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Nostalgia ultra car model1/15/2024 ![]() ![]() I still just think it’s a massive missed opportunity. Maybe you’re into the pulsing version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic your grandma was dancing to back in 1982. Now they’ve been forgotten again.Īllow me to stress I’m not going to begrudge you for finding any of the six new Music Rally songs catchy. Unfortunately, the cavalcade of certified bangers that helped define the first few Gran Turismo games outside of Japan (from established international artists outside of the GT development sphere) were forgotten. The awkwardly titled SURV1V3, from long-time GT composer Daiki Kasho, is an internal Gran Turismo rock track that’s appeared on almost every instalment since 2007 (alongside the same dozen-or-so other Daiki Kasho tracks). If any of the six original Music Rally songs did sound familiar, it’s because you may remember one of them as the theme to the opening movie of the PAL version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on PS3. It’s long been known that music can trigger powerful autobiographical memories. It would’ve been a high-speed powerdrive down a proverbial memory lane. I’m talking Ash, Garbage, Lenny Kravitz, and The Chemical Brothers having their way with Everything Must Go by Manic Street Preachers. I’m talking Kickstart My Heart by Mötley Crüe and Just a Day by Feeder. I’m talking My Favourite Game by The Cardigans. I’m talking songs branded so deeply into the brains of some GT players they’re still sizzling today. What better way to celebrate that than cranking up the music? Literally any song would be better than VROOM. It was the 25th anniversary of the series, after all. As much as it feels like we’ve been living on the brink of a nostalgia burnout for the last decade, where every second product seems to be a remaster or a reboot, it would have been difficult to be cynical about old tunes making a reappearance in this way. In my review of GT7 for IGN, I mused that a Music Rally mode stacked with recognisable songs from the early Gran Turismo games would likely have struck a real chord with long-time players. But how much better could it have been if the music had been curated with more consideration? What if there’d been more thought invested into what songs would make Music Rally truly resonate with Gran Turismo fans? In fact, as a standalone mode, you can essentially ignore it entirely – and I’d expect most players have. There are no rewards for completing all the events. It’s completely separated from the core solo career. ![]() Admittedly, GT7's Music Rally is a short-term novelty at best.Īdmittedly, GT7’s Music Rally is a short-term novelty at best. I’m willing to wager that Venn diagram crosses over in Polyphony Digital’s office and approximately nowhere else. However, let’s be realistic: how many Gran Turismo enthusiasts are also fans of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Louis Clark’s early-1980s disco remixes of classical music? Enough to warrant a quarter of the Music Rally events? Somehow, I doubt that. I’m not about to get into a George Gershwin versus Garbage debate here. Of course, as with anything, music is subjective. To be clear, the problem with Music Rally isn’t the vintage of the cars. ![]() Pop quiz: what's older? The car or the music? Or, at least, as fast as you can in the pre-selected vehicles – most of which come from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. In reality, truly succeeding in Music Rally doesn’t really accommodate such a leisurely approach meeting the gold cup distances requires aggressive and rapid driving. In the lead-up to GT7’s release, series creator Kazunori Yamauchi described Music Rally as a low-stakes mode geared towards beginners – particularly children – and designed to allow players to enjoy a relaxed drive to music. You start with an allocation of beats, depending on the tempo of the song, and passing through checkpoints on track will keep them topped up until the music ends. Music Rally, for those of you who haven’t played GT7, is essentially a series of distance trials challenging drivers to travel as far as possible before the associated song ends. What’s unfortunate, however, is that the mode hasn’t really gotten any better. ![]()
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