by Wyatt "JOEDOG" Elliott
There's still a month or so to wait before Gran Turismo 3 makes its PlayStation 2 debut. Until then, there are a couple of good racers available. Ridge Racer V is great, but if you're looking for something a little more realistic. Try Squaresoft's Driving Emotion Type-S. Okay, don't get your hopes up. Square is not famous for its racing games.
Driving Emotion looks great. Keep in mind, this was one of the PS2's original titles in Japan, and it shows. Not only are there no American-made cars, but the drivers' seat is on the left side. Square opted not update it for its American release. I'm glad they didn't. It keeps it authentic. The graphics are sharp, despite some pop-up. The detail is quite good though. Sharp cars and city landscapes make this one an eye catcher.
So far so good. The music is nothing to sing about. However, the sound effects are true to it self. Now here comes the speed bump that breaks the cars Axel.
Driving Emotion's control is absolutely horrid. Yes, horrid. Remember when you first learned how to drive, how you wanted to turn the wheel harder then necessary? That's the feeling this game has. The control is EXTREMELY sensitive. I'm talking Richard Simmons sensitive. You turn the analog stick oh so slightly to the right. The game reads this command as "make a hard right now or will die!" kind of instruction. So the car either slams into the wall or attempts a flip over.
The control is so frustrating. It ruins what could have been a decent game.
Bad control has claimed many otherwise good games. It typically strikes Fighting, Racing and First Person Shooters. This is a terminal disease that kills many games.
Driving Emotion Type-S is only a failure due to its weak control. Otherwise, it's a decent effort. It still wouldn't have found a home in the leagues of Gran Turismo, Test Drive, or Need for Speed, but it could have found a nice neighborhood alongside Tokyo Xtreme Racer and Sega GT. Instead it will have to park next to such disasters as Sports Car GT, and Ford Racing. Wait, scratch that last one. That was too harsh. My apologies to Square for even mentioning their game in the same line as the dreaded Ford Racing.
PUBLISHER: SQUARESOFT
GRAPHICS: 9 MUSIC & SOUND: 6 CONTROL: 2.5
SECRETS: 8 ORIGINALITY: 6 FUN & REPLAY: 5
OVERALL: 6.5