Presentation/Graphics : 90
After watching the opening movie, which was the standard fare for racing games lately (heavy metal music with short camera clips at cocked angles), there were quotes from other reviews talking up the graphics. "Best ever," and "Outstanding" were some of them. We've seen some great graphics in both arcade and sim racers lately and I was excited to see if it was just out of context hype, or if it would be something truly great. Well, the graphics are good. Very good even. Not quite the best ever though in my opinion. What they are, however, are incredibly realistic and very detailed. So detailed that even the little backfire flames that you see when these cars back off the throttle are included. Track textures are great, with different tracks having different textures, and the cars are richly detailed with real sponsor logos and paint jobs. The attention to detail shows off the track as well. You'll see ambulances and other track facility vehicles parked around the track. Plenty of shrubs and trees etc. Other notables are the special effects like tire smoke and dust clouds, which are very real looking. Then there's night races. Probably the best implementation of night racing I've seen yet. The track lighting is just great. The game doesn't require a 3D card for video, but you'll want to have one anyway. Direct 3D cards are supported.

Presentation/Audio : 80
One day, we'll have a game that has great engine sounds. This game, this day, isn't it, however. At idle, the cars sound great, wind them up, though, and it's the usual toy-sounding audio. On the plus side though, each of the cars has a slightly unique sound to them. The other sounds are pretty good though. Tire squealing, fender bumping, crashing, all sound good. In heavy traffic it isn't easy to pick out your car's sounds over your competitors and it sure would be nice if there were an adjustment to turn the volume down on AI drivers. Of course there is music, and of course I turned it off so...

Interface/Options : 85
Standard fare here. The only quirk is finding the options/setup screen whose buttons only show up when you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen. I spent a few needless minutes trying to find it as it wasn't immediately obvious. Other than that, all the standard options are in and everything that should be customizable is.

Gameplay : 90
If there's any fault in the game, it's that the cars are a little too forgiving. You can drive them pretty hard before you get into an unrecoverable situation. Other than that, though, the driving experience is a very good and realistic one. The game engine allows complete freedom, no canned spinouts or crashes. The first thing I like to do when trying out a new racing sim, is see if I can go make rubber donuts in the middle of the track somewhere. And you can in Sport Car GT.

There are the standard gameplay options, a single race, career, and multiplayer. The career mode is great. It's more than choosing a car and running through a season points championship. Much like Viper Racing did, you earn money by winning races and championships, and you can then spend that money on a slew of upgrades, and even completely new cars. The career mode runs through four classes, GTQ, GT3, GT2, and GT1, with new tracks and cars available in each class. Sort of an arcade approach, but it's something that I really enjoyed in Viper Racing, and it's equally well implemented here.

The races have practice and qualifying sessions, and can be run by number of laps or a time limit. Pit stops are in, and are automatic once you enter pit lane. You do have a choice of fuel load, and tire and aerodynamic adjustments as well as the opportunity to fix damage done to the car.

The garage is a very detailed one, with everything from tire pressures to fuel loads to suspension settings and weight jacking. Put that together with the many different cars, and upgrades, and you have a gearhead's dream.

About the only thing missing from the game is a graphical damage model. You can damage the car during a race, and it does affect the handling, it's just that it doesn't show up on the car.

Difficulty & AI : 80
On the default settings, the game is a breeze. I won two of my first three races, with little practice and not a single visit to the garage. However, on the high difficulty I was pretty much bringing up the rear of the pack. Easy to get in to, but hard to master. There's the usual assortment of driving aids, and four levels of difficulty to go with them, most racers should be able to find a comfortable setting for them. Given the forgiving nature of the cars, if anything the game is just a touch too easy.

Overall : 85
Graphics, real good. Sound, eh.... Gameplay, good fun. It's a nice break from the Indy/Stock car syndrome. Plenty of cars to choose from, with some very good physics models, and bumper to bumper action. This is an easy game to recommend to sim racers. Sports Car GT really doesn't bring anything new to the sim racing scene (other than its break from the Indy/Stock car sims), nor does it stand out in any particular area, but it is a good solid game all around. Fans of this kind of racing will definitely have to pick this one up; for the rest of you, if you've worn out your other sims, pick this up.