THIS IS THE BEST RACING GAME EVER TO OUT FOR THE PLAYSTATION!

There are two modes of play:  Arcade and Simulation.

Arcade - There are 3 different classes of difficulty to choose from (A, B,
and C) and four courses to race on.  The difficulty level depends on the
type of car you select.  For example, if you pick a Acura NSX (A class) it
will be different than say a Honda Civic (C class).  You only race against
cars in the same class.  So if you pick an A class car like the Mazda RX-7
you will be racing against cars like the Corvette, NSX, Nissan Skyline and
not against say a Mazda Miata.  Once you place 1st in each difficulty on
all the tracks you get bonus items like new tracks.  This gives the
incentive to race in Arcade mode and not always Simulation mode.  In Arcade
mode you can choose Racing or Drifting style of play.  Racing style is
similar to real life where you have to brake for turns and Drifting style
is more powersliding.  (If you pick a rear-wheel drive car that has a lot
of horsepower and play in Racing style you can drift anyway, just like in
real life).  You can also pick the color of your car.

Simulation - This is without a doubt, the best part of it.  You start off
the game with 10,000 credits.  Since you don't have a car you have to go to
the dealerships to buy one.  You don't have enough money for a new one so
you have to buy used.  There are rosters in each dealership that show you
the available used cars.  Selecting a car to look at brings up an info
sheet that tells you everything about the car, like a spec sheet and a
history page like you'd find in a pamphlet at the dealer.  Once you buy
your car it is added to your garage.  You can't change the color of a used
car but you can if your buying new.  Once you get your car you have to
apply for a racing license.  There are 3 different ones, B, A, and A
International.  There are different cup races that require different
licenses in order to race.  You have to pass a test in order to get your
license.  The test consists of braking and cornering tasks that must be
completed in a certain amount of time with a test car provided.  You can
pass the test with a bronze, silver, or gold medal (if you get all gold I
think you get extra cars).  You might have to stop a car at a certain point
within a certain time using a small front-wheel drive car that makes only
120hp.  Then you'll have to do it again with a rear-wheel drive car that
makes triple the horsepower.  The feeling is so different you'd swear it's
real life (more on that later).  Once you pass your test your awarded your
license and you can go race.  There whole idea is to win races to get more
credits to buy better cars to win all the cups.  The game is so deep I'll
be playing it for months.  There are different classes of racing cups to
win also.  The GT League has four cups, Sunday Cup, Clubman Cup, GT Cup,
and GT World Cup.  Each requires a different license.  The Special Events
League has 13 different races, Front engine front-wheel drive, Front engine
rear-wheel drive, 4WD, Lightweight, US vs Japan, UK vs Japan, UK vs US,
Megaspeed, Grand Valley, Normal car, Tuned Car, All-night I, and All-night
II.  It all seems like way too many options at first but they keep you
interested in the fact that you have to win races to get more credits so
you can participate in the different races.  If you have a rear-wheel drive
car you can't enter the 4WD race.  It makes you want to win so you have
enough credits to buy the different kind of cars.  For each Cup you win
first place you get a new car.  You can use that car or sell it at the
dealership.  If you sell your brand of car at the same brand dealership
you'll get more credits, if you sell your brand of car at some other brand
dealership you'll get less money for it.  Another cool thing is every race
you race your day counter changes.  And if your day counter changes the
rosters of used cars change too.  There might be certain used cars
available at day 5 for example and at day 30 there will be different ones. 
Totally cool.

Enough about the make up, lets talk about gameplay.  Remember the physics
in Rally Cross?  Well, picture that kind of accuracy in street racing.  You
can actually tell the difference between a front-wheel drive car,
rear-wheel drive car, mid-engine car, and 4WD cars.  You can also tell the
difference between each car in its category too.  There is a distinct
difference between a Mazda RX-7 and a Corvette, both front engine,
rear-wheel drive cars.  Everything from the handling to how fast the car
revs when you mash the throttle.  You can also hop up you cars too.  You go
to the dealership you bought your car from and go to the parts department. 
For example, if you have a Toyota Supra, you go the Toyota dealer and go
the TRD (Toyota Racing Development) icon.  Once your in the shop you can
change everything, provided you have enough credits (money).  You can
change turbos, suspension, exhaust, drivetrain, tires, tune your engine
like port and polish, balance, etc.  Way too many options to list.  You can
even do a full race modification that changes stuff unavailable to buy
separately and gives you a racing paint job.  Anytime you make a
modification that involves horsepower changes it'll tell you the difference
after modification before you buy the item.  The coolest thing is that when
you make a modification you can actually tell the difference!  If you do
nothing but change the exhaust you will actually hear the difference
between exhaust notes!  I could go on and on.

The real kicker - Two player mode is absolutely fantastic!  No slowdown at
all, but there's no computer opponents.  Just player 1 and 2.  You can play
in Arcade mode or Memory Battle mode.  Memory Battle mode is freaking
incredible because it allows you to use your cars you have on your memory
card.  If you have a car you've tuned and got it just where you want it
saved you put it in memory card slot 1 and you can pit against someone
else's car that they saved in memory card slot 2.  Since when you save a
game it saves everything, game data high scores, cars earned and bought,
there is also another feature.  Lets say I want a car on your memory card
but I want my game data to be in tact.  There's a feature called trade.  If
I have enough money for all the installed hop-up for your car I can trade
for it and have your car on my game slot.  Your car will be added to my
roster of cars but with my game data in tact.  Freaking genius!

Just go and get this game, you WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

- Paulie