Vanishing Point

The Dreamcast version of Vanishing Point received "favorable" reviews, while the PlayStation version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Greg Orlando of NextGen called the former console version "an example of fine craftsmanship." PlanetDreamcast gave the same console version a favorable review, over two months before the latter was released in the United States. While writers for Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game for its graphics and framerate, they considered the gameplay frustrating due to the slippery, floaty controls. The reviewers were discouraged at dealing with the slow-moving traffic in the game, particularly the slow Volkswagen bus and small Volkswagen beetle. Edge Magazine similarly noted that every car in the game has "a ridiculous amount of rear-end swing," making control impossible at speed, and too was frustrated by the AI-controlled vehicles frequently ramming into the player. Matt Grandstaff of Allgame said that players will inevitably only swerve back and forth while driving and that it is impossible to recover from a spin with the game's gear shifting system. Alex Tsotsos of SportPlanet said that "It takes a while to get used to the sloppy control of the vehicles you start the game with, but eventually you get used to it and get cars that handle better," and noted that the game physics shown off in collisions is where the game excels. GameSpot also noted the troublesome traffic and "hypersensitive" controls, but presented them as elements a player must adjust to. Edge Magazine praised Vanishing Point Stunt mode. While noted to be clearly inspired by Crazy Taxi, the magazine said that "fun gleamed from this mode eclipses that of the main game tenfold." Matt Grandstaff also said that Stunt mode is the most exciting part of the game, but that eventually it "is nothing more than an outlandish take on the objectives one goes through to achieve new licenses in Gran Turismo." In 2006, Frank Provo of GameSpot said that the PlayStation version lacks the "crisp resolution" of the DreamCast original and that its sound-effects seem more "muffled," but that these faults do not get in the way of the overall experience. Provo called the game "one of the most original and enjoyable racing games to come around in a long time."