Customer Reviews

Enthusia Professional Racing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had to think it over weather to buy Gran Turismo 4 or this one since there werent many reviews on this game. But now I would say it was a good choice.

As for physics of the game its totally perfect very realistic, every car feels diffrent. Also the VGS system which displays the weight transsition can be really helpfull sometimes. Another thing that I really liked was the feeling of speed. In GT4 even when you are going at 100+ you feel like you are going 60 but in enthusia with blur effect and other stuff you really feel the speed.

In this game you cant buy cars for money you have to unlock them. Also in Enthusia life mode as you race you can upgrade your car's tuning level which is just basically increasing the tire quality, power and weight. This game is more about your driving skills rather that winning racing using high powered cars. You get more points for winning a race with a low powered car. Unlike other car racing games you get Enthusia Points taken of if during the race you get off road, hit a car, and etc. which prevents you from using tricks like using your opponents car to make a fast turn which alot of people are used to in GT4.

It has fair amount of tracks. Total comes up to around 20-25. One of the amazing thing in this game is a Mountain Downhill and Uphill track. That is something Initial D fans would really apreciate. Only 2 cars can race there at one time. And there can only be one lap ofcourse cause you start from top of the mountain and end up at the base.

Also it has a Enthusia Revolution Mode which really helps learn how to drive through the right line.

As a seasoned video game racer (logitech steering wheel only please) I was intrigued by the comming attractions for Enthusia.
As GT4 was out first with its absolutely stunning version of the Nurburgring and hugely realistic driving dynamics, it was hard to get my brain and steering wheel around Enthusia at first try. I made the mistake of going directly from GT4 to one of Enthusia rear drive vehicles and was sorely dissapointed.
You see most of the rear drive vehicles on Enthusia are set up for terminal oversteer - with even gentle breaking and turn in the rear end comes around wildly on most vehicles - whether this is meant to inspire the drifting crowd I'm not sure, but its annoying and simply does not reflect actual rear wheel driving dynamics. Don't despair there are rear wheel cars that aren't too bad, but they are simply not the games strength.
However, and this is a huge However -especially for front wheel drive import fans - the front drive cars are astonishing
in there ability to properley convey front wheel driving dynamics. Both the Japanese Integra Type RSX Type S and the Jap spec Accord R in particular are just fantastic.
Four wheel drive vehicles also rival the very best for there driving dynamics and realistic physics.
The game exels particularly in the many original road courses thru city, country and desert settings. Honestly they are far superior to the original city tracks on GT4 - simply put whoever designed these courses new a lot about stringing corner after corner together in a very special way. Maybe beyond special - extrodinary. Graphically the game is not as sharp or as real as GT4, but its charming in its own way and the replay mode is excellent as are the realistic engine and driving sounds. The variety of cars is historically interesting and keeps one compelled to keep playing and racing to unlock all that are available - oh, and the racing is truly racing - in order to win and do well in the game you must drive correctly and cleanly and you must be fast! Unlike GT4 which is easily and perplexingly conquered.
If you can tell I'm really fond of this game you've been paying attention. One final word the historical Nurburgring is also included. It's good, but in all fairness does not compare to the version on GT4. Go get Enthusia if you love really racing cars.

The other reviews covered most aspects, but one particular thing I have to add is this is the first racing game I've seen that actually lets you choose which cars you want to race against in Free Race mode!

These cars actually seem realistic to drive, instead of the "hover" effect of GT4. The sounds are 100% better than the whine and whizz of the GT4 cars, and believe me the graphics are just as good if not better; at least in Enthusia, you don't get the fuzzy, out of focus effect from a game that pushes the abilities of the PS2 too far.

Trade in or sell your Gran Turismo 4, and get Enthusia. The only thing I don't like is the name of the points used during the career mode; who thought "Enthu" points was a good idea really needs to dig into their Japanese/English dictionary a little bit more. Cheers!

Enthusia Professional Racing, Konami's would-be competitor to Polyphony's Gran Turismo series, is an interesting study of the difficulties faced by mainstream gaming companies when they approach the motor racing genre. Needing more mass market appeal, they simply cannot make the game as accurate as a PC simulator. Kudos to Konami for making the attempt, however, especially in a market saturated by GT and Forza.

Konami's physical model for the cars is actually quite good, rivaling GT4 and in my opinion, better than the original Forza. Where EPR suffers is the racetracks. Most are "arcade" style, much in the manner of the early offerings from the Burnout or Need for Speed franchises. One jem to be found within the track selection is EPR's rendition of the real-world Tsukuba Circuit. It's modeled very well, and when combined with the good physical behavior of the cars, you can see what a near-miss this game was to the serious fan of driving that doesn't have the money or the patience to set up a PC sim (the Gran Turismo franchise's main niche).

Enthusia contains some very good ideas, especially in its career mode ("Enthusia Life"). Instead of an all-out hunt for money, there is a career ranking system that rewards a good drive in lesser equipment. This helps players avoid having to build highly modified cars to succeed, and also better reflects the real-world experience of a young driver attemtpting to show their skill without the `cubic dollars' so often required to be a successful candidate for a professional ride. The points based `penalty' system is also a better one than the one in GT. Instead of disrupting the flow of a race with an instant time penalty, or ignoring contact and poor driving completely, Enthusia uses something like a "life bar". Hit someone, or shortcut a corner and you lose a series of points. Deplete your points, and you'll sit out a week of career time "resting". The only flaw is that (as in GT) you can also be penalized when the AI hits *you*. Frustrating.

As to the AI in general..well, it's no worse, but certainly no better than other console racing games. They're dumb, and they're blind. I suppose I shouldn't be impatient. After all, it's only in the last few years that console games can even properly manage to replicate a single (the driver/player) car's behavior. It might just take a little more processing power than the PS2 can deliver to replicate an entire field of cars.

All in all, Enthusia may not be the most realistic sim avalible for the console, but it is a good `stepping stone' for someone bored with the arcade style racers. And it's good fun.

My nineteen year old son, who I bought it for. Has been hooked on racing games for a long time. He says it's very realistic, and really enjoys it.

I just stumbled across a copy of Ethusia in the PS2 bargain bin at KMart the other day. I had never heard of it and was skeptical. I've tryed all the other drivers and thought "what the heck" and in the name of completeness I layed down my hard earned $9.99.

After two days of playing I gotta say this was the best game buy of my life. I LOVE THIS GAME.
I'm a gamer that values realism above all else and the creators of this game have done a magnificent job. Real understeer, great sound, real world braking.

It's the Beta of drivers. A superior product that failed to sell.

It may be that the majority of gamers have never driven a car so have no real point of reference.
Or they're people that don't appreciate a game thats dosen't provide immediate gradifacaion.This game takes work and patience and focus to play well. And a steering wheel.

Apparently Komura has given up on this title as it's not even listed on their web site. That is a shame.

Bottomline: Most realistic driver ever... grab a copy while you can.

This is not GT4. When it comes to graphics, car selection and physics it is worse. It makes up those cons, however, with a points system that makes the game truly challenging. Hit the wall, lose points. Hit another car, lose points. Go off the track, lose points. The downside to that is that if a rival car hits you from behind, you also lose points. Lose enough points, and you are out of the next race.

The level of tuning that can be done to a car is not as complete as GT4, either, but it is good for people who don't understand a lot about cars. It is easily understood, and you can still tune them enough to make the game enjoyable (or thoroughly louse it up if you don't know what you are doing).

The variety of cars you can drive is nice, and you win the cars not with credits, but by winning races (at which point it is like a slot machine as to what you can acquire from the cars in the race). The tracks you can race on are nice, too, with tracks ranging from easy to truly challenging.

A great racer at this price, and a truly great game to master.

I made an earlier, shall we say, intemperate review of this title, and it seems better now that I've given it some more time. There actually are adjustments that can be made under the "Garage" heading, but the Konami people have a lot to learn on the physics of tires and how they break away. Even with loads of adjustments, there's lots of sliding, which is a bit silly when it is happening on a high speed oval. You don't see much sliding at Indianapolis these days.

Although they are trying to represent this title as the state of the art with modeling of physics, it is actually far behind GT4, who have a true simulator that is just staggeringly realistic with a wide variety of cars. "Enthusia" is best described as more of a video game than a simulator.