Hands on: Gran Turismo 2

Gran Turismo 2 for the PlayStation is currently being displayed at the San Francisco International Auto Show, which is being held at the Moscone Center through December 5. Although the game being shown isn't complete, we were told by Sony employees that it is a near-final version.

The game's intro is a mix of old black-and-white racing footage of several CG racers doing laps. The demo version we played had several game modes to choose from, such as road race rally and time trial. Some of the playable cars include a Mazda RX-7, a Subaru Legacy B4, a Ford Mustang, an Audi TT, and a Honda S2000. There are several tracks to choose from, ranging from tropical settings to city speedways.

The game looks and feels a lot like the first game. The control and physics of the cars feel very in tune with the visuals on the screen. Even when we played a two-player race, the game's visuals didn't appear to slow down or lose quality. And replays still looked as amazing as they had in the first game.

From the hour we spent with the demo, we were fairly impressed. It will be interesting to see just how the final game will look. If you can't wait for Gran Turismo 2 to be released later this month, head down to the Moscone Center and give it a try. But you better hurry - the auto show ends on Sunday.