A free version of Gran Turismo is out now on PS5, aimed at new players

Gran Turismo, for free. It’s not every day you hear a proposition like that, but Polyphony’s charmingly titled My First Gran Turismo promises exactly that: a vertical slice of the storied racer, downloadable for free, which gives you a taste of what The Real Driving Simulator’s all about.

As the name implies, it’s aimed at younger racers and new players, with “with no limits on age or driving skill” as Polyphony puts it.

Content-wise, it’s not quite the behemoth that's Gran Turismo 7, but it’s certainly enough to give newcomers a taste of what the franchise is all about. Three Race Events, three Time Trials, and three Music Rally stages are available, the latter offering a more meditative take on the classic arcade checkpoint racing experience.

You can also work your way through a “full suite of License Tests", which is actually a substantial amount of game in itself and offers a nice on-ramp to players who might want to use My First Gran Turismo as a gateway to the latest full game.

Three tracks are available in the aforementioned modes: Kyoto Driving Park, Deep Forest Raceway, and Trial Mountain Circuit, and you can drive them in a choice of 18 cars, including the original Countach seen in this story’s image, a 1992 Honda NSX Type R, the venerable Ferrari 308 GTB, a V8 successor to the Dino, and of course – of course – a ‘93 Volvo 240 SE estate.

The release comes as part of Sony’s 30th anniversary celebrations for the original PlayStation, the little grey 32-bit console that could. Thanks to titles like Gran Turismo in 1997, the PS1 hooked an older, more discerning gamer who wasn’t interested in marshalling speedy hedgehogs or tradesmen hither and thither, and wanted something edgier and more sophisticated on their CRT screen. What a 30 years it’s been, eh?

My First Gran Turismo is available now for free on PS4 and PS5. PS5 users also get PlayStation VR compatibility, provided they have the hardware of course.