I spent $50 on this rare Gran Turismo demo, and I have no regrets.

      **Adam Ismail**

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      If you’re visiting this website, you likely have a passion for something—and I suspect it goes beyond just cars. Perhaps this interest leads you to collect memorabilia or spend excessive hours on a project, always reluctant to put your tools away. Often, such enthusiasms result in questionable financial choices. I made one of those last weekend when I spent $50 on an old Gran Turismo demo disc featuring only one car and one track, in a race that the game doesn’t allow you to complete.

      Why did I make this purchase? The disc I bought at a gaming convention is called Gran Turismo 2000, which held a certain allure for me during my youth. Following Gran Turismo 2 on the original PlayStation, developer Polyphony Digital aimed to bring the hit franchise to Sony's next-gen console. Early efforts transformed into a project named GT2000, which first debuted at the Tokyo Game Show in late 1999, just ahead of the PlayStation 2’s launch in Japan the following March.

      GT2000 was showcased a few more times at events during the following year, including Sony’s PlayStation Festival 2000 in Chiba, Japan, in mid-February, and later at trade shows in the U.S. and U.K. Attendees at PlayStation Festival, however, received demo discs of GT2000 compatible with the upcoming PS2s, making this version the only one accessible to the public. That’s what I ended up purchasing.

      Whether Gran Turismo 2000 was meant to be the title for the third GT installment remains uncertain, but as the game transitioned into 2001, Polyphony opted for a new name: Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec. GT3 went on to achieve great success, becoming one of the best-selling PS2 games ever, at least until recent counts. However, GT2000 is almost entirely different from it, despite being compiled just 14 months before the final game released in Japan.

      This is precisely why I couldn’t let the chance to own a copy of GT2000 slip by. Typically, demo discs from that era offered a glimpse into the full game, often differing in appearance or gameplay from the finished product depending on when the demo was produced. Yet, for those familiar with Gran Turismo, GT2000 barely resembles an early version of GT3. In fact, it feels more akin to GT2—which is what makes it unique.

      In GT2000, players take control of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V and race around the Seattle Circuit, a track initially featured in GT2. You face five opponents: a Honda NSX, FD Mazda RX-7, R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R, Subaru Legacy B4, and Toyota Altezza, each in consistent colors. The race is not measured by laps but rather a 120-second timer, sufficient only for passing the finish line once before you get a replay, followed by an abrupt return to the title screen. The only music playing during the race is “Mirage” by Daiki Kasho, which is notorious for being grating, yet I enjoy it.

      The car selection menu (which primarily allows color and transmission changes since you can’t choose a different car) immediately transitions you into a race without a countdown—just a rolling start where you gain control of your Evo right away. The first thing that stands out is that the vehicle physics are very much in line with GT2. The Lancer feels super light and nimble, allowing you to navigate corners and perform effortless drifts that would require more precision in GT3’s heavier, more refined handling model. GT3, of course, handles excellently and more realistically, but the lively feel of GT2 appeals to the arcade racing enthusiast in me, making it far more enjoyable to drive the Evo here than in the final version.

      Breaking out of the track is surprisingly easy in this demo. You can even drive up to a very rudimentary billboard of the Space Needle.

      This demo is rough around the edges, however. For one, hitting walls doesn’t significantly slow you down. If you reverse at the start and drive through a tire barrier, you can easily exit the course boundaries. Computer-controlled opponents tend to take corners wide and crash into the guardrails. Additionally, the graphics aren’t particularly impressive. Aside from the physics, this highlights a significant difference between GT2000 and GT3. The car models appear reminiscent of GT2 assets with slightly enhanced geometry; their windows remain opaque black, much like on the PS1, whereas they would become transparent by the time GT3 was released.

      The Seattle Circuit also seems quite flat and simplistic, with lower-resolution textures. Comparing crucial sections of the track between the two games, it is evident that Polyphony significantly increased the environment's detail and trackside scenery in just over a year. For instance