A 'Gran Turismo' style racer has been something missing from the Xbox range and if you've been hanging out for an in-depth racer in that style then Sega GT 2002 is certainly one title that you should seriously look at. There are more than 100 real-world licensed cars from classics to concept vehicles, each of which, once won, or purchased can be customized and tweaked in your garage between races. The races consist of 'quick races' between you and the computer A.I or a human opponent and there's also the 'Chronicle Mode' (select a classic car from the 70's to early 80's) and the Sim side of the game 'Sega GT 2002' mode where you manage a racing career, win prize money, new cars and buy new parts with the aim of being the champion of the World Tournament.

A sample of the official car manufacturers that have provided cars for you in the game are Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Mercdes-Benz, Honda, Audi, Lotus, Nissan, Peugot, Renault, and Subaru and the developers not only got the exact look of each car spot on, but also manage to faithfully reproduce the handling and characteristics of each car. We'll have to take Sega's word on that, having never driven a Ford GT ourselves, but each car definitely handles differently and most have their own pros and cons. Not all the cars are available to purchase at the start however and must be unlocked, won or purchased during the game.

To advance through the Sega GT mode you will have to progress through race after race, and then test yourself with a license test. While I enjoyed the racing aspect of the game, getting to drive your own car for 3-4 races, getting some close races in, spending thousands and thousands of dollars upgrading your car with turbos, racing tyres, new exhausts etc I found it frustrating to then have to do the license test in an unmodified car that slid and screeched all the way around the track. I guess this is the only way to truly test your racing skills, but I would have preferred to run the license tests in my own car. Perhaps the license tests could have been drivable in your own car and the lap time needed could have varied depending on the horsepower output or other variables of your car?

Make no mistake, there's plenty to do in Sega GT 2002 but whether or not it keeps your interest in the long term is another matter. After getting a place in a race, you get the option of watching the normal replay but a nice touch was the feature of being able to take action shots and then see the pictures framed on the wall of your garage. I liked this to begin with but after a dozen or so races I wasn't bothering with it at all. Another little feature like that you'll probably use once is the ability to buy goods for your garage such as plants, radios, guitars, couches and other useless nic-nacs. If you could give the goods to other drivers to try and make them your friends, you'd almost have Dead or Alive Extreme racing..

The main part of any racing game of course is its stable of cars and the tracks. The cars in the game all look fantastic and are highly detailed sporting dynamic reflections, shiny paintjobs with some excellent models. The tracks are generally great as well, I really enjoyed them and they range from some great speed tracks through to some pretty cool tracks that require a more technical approach and perfect cornering to really get the quickest lap times. While unfortunately there's no visible damage on the cars, there is a damage meter and the more damage you inflict upon your car, the more it costs to fix it which then comes out of your winnings at the end of each race. There?s no option to skip the repairs if you're low on cash either so you have to drive pretty carefully. It was frustrating though to be driving perfectly for the majority of a race, not damaging my car at all (as you get a nice cash bonus at the end of the race) and on one of the last corners, get bumped by the A.I from behind!...

In between the races you get the opportunity to spend your hard earned cash on new car parts or new cars and if you pop into your garage you can check out all the cars that you own and also tune and tweak certain aspects of them. If you buy a turbo charger, make sure you tweak that PSI all the way up! You can also put unwanted cars on the market if you need a cash injection as well.

If you do find yourself low on cash however, there's also the quick event mode consisting of varying styles of racing (including a Drag strip!) where you can compete purely for cash (and trophies) to build up your bank account for spending on new cars and upgrading your existing ones.

It didn't ruin the game for me, but it made the game somewhat easier as I simply won heaps of races, saved up about $70,000 and then bought the Lotus Elise Exige and then blew heaps of cash modding it right up. Suffice to say it then ate everything it came up against as its acceleration was almost unbeatable and a nice top speed gear kit pushed its top speed up to almost 250kph which came in handy on the oval daytona style speed track. This saw me through the whole first season until I won a Ford GT so within 10 hours of game time I effectively had the two fastest cars in the game. So while it didn?t ruin the game, and doesn't qualify as a cheat, it was a shame to see the challenge of the game so easily negated.