Porsche Challenge

One brand, one car, one goal: the perfect driving feel. Porsche Challenge did not take the path of extensive car rosters or exotic tracks. Instead, it bet everything on a single model of the legendary Porsche Boxster sports car and built a brisk, finely-tuned and surprisingly addictive racing experience around it on the first generation of the Sony PlayStation console.

The gameplay is pleasantly focused and accessible. Concentrating on a single car meant the developers could carefully fine-tune its behavior and responses, so every corner and every braking maneuver has believable weight. The player races on a series of tracks against opponents and gradually gets to know the subtle nuances of the handling. This purity of purpose made Porsche Challenge a title that, while not the most extensive, was precisely polished.

On the early PlayStation the game was among the titles that showcased the console's capabilities in the area of 3D racing. The detailed car model, the smooth sense of speed and the varied environments showed where the genre was heading on the new generation of hardware. The game was also known for the option to customize the color and appearance of the car, as well as the presence of several driver characters with different profiles.

Porsche Challenge came about at a time when the racing genre on the PlayStation was still taking shape and competing for attention with big names. Thanks to its exclusive focus on one of the world's most coveted automakers, it found its fans among players for whom the driving feel mattered more than the number of unlockable cars. For many it was a kind of postcard of the Porsche brand in digital form.

Today the game is remembered as a likeable, if perhaps slightly overlooked, piece of the early PlayStation era. It represents an interesting contrast to the later megalomaniacal racing simulators: it shows that concentrating on one thing and executing it precisely can create a distinctive and memorable experience.

Why play it: For the polished driving feel in a single iconic Porsche and a glimpse of what racing looked like at the dawn of the PlayStation era.