GT4 Prologue needs no introduction, but just in case you’ve been living in a small cave in Afghanistan, we will briefly return to December 1997. In this late part of the year, a company called Polyphony Digital released a driving game called Gran Turismo on the humble Playstation. It raised the bar in driving games and most developers are still trying to catch up. It offered well over a hundred different cars to drive, all of which could be modified. It offered a career and arcade mode. If offered many hours of driving fun over many different tracks.

Now we have reached, or at least nearly reached, the fourth instalment. GT4 Prologue is not the full game. Indeed it’s not much more than a demo with a price tag. How much this matters depends on how much of a GT nut you are.

You are given a selection of fifty cars, five tracks and a number of license tests. The latter of which makes up the bulk of the game in the form of a driving school. This is complemented by the arcade mode, allowing you to race the cars unlocked through completing the tests. Initially around half are these are available to race.

The school mode will be familiar to anyone who’s completed the license tests in any other GT game. It is split into four sections, displayed via icons on a monopoly-style board. The lessons teach you about acceleration, braking and cornering; the things any would-be racer needs to know about, gradually ramping-up in difficulty. Each test is preceded by a lengthy text description, voice over and demonstration. Unless you’re a fluent speaker of Japanese, only the demonstration will be of help. This isn’t much of a problem though, as once on track the correct line, along with braking, coasting and acceleration points is superimposed on the circuit in the form of a coloured line.

As in previous iterations, you’re awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold medal, depending on your performance. The bronze medals are, for the most part, very easy to achieve. In fact on some tests you’re awarded a bronze simply for completing them, regardless of time. Obtaining gold medals will take a lot more perseverance. This then strikes a happy medium; bronze for those that just want to progress through the tests, and gold for those that want to squeeze every drop of performance from their joypad or (for the driving connoisseur) their wheels.

The handling model should be identifiable to anyone who’s played GT3. It didn’t really need much tweaking. Prologue supports the use of the Force Feedback steering wheel, and as with many driving games, this can up the enjoyment factor a few notches. It certainly makes more sense than using a pad.

Sadly, if you are using a pad, you’re restricted to using buttons for acceleration and braking. It’s not possible to change the configuration to use the analogue stick. Be warned though, the game was recalled due to some incompatibilities with certain Logicool steering wheels (do check if you’re wanting to use one). This should now be sorted, but some UK importers may well be stocking the old version of the game.

Prologue gives an idea of the types of tracks that can be expected in the full game; road racing circuits, street circuits, narrow village roads and dirt courses are all represented. Things seem to have moved on greatly in terms of trackside details.

Courses such as the New York street circuit and the Citta di Aria village trail become almost claustrophobic due to the amount of buildings littering the roadside. It all whips past you at an astounding rate, fast enough that you don’t really notice the odd bit of pop up here and there. A nice touch is the partial shadows on your vehicle as it passes under roadside silhouettes, and the engine noises bouncing off your surroundings. It all sounds rather pleasant in a high rev and thrashing kind of way.

Make no mistake though, Prologue is just that: an introduction to the game that will become GT4. Think of it as the pupa stage that’s shaping up to become a beautiful butterfly. This leads to the question of whether it’s worth buying. It’s a tough choice.

Whilst what’s here gives some solid driving pleasure, it’s not going to take long to reach your final destination. Some folk may think the road tax was too high, then again some people pay to use toll roads. These are the GT fanatics who will lap this up and love every minute of it, at least until the full game arrives.