Talk about a wait! In the time it's taken Gran Turismo to finally make it to the handheld market, its fans could have completed tens of thousands of laps of the Nürburgring, or nurtured and cultivated and impressive Nigel Mansell tribute moustache. When Sony said that Polyphony Digital's masterpiece would be released at the launch of the PSP, the only thing they omitted to mention was that this would turn out to be the PSP Go.

Finally, however, the moment is almost here for Gran Turismo to once again head down the production pit lane and caress the camber with its' imperious charm, and so the question becomes, what can we expect from GT in a gigabyte?

If you listen to Polyphony CEO Kazunori Yamauchi the answer is a bit of something for everyone from the main series. If you've an ear in the camp of the sceptics though, the reports are of a game whose development has consistently been shunted to one side to make way for other Polyphony projects, and is deficient in many of the areas in which the series normally prides itself.

To be fair to Yamauchi-san, he's quick to acknowledge that GT (PSP)'s long gestation period has been caused by the company's focus being elsewhere, and the issue of shrinking his memory-guzzling monster down to Dinky car size - an even more important limitation now with the Go's lack of UMD and finite storage space. The other main challenge, apparently, has been the restricted dimensions of the PSP's screen. Deciding how best to present a game whose levels of visual and technical detail are so refined their natural preference is for adorning the largest HD television available is no mean feat; but the suggestion that this may have meant a reduction in the number of cars to select from was very definitely a non-negotiable one.

The final game will include around 800 licensed vehicles from classic Alfa's to power-crazed Pagani Zondas, with Yamauchi placing an emphasis on transferring to the player his joy for collection. The simple pleasure of becoming the curator of the ultimate shrine to the internal combustion engine is an extremely satisfying one in itself, especially as the ability to carry the equivalent of the Beaulieu Motor Museum in your back pocket is sure to impress like-minded friends, with whom you can then trade and share cars via GT's ad-hoc, wireless modes. The issue, however, is how much Polyphony's hand has been forced into making this their priority - a concentration on accumulation through necessity rather than choice.

The age old problem of a transferring a franchise from console to handheld once again seems to be rearing its' ugly head. The task of streamlining for the PSP whilst still retaining the core of what makes the game so special is always a monumental one; but the discussion of whether the process of separating the wood from the trees would have been better achieved by an outside developer with more distance from the original product is a mute point - Polyphony were determined to keep GT (PSP) in house and you really can't blame them. It's hard to think of anyone with the natural instincts and attention to detail for the subject matter who could do justice to their creation.

There should be no concerns then over the quality of the final experience. Polyphony are masters of the medium; their almost unintelligibly complex graphics and physics models creating seemingly effortless poetry in motion on screen. While Gran Turismo certainly doesn't appeal to even all those in the hardcore fraternity, the short comings in its A.I. and recreations of damage only enhance the fact that it's a series less about racing and more about just getting out on the track and driving and there certainly won't be a lack of opportunity for this in the PSP version.

The 35 circuits, and 60 total variations of these in total, mean that almost all of the real and fictional tracks from the entire series will be present. So if you've built up an affection for the gravel trap at the end of start/finish straight at Grand Valley Speedway, or the tunnel crash barriers on Deep Mountain you'll be able to reacquaint yourself with your special place. The return of the rally sections is also promised and options for racing include the standard one-off events, time trials, and new drift trials, in which you're tasked with seeing how long you can sustain a sideways slide round a corner. The overriding concern, however, is the potential lack of single player longevity beyond these choices and the Mission Challenges, featuring their increasing difficult objectives. Even the opportunities for tuning your cars have been reigned in, supposedly to avoid confusion, so it may fall to finding some mates with copies of the game to indulge in some up to four person multiplayer to sustain your interest.

Running steadily at a very impressive 60 frames-per-second, and containing such a vast array of varied motors, there can be little doubt GT (PSP) will appear impressive enough to be worth a long wait, whether it's worth a wait this long, however, remains to be seen.

Previewed by James Hamblin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).