REVIEWS:Traditionally, summer is something of a fallow period for video games enthusiasts. Publishers prefer to save their AAA-titles for Christmas assuming, not without good reason, that gamers would prefer to spend hot summer days burning burgers on a barbecue than burning rubber on the TV.

Even major titles struggle to sell in the height of summer. Of course, that hasn't stopped Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec selling like ice lollies on a scorching hot day.

Polyphonal Digital's racing masterpiece has been subjected to numerous delays (it was supposed to come out at the same time as PlayStation 2 last year) and several game-play nips and tucks.

The original Gran Turismo was the game that really enabled the PlayStation to put some daylight between itself and the Sega Saturn. The accent on real world physics, the license system and the movie-style replays were unlike anything seen up until that point.

At a stroke, the driving game genre, which had been somewhat moribund, had been reinvigorated. In motoring terms, it was like slapping a turbocharger to your gran's Austin Allegro and doing 140mph in Tesco's car park.

Everyone who fancied themselves as a good driver wanted a go.

The inevitable sequel followed, offering more cars (several hundred of 'em), more tracks and even a token off-road sub-game. It was good - better than the original in many ways - but it failed to have the same impact because people's expectations were so high they felt let down by the marginal improvements to the graphics and the similar game-play.

In truth, Kazunori Yamauchi and his team had stretched the PlayStation's performance envelope so far with the first game there was very little extra available for the sequel.

The PS2 is a very different beast, however.

Many times more powerful than its predecessor, loaded with memory and graphical tricks, PS2 is the first console capable of doing justice to Gran Turismo.

It's obvious from the moment you slap the disc into the drawer that GT3 is no slapdash effort. The opening credits are wonderful, a real car merging with a rendered version - showcasing the PS2's graphical prowess to the max - as Audi TT's, Mazda RX 7s and Nissan Skylines smoke tyres, kick up dust by the trackside and all manner of mechanical mayhem shakes down.

At first it all seems rather familiar. There's the usual choice between arcade and simulation and the initially restricted number of cars, mainly hot hatchbacks and junior sportsters. Some of the original circuits, like Trial Mountain, also make a comeback. They are joined by some new variants to prevent GT virgins losing out to fans for the first two.

As the PS2 isn't Internet-ready straight out the box, unlike the Sega Dreamcast, an on-line racing option isn't available. Well-heeled gamers can link up their PS2s for multi-player mayhem, however. Up to six machines can be joined in this way. A more likely alternative is to use the two-player split screen mode to challenge a pal.

Simulation is where the real challenge lies. Starting with a small amount of money, you buy a car (usually something small and Japanese) and enter races for more cash. Your winnings can be spent on upgrades (turbos, better suspension, wider wheels and tyres etc) or new cars. An improvement to the wheeling and dealing over previous games is the ability to sell your unwanted motors without having to visit the dealer looking for the best price, a tedious and time-consuming part of the original.

Unfortunately, you can't cut corners by going for a secondhand motor, either. The dealers in GT3 only sell new models (what they do with your cast-offs is never satisfactorily answered).

So far so familiar. What really sets this three-quel apart from its predecessors is the visual splendour and the improved physics.

A few weeks before GT3 arrived in the office, I'd tested the real-life Toyota MR2, a hot little two-seater with kart-like handling and sharp reflexes. So my first stop in GT3 was the virtual MR2 to see how they compared.

Good as it is, the original Gran Turismo still has that slightly artificial "floating on air" feel any video game racing fan will be familiar with. Replicating weight transfer, damping action, speed and engine noise is a fearsome task. Frankly, it is beyond the paltry memory capacity of the original PlayStation.

GT3 is a whole new ball game. The in-game MR2 responded just like its real-life counterpart, it turned in with the merest flick of the wrist, the front tyres - uncorrupted by engine power - really gripped the tarmac, heck, it even sounded right (GT's programmers spent weeks at the trackside faithfully recording all the right sounds). It also looks about a million times better and runs at a rock-steady frame rate no matter how hot the action on screen.

Niggles? Well, the bodywork still doesn't crumple when you crash, and the licence tests will be straightforward to anyone who has devoted more than a few hours to the earlier games.

Other than that it's an instant classic. A title that finally makes good on the PS2's promise of creating entirely believable virtual worlds.

Early adopters who added a PS2 to their games machine collections were disappointed by the lack of killer software. Gran Turismo 3 is that game. If you enjoy driving then there's no choice: you must own this game.

GIZMO OF THE WEEK

I was slightly alarmed when I received the Virus watch from Zeon. According to the packaging, with this timepiece strapped to my wrist I could send and receive messages, games and, rather worryingly, secret viruses.

Thankfully, we aren't talking about a computer virus like the much-hyped Code Red. The viruses sent out by Zeon's new watch are beamed to other Virus watch owners. So-called friends can transmit mischievous text messages to your watch or infect you with one of 35 viruses which play havoc with the clock and calendar. Each watch also comes with four simple LCD games and a virus shield to defend against attack. Kids will love it and parents will be able to find the watch at leading retailers.

CHEAT OF THE WEEK

For unlimited ammo in the PlayStation game Medal of Honor simply type: BADCOPSHOW.

Published: Saturday, August 11, 2001