Gran Turismo 4 Boasts Metacritic’s Highest User Score For Any Racing Game

Almost 20 years after its release, Gran Turismo 4 has attained the highest user score for a racing game on Metacritic. The Polyphony Digital title has recently surpassed Crash Team Racing after staying in the twelfth spot for quite some time. However, this recent surge in reviews isn’t natural, but the consequence of a YouTube video and some review-bombing.

A few days ago YouTuber DustinEden posted a video that ranked the best racing games of all time based on audience scores. After going through the top 100 racing games on the site sorted by user reviews, he was surprised to see Crash Team Racing so high up. With Gran Turismo 4 not even in the top 10, the YouTuber asked his audience to boost the game to “fix” the ranking.

Therefore, it seems like DustinEden’s plan has worked as Gran Turismo 4 is now the best user-rated game on Metacritic. Previously, the 2004 title had a user score of 8.8 and was No.12 in the definitive Metacritic user-score list. But, after the video it has gone up to No.1 and now has a review score of 9.0 on its PlayStation 2 version. Hence, the YouTuber has succeeded in changing the audience ranking of the site’s best racing games of all time.

Furthermore, DustinEden was also able to bring Crash Team Racing a couple of places down. It turns out that, besides boosting Gran Turismo 4, the YouTuber’s viewers also review-bombed the Naughty Dog title. Now, somewhat ironically, the game is at No.12 instead of the Polyphony Digital racing simulator. Therefore, a YouTuber has forever changed Metacritic’s list of the greatest racing games through a single video.

But, as you know, anyone can leave a user review for games on the rating website whenever they want. Hence, it won’t be shocking to see the two titles trade places again. In their own right, Gran Turismo 4 and Crash Team Racing are both defining games in the racing genre. The 2004 Polyphony Digital title is one of the best-selling games in the franchise with over 11 million copies sold.

Furthermore, it is also the third highest-selling game on the PlayStation 2 and has remained the critics’ darling over the years. Gran Turismo 4 is among the greatest racing sims of all time and was the main racing game of Sony’s biggest console. On the other hand, Crash Team Racing was also an important PlayStation 1 title and received a lot of critical praise Naughty Dog game was the first racing sim in the Crash Bandicoot franchise.

It was one of the earliest entries in Sony’s “Greatest Hits” line-up and also got a re-release in January 2001. Moreover, Crash Team Racing got the remaster treatment from Beenox in the form of 2019’s Crash Team Racing Nitro-fueled, which was at the end of some criticism due to its microtransactions. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which racing sim you like better, but for now, Gran Turismo 4 is No.1.