If you've ever wondered what one of the best racing games ever made would look like with nothing but minivans and whatever terrible compact your grandma used to drive, you're in luck, because Gran Turismo 2: Beige Edition is on the way. This mod strips out all the race cars from the original PS1 classic and replaces them with far more mundane alternatives.
A teaser trailer for Gran Turismo 2: Beige Edition dropped last month, and the creators clearly know exactly what they're doing. The video recreates the opening of Gran Turismo for PSP, with a long build up under an electronic music track. It peaks at a mid-video beat drop that reveals a Ferrari screaming down the street – but here, the Ferrari is replaced with what appears to be a red Lancia Lybra slowly rolling down the road.
More recently, the modders have revealed an 11-minute video running down 120 of the 500 total cars that'll be included, and there's an incredible charm to seeing all these very normal cars lovingly rendered in the best graphics the PS1 has to offer. The video description notes a focus on "the unexceptional cars of the world," and for the more mundane sports cars that were in the original – stuff like the Mustang GT – the devs have even gone and replaced them with basic road trims.
Here's what the developers are currently planning:
- Over 330 brand new cars for over 50 manufactures!
- Over 150 trim and model edits to existing base game cars!
- Completely revamped career mode!
- Redesigned menus, assets and more!
- Universal Used Car Dealerships!
- New in-race soundtrack!
- and More!
There's no word yet on when the Beige Edition mod will be released, but until it does come out you better believe I'm keeping an eye out for every new trailer detailing these awful, beautiful cars.
There's still a lot of life in the best PS1 games.
