GT Pro Series
Posted December 1, 2006
At the release of the Wii, GT Pro Series was offered up as a Gamecube re-release from Ubisoft, perhaps set to capitalize on the few number of racers within the launch titles. Additionally, the introduction of a different Wii control scheme was certainly something to be excited about. The remote is turned on its side and grasped on the left / right sides. Additionally, a steering wheel attachment is included to modify the shape of the remote. It snugly wraps around in the Wii-mote and attempts to add an authentic feel, but the cheap plastic is far worse than an actual wheel. Also, the attachment retails for $19.99 separately; for those with Excitetruck. 
Gameplay:
The game offers up a few cursory modes to mess around with such as Time Attack and Drift-combo, but the meat of the game is within the Championship series. Similar to the Gran Turismo series, licenses have to be earned by completing several races. Certain races require a particular car while others can be raced immediately once the previous license is earned. Oddly, the game doesn't include any monetary system for purchasing cars or upgrades. Basically, any car that has been unlocked can be added to your collection as well as improved upon without limit. The upgrades are awarded for finishing in first place in each series of races. They include the usual performance boosts to your engine, brakes, transmission, suspension, etc. Unfortunately, there are no detailed tweaking options for the upgrades; hence it's not involving whatsoever.
The game only includes ten tracks, but they do attempt to vary them by offering night races as well as reversing the track. Still, the paltry amount of tracks is woefully underwhelming for a supposed GT style of game. Tracks occasionally have slight speed bump obstacles on the curves, but nothing to dramatically slow down your ride. Going off-road doesn't slow down the pace much either. The developer made the game very forgiving for the novice racer and massively simple for the vet. Controlling your car is simple, yet adapting to the slight drift effects can be troublesome. Also, turning widely will send your car into the grass, so slight variations in the position of the Wii are the recipe for success.
The A.I. is completely incompetent over all difficulty levels, mostly due to unrealistic physics. Essentially, your car can unrealistically corner any curve without having to slow down. On the other hand, the A.I. is programmed to automatically slow down during turns and curves to take them safely. Additionally, they won't cross through a grassy shortcut to grab a better lead. It's as if I wasn't racing anyone most of the time. If the game didn't keep starting my car in the back of the pack at the start of each race, I would never see another car on the road.
The only multiplayer mode within the game is a split screen view for yourself and three friends. It's more obviously more entertaining than playing against the brain-dead A.I., but only until the novelty of the control wears off. There is no online functionality to speak of.
Graphics:
The graphics engine uses a combination of cell shading and ancient N64 textures to create an overly bright, jaggie filled world. The cell shading is applied to the cars, which does provide an interesting design to their visual style. Unfortunately, the remainder of the racetrack is an ugly mess of developer incompetence; perhaps representative of a rushed release schedule. The grass is pixilated, the road is blocky and the blurry backgrounds are just pathetic. Also, attempting to navigate a track at night is next to impossible. Quite opposite from the extreme lighting during the day races, wandering around the track during the night races would be pointless without the on-screen directions. Honestly, there are comparable looking games on Wii Virtual Console at this point.
Audio:
The annoying background music is a combination of shrill midi tunes being repeated incessantly. Also, there are only a handful of tracks that play during a various races. While the developer thankfully included a separate volume control for the music, they did not include any method to play custom soundtracks with music stored on a SD card. The sound effects are passable, but far too heavy on the upper register. Certain cars should have a bass-driven rumble with their operation, yet the entire lot of 80 automobiles sounds completely identical to each other.
Conclusion:
Running through the entire championship series only takes about five hours. Any replay value will come from 2-4 player split-screen rounds; otherwise you are out of luck. Sadly, the game isn't worth even a rental. While the novel controls are entertaining, the content is extremely thin and the gameplay is just plain unchallenging for any age group. This massively disappointing launch title is nothing more than a re-release insult from Ubisoft. Stay far away from GT Pro and go with the arcade-style Excitetruck if in need of a driving game.
Gameplay:
The game offers up a few cursory modes to mess around with such as Time Attack and Drift-combo, but the meat of the game is within the Championship series. Similar to the Gran Turismo series, licenses have to be earned by completing several races. Certain races require a particular car while others can be raced immediately once the previous license is earned. Oddly, the game doesn't include any monetary system for purchasing cars or upgrades. Basically, any car that has been unlocked can be added to your collection as well as improved upon without limit. The upgrades are awarded for finishing in first place in each series of races. They include the usual performance boosts to your engine, brakes, transmission, suspension, etc. Unfortunately, there are no detailed tweaking options for the upgrades; hence it's not involving whatsoever.
The game only includes ten tracks, but they do attempt to vary them by offering night races as well as reversing the track. Still, the paltry amount of tracks is woefully underwhelming for a supposed GT style of game. Tracks occasionally have slight speed bump obstacles on the curves, but nothing to dramatically slow down your ride. Going off-road doesn't slow down the pace much either. The developer made the game very forgiving for the novice racer and massively simple for the vet. Controlling your car is simple, yet adapting to the slight drift effects can be troublesome. Also, turning widely will send your car into the grass, so slight variations in the position of the Wii are the recipe for success.
The A.I. is completely incompetent over all difficulty levels, mostly due to unrealistic physics. Essentially, your car can unrealistically corner any curve without having to slow down. On the other hand, the A.I. is programmed to automatically slow down during turns and curves to take them safely. Additionally, they won't cross through a grassy shortcut to grab a better lead. It's as if I wasn't racing anyone most of the time. If the game didn't keep starting my car in the back of the pack at the start of each race, I would never see another car on the road.
The only multiplayer mode within the game is a split screen view for yourself and three friends. It's more obviously more entertaining than playing against the brain-dead A.I., but only until the novelty of the control wears off. There is no online functionality to speak of.
Graphics:
The graphics engine uses a combination of cell shading and ancient N64 textures to create an overly bright, jaggie filled world. The cell shading is applied to the cars, which does provide an interesting design to their visual style. Unfortunately, the remainder of the racetrack is an ugly mess of developer incompetence; perhaps representative of a rushed release schedule. The grass is pixilated, the road is blocky and the blurry backgrounds are just pathetic. Also, attempting to navigate a track at night is next to impossible. Quite opposite from the extreme lighting during the day races, wandering around the track during the night races would be pointless without the on-screen directions. Honestly, there are comparable looking games on Wii Virtual Console at this point.
Audio:
The annoying background music is a combination of shrill midi tunes being repeated incessantly. Also, there are only a handful of tracks that play during a various races. While the developer thankfully included a separate volume control for the music, they did not include any method to play custom soundtracks with music stored on a SD card. The sound effects are passable, but far too heavy on the upper register. Certain cars should have a bass-driven rumble with their operation, yet the entire lot of 80 automobiles sounds completely identical to each other.
Conclusion:
Running through the entire championship series only takes about five hours. Any replay value will come from 2-4 player split-screen rounds; otherwise you are out of luck. Sadly, the game isn't worth even a rental. While the novel controls are entertaining, the content is extremely thin and the gameplay is just plain unchallenging for any age group. This massively disappointing launch title is nothing more than a re-release insult from Ubisoft. Stay far away from GT Pro and go with the arcade-style Excitetruck if in need of a driving game.