Racing game with the best sense of speed?

snaildog

Member
I'm not making a statement, I really want to know! F-Zero GX was hyped up (on this board), and I do really enjoy it, but it doesn't seem THAT fast. I mean your ship is really tiny and the number at the bottom of the screen is very high, but the tracks are so wide and long with not many small landmarks that it just doesn't feel that fast to me. Is this as good as it gets without the game being unplayable? I want to see trees whizzing past my head, with extreme precision required (F-Zero GX is mostly about attacking really, and none of the tracks are very hard).
 
Rage Racer is still the fastest period. Until you try and master the last 3 final cars in the Extra GP... you have no idea! They move so fast, most people can't even control them. Try shifting through the gears in the Lakeside Gate stage in the final car... then we'll talk!
 
F-Zero GX had a pretty damn fast sense of speed IMO. A lot of the levels did feature landmarks flying by at remarkable speed. Of course multiplayer did cut a lot of the track features so that isn't a good barometer.

EDIT:
Burnout 3 is another recent game which an excellent sense of speed. The blurring kinda softens the feeling for me but for others it works wonderfully.

I'll have to pick up Rage Racer again and check it out, I forget how fast that game was. Sorry I don't join in the public lovefest for the game but I'm also a big fan.
 
TekunoRobby said:
F-Zero GX had a pretty damn fast sense of speed IMO. A lot of the levels did feature landmarks flying by at remarkable speed.

Of course multiplayer did cut a lot of the track features so that isn't a good barometer.
It's mostly the huge size of the tracks that make it not seem fast to me. I'd love something like Mario Kart DD only two or three times faster.
 
snaildog said:
It's mostly the huge size of the tracks that make it not seem fast to me. I'd love something like Mario Kart DD only two or three times faster.
That's true and that that would definitely soften the sense of speed. Try racing the pipe level hovering above the huge lava pit, that one gets a bit intense in the highest difficulty setting.
 
Wipeout 3 Phantom class is pretty crazy. I don't see how it's playable, but I know there are nuts that mastered it.
 
The new GT4 demo.. Racing Nürburgring at 230 km/h in a Mazda RX8 coming in to a sharp corner slamming the breaks, I really felt it in my gut. :)
 
-F-Zero X/GX have an insane sense of speed.
-Thrill Drive was very impressing too in terms of speed.
-Sega Touring Car is the third :) .
 
i have to agree that the new gt4 demo has a great sense of speed when i turn assists off. its pretty tough too.
 
I thought I was the biggest Rage Racer whore... WhippinSean wears that crown I see...

I'd say F-Zero GX and Burnout 3.
 
Burnout 3

F-Zero GX is also very fast, but you are racing on a disconnected track that is just sorta floating there. The lack of reference points around you and the fact that everyone else is moving along with you really prevents it from feeling as fast as it should.

Burnout 3 requires you to navigate city streets with traffic at those speeds. The environment really feeds the speed.
 
Shogmaster said:
hHe asked for a racing game, not car bash 'em up. :P


IAWTP!

I could never get far into F-Zero...not because I couldn't stand the game or anything but because no copy of it worked on my GC...I have a new GC now (plat.) and can't find the fucking game :( oh well...didn't like the N64 version anyway
 
snaildog said:
I'm not making a statement, I really want to know! F-Zero GX was hyped up (on this board), and I do really enjoy it, but it doesn't seem THAT fast. I mean your ship is really tiny and the number at the bottom of the screen is very high, but the tracks are so wide and long with not many small landmarks that it just doesn't feel that fast to me. Is this as good as it gets without the game being unplayable? I want to see trees whizzing past my head, with extreme precision required (F-Zero GX is mostly about attacking really, and none of the tracks are very hard).

:lol

Some of the tracks in F-Zero GX are pretty much impossible. See "Cosmo Terminal: Trident", "Mute City: Serial Gaps" or "Sand Ocean: Lateral Shift" for example. I know people who quit playing the game because of the difficulty with those tracks. And it's not "mostly about attacking", It can be, but it doesn't have to be... I was able to unlock everything in the game without using the attack feature much at all (I don't like it).

And there are "landmarks" all over almost every track in F-Zero GX.

To answer your question though, from what other people say, I can't rule out Burnout 3 (although I haven't played it). But from the games I've played, F-Zero GX has the best sense of speed.

If you learn how to "snake" and drive at speeds up to 2000-2500 kps (not sure if I'm remembering the "kps" part right) the sense of speed gets even better. It's amazing the way Sega AV put the 'feel' of some really insanely fast speeds into the game even though you have to exploit glitches to go fast enough to experience it.
 
Many of the tracks in F-Zero GX had you whizing by landmarks (obstacles even) despite the fact that the tracks are huge. These lnadmarks were basically pillars sticking out from the tubes, sharp turns in the tracks, or jumps/gaps (think lateral shift) and if you were boosting they came at you at insane speeds. Then of course if you know how to snake you can get your craft up to ungodly speeds on any track.

The tracks had to be huge, otherwise you'd finish all three laps in under a minute :\ Unless you meant wide, in which case the later tracks slim down real quick. Honestly I don't see how any other racing game compares to GX's speed when you are jamming the booster down.
 
Rallisport 2 is really, really awesome in this regard. There's nothing more thrilling than careening down a slippery mountain in the dead of night at blistering speeds with one headlight busted out.
 
You're all wrong... when you're talking sense of speed nobody does it better than Climax with the MotoGP series. Anybody that has ever played it will immediately agree.

sim-motogp-0007.jpg
 
When you cant see shit in front of you and your trying to make out whats going on while zooming past cars and trying to make turns that knock out your rivals. Burnout 3 did that very well. Sometimes it was just too intense, i would go cross-eyed.

Runner up goes to Moto GP for control and speed. F-zero GX for most non controlable sense of speed.
 
Have you tried Quantum Redshift? It has amazing graphics and a great sense of speed in the upper classes. Too bad it didn't sell well and the sequel with announced xbox live play has been cancelled and the developer shut down.
 
Deku Tree said:
:lol

Some of the tracks in F-Zero GX are pretty much impossible. See "Cosmo Terminal: Trident", "Mute City: Serial Gaps" or "Sand Ocean: Lateral Shift" for example. I know people who quit playing the game because of the difficulty with those tracks. And it's not "mostly about attacking", It can be, but it doesn't have to be... I was able to unlock everything in the game without using the attack feature much at all (I don't like it).

And there are "landmarks" all over almost every track in F-Zero GX.
Pretty much impossible?! I had barely any problem beating them all on Master, and I didn't even make my own racer. Story mode was the only huge challenge. Cosmo Terminal: Trident is the easiest track in the game for me, but whatever.
 
Quantum Redshift and burnout 2 for me.

:lol I take you never played the third installment in the burnout series. I can't stand 2 anymore because of how slow it feels in comparison. I used to love it tho.

You're all wrong... when you're talking sense of speed nobody does it better than Climax with the MotoGP series. Anybody that has ever played it will immediately agree.

I adore the series and wholeheartedly disagree.
 
Futuristic racers = blah.

Best sense of speed in a racing game that actually has a comparison to reality would be MotoGP 2 on the Xbox.
 
jedimike said:
You're all wrong... when you're talking sense of speed nobody does it better than Climax with the MotoGP series. Anybody that has ever played it will immediately agree.

sim-motogp-0007.jpg

Oh yes, MotoGP is REALLLLLLY fast. I can't deny that...

It isn't as fast as Burnout 3, though, but it comes close.

Another game I had forgotten...

Tokyo Extreme Racer 2 for the Dreamcast was very fast and a whole lot of fun. It's a shame that the later PS2 installments were slowed down so drastically...
 
The sense of speed you get is something so subjective.
It depends of i don't know how you look at the graphics or something. Some people don't have the sense of speed at all in Gran Turismo and some (like me) can feel the speed ALOT. I also feel the speed in Burnout3 but inexplicably not in NFSU....
 
MarkRyan said:
Wipeout 3 Phantom class is pretty crazy. I don't see how it's playable, but I know there are nuts that mastered it.

Agreed and I did eventually beat it. Fastest game I have played. You must know the course by heart in order to avoid hitting anything. Its the most rewarding sense of speed.
 
F-Zero GX is hands down the fastest racing game of all time. If you don't think it's fast, then you're likely just not very good at it. Correctly built custom ships absolutely kill the normal ships in speed capability. Even without snaking, speeds north of 3000kph are fairly sustainable if you know what you are doing. At these speeds, even the most non technical of tracks can be a challenge to navigate. If you don't believe me, I suggest you check some of these videos out. They do a good job of showing just how insanely fast this game is.
 
Rallisport 2 in bumped view.

Sega Touring Car Championship in the arcade was stellar for sense of speed.

Regardless, sense of speed is generally created through the use of a wide angle lens placed close to the ground and not through the actual momentum of the vehicle.
 
WhippinSean said:
Rage Racer is still the fastest period. Until you try and master the last 3 final cars in the Extra GP... you have no idea! They move so fast, most people can't even control them. Try shifting through the gears in the Lakeside Gate stage in the final car... then we'll talk!

Believe everything this gentlemen says. For only true Ridge Racers such as Sean and I, know there is no other game that combines the control with the sense of speed you had with this game. Mind over matter people...mind over matter.
 
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