Grand Prix] (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  15. ↑ Edge staff (May 1995). "disciples: Sony's PlayStation gameplan". Edge. No. 20. Future plc. p. 53. ISSN 1350-1593.
  16. ↑ Sterbakov, Hugh (December 12, 1996). "Motor Toon Grand Prix". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  17. ↑ OPM staff (April 1998). "10 Criminally Overlooked PlayStation Picks". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 7. Ziff Davis. p. 89. ISSN 1094-6683.
  18. ↑ Rodriguez, Tyrone (March 16, 2004). "GT Histriology". IGN. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  19. ↑ Next Generation staff (December 1997). "ng alphas: Gran Turismo". Next Generation. No. 36. Imagine Media. p. 110. ISSN 1078-9693.
  20. ↑ Patterson, Mark (February 1995). "Review: Motor Toon Grand Prix". Computer and Video Games. No. 159. Future plc. p. 33. ISSN 0261-3697.
  21. ↑ Nini, Nourdine (February 1995). "Import PlayStation: Motor Toon Grand Prix". Joypad (in French). No. 39. Yellow Media. pp. 52–3. ISSN 1163-586X.
  22. ↑ Bannert, Robert (March 1995). "Import: Motor Toon Grandprix". MAN!AC. No. 17. Cybermedia. p. 33. ISSN 2191-012X.
  23. ↑ Schmiedehausen, Götz (September 1995). "Test PlayStation: Motor Toon Grand Prix". Mega Fun. No. 34. Computec Media GmbH. p. 86. ISSN 0946-6282.
  24. 1 2 Next Generation staff (April 1995). "finals: Motor Toon Grand Prix". Next Generation. No. 4. Imagine Media. p. 87. ISSN 1078-9693.
  25. ↑ Kamikaze, Marcelo (April 1995). "P.Station: Motor Toon Grand Prix". Super GamePower (in Portuguese). No. 13. Brazil: Nova Cultural. pp. 48–9. ISSN 0104-611X.
  26. ↑ Broughton, Matt (October 1995). "Import Round-Up: Motor Toon GP". PlayStation Plus. Vol. 1, no. 1. EMAP. p. 101.
  27. ↑ Glas, Thomas (September 1995). "Preview: Motor Toon Grand Prix". Power Unlimited (in Dutch). No. 25. VNU Media. p. 41. ISSN 0929-760X.
  28. ↑ Fernández, Javier S. (March 1995). "versión final: Motor toon grand prix". Última Generación (in Spanish). No. 1. MV Editores. pp. 94–6.
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