Enthusia Professional Racing

8 / 7 / 7 / 7 - 29 [Vol 849]

It does one thing well and that is teach you a new way to take turns and drive.

If the driving had been left alone with just a focus on racing the different courses and scrapped the calendar and the Enthu Points this would have been an easier title to digest. With a fully analog control scheme it could've even been quite good.

While the customization is very limited, there is still a plethora of cars to select from, each with their own specific feel.

The sound is unremarkable. You’ve got your engine sounds, your squealing tires, and other sound effects that all sound like you’ve heard them before.

Even hardcore racers will find Enthusia's default difficulty setting is soul-crushingly hard, with absurdly demanding physics and cars that feel heavier than battleships, yet spin out at the slightest provocation. [June 2005, p.76]

Rather than the car being the star, Enthusia puts the driving first -- it's a shame that the rest of the game can't quite keep up.

For all it does with innovations in HUD, career mode, and vehicle unlocking, multiplayer is a bit underwhelming.

With its first game, Konami’s franchise-hope doesn’t quite match up to the game it is trying to challenge, "Gran Turismo 4." Still, the more realistic driving model and extremely well balanced challenge level bodes well for the sequel. [May 2005, p.68]

Personally I find it annoying that I lose points when my opponents hit me and not the other way around, but I still like the idea.

Konami’s handful of ideas to make driving sims better (VGS displays, Enthusia Life mode, etc.) are worth sampling despite a handful of odd decisions by the programmers (losing Enthu points to a rear end crasher??!!).

Without the hulking form of GT4 on the shelves next to it, Enthusia Professional Racing would be a worthwhile purchase. Unfortunately however, it falls short of the behemoth in almost every aspect, leaving you with little choice but to dismiss it as a capable but ultimately second-best title.

It's a solid racer, sure, but in the world of killer sims and arcade racers alike, solid just isn't enough these days. Hopefully the follow-up will iron out the rough spots, because if they can, Konami has a really good racer on their hands.

A quite decent and demanding racer.

As it stands now, it’s really a game for the most serious driving enthusiast.

Bad weather conditions are unnecessary for Enthusia. The controls are either stiff and awkward, or overly slippery.

Sadly for Konami, Enthusia is here, slightly queer, and we just can't get used to it.

But can someone please explain why we lose Enthu points when aggressive opponents tag us in the ass-end? Only a cloven-hoofed Enron accountant would think this was OK.

Though the many tracks on offer (which amusingly take inspiration both from reality as well as other racing games), varying weather conditions and racing styles (including rallying, desert-crossing and touge racing) offer a lot of variety, the Enthusia Life format itself proves to be a little too simple and short, as reaching higher ranks does not involve as long a road as possibly it ought to. [JPN Import]

It simply doesn't really do anywhere near enough to unseat Polyphony's great monolith of a game. In some ways it's a whole lot more accessible (if you can be bothered to wade through the somewhat daunting layers of formulae that get you up the pecking order), but in others it lets itself down with appalling presentation, rank front end, awful music, and visuals which while perfectly serviceable won't have you gawping in awe if you saw it on a nearby demo pod.

We’d love to see a sequel with a beefed up handling engine, some damage models and online play, but as it stands, Enthusia is only recommendable to the more hardcore Japophiles with a penchant for motoring action.

I honestly believe that it will have a tough time stealing track hours from GT4 and Forza on most gamers' consoles.

A good-looking, challenging game with a nice collection of cars to win and race. You'll also get the steep learning curve that some gamers thrive on.

The ideas are well thought out, but implemented poorly, and nothing can excuse the total lack of speed in a racing game.

One of the least user-friendly gaming experiences I've had in a long time.

Yes, there’s a good sense of speed, but the dreariness of racing against brainless AI opponents who combine little awareness of their surroundings with a remarkably lethargic and lifeless approach to a supposedly exciting activity soon has that counterbalanced. [May 2005, p.85]

With the VGS system, the demerits and the odds, you are forced into a style of racing that is neither sim nor arcade. It's a hybrid that is more challenging than fun, though some might want the word "challenging" changed to "frustrating."

The overly complex ranking system has some inherent problems, and the limited car options hinder the joy of progression.