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What do you think is the best racing game of all time?

L

Lylo

Member
My favorite racing game, by far:

Rush2box.jpg
 
E

ec0ec0

Member
Vitten said:
F-Zero X.

Endless time trialling potential once you learn all its hidden techniques.

GX had much better graphics but its techniques sucked balls compared to X.
Click to expand...

snaking was dumb, sure. That doesn't invalidate the rest.

Game mechanics in GX were sublime. Analog triggers fitted F-Zero prefectly. Transitioning from any type of turn to another was seamless (regular turn, slide turn, drift turn, quick turn, even MTS if you wanted). It was amazing.

If someone wants to try/retry GX because of this thread, please, just remember to ask some of us for help first.
 
Y

yyr

Member
The best arcade racers are whatever the latest Maximum Tune and Initial D are (currently, 5 and 8, respectively), depending on whether you prefer your battles on highways or mountains. They represent the sum and the culmination of everything that Namco and Sega have ever done in their 30+ years of producing arcade racing games. There is nothing close behind them; they are far and away the best, light-years beyond anything else, and it's not debatable once you've played them for yourself. It is a crying shame that Maxi5 is not playable in North America at all.

On consoles, there are dozens of fantastic racers that span many console generations. Just on this page alone I see Burnout 3 and F-Zero GX mentioned, two of the best ever. Obviously, the recent Forza games are fantastic. Mario Kart is consistently fun but that is an entirely different sub-genre; it is truly difficult to compare them to each other. The Ridge Racer series is an all-time favorite of mine. Really, I have little to add to a conversation that has already mentioned so many fantastic games. I honestly believe that picking one "best" is thoroughly impossible.
 
P

pfkas

Member
Race 07 was perfect, minus dated visuals. Other than that, I remember Toca 2 many years ago with my first MS Sidewinder (serial port) was ace. Recently, iRacing (again, poor graphics), bit slippery handling but with its safety rating means the competitive side is very well martialed and most players at least try to race properly.
 
C

chrislowe

Member
Berto said:
The king.

Grand_Prix_Legends_Coverart.jpg


The most demanding and gratifying sim ever made.
Click to expand...

This!. And this was back when force feedback in your wheel felt like a real car.
Best onlinefun ice ever had.

Otherwise I liked the need for speed 5 porsches career mode when you started with old cars and bought upgrades and got newer cars etc.

Then GT2 for PS1
 
H

hampig

Member
Burnout 3: Takedown

Best soundtrack, best gameplay, best game.

I would also like to note that the only other racer I've put a considerable amount of time into was Ridge Racer DS so my opinion really means nothing.
 
drotahorror

drotahorror

Member
Hard to name just one. But I guess it'd be Motorstorm Pacific Rift.

Hydro Thunder
Driveclub
DiRT Rally
Wipeout Fury HD
Motorstorm Apocalypse

All good runner ups.
 
D

DivineRage002

Member
My list of games I believe I will still talk about 20 years after their release:

Gran Turismo 2 (PS1)
Forza Motorsports 4 (X360)
Forza Horizon 3 (XBone)
rFactor (PC)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Crash Team Racing (PS1)
GTR (PC)
GT Legends (PC)
Wipeout (PS1)
Wipeout 3 (PS1)
Ridge Racer (PS1)
Rage Racer (PS1)
FUEL (game was bad, map was great) (PC)
Need for Speed (PS1)
Need for Speed 2 (PS1)
Need for Speed Underground 2 (PS2)
Micro Maniacs Racing (this game SERIOUSLY went under the radar) (PS1)
Project Gotham Racing 2 (XBox)
Project Gotham Racing 4 (X360)
San Francisco RUSH (N64)
Cruisin' USA (N64)
Hot Wheels Turbo Racing (N64/PS1)
Grand Tour Racing (PS1)
Destruction Derby (PS1)
Midnight Club 3: DUB (PS2)
Modnation Racers (PS3)
Jet Moto (PS1)

I honestly believe any game in this list is a strong contender.
 
D

dr.rocktopus

Banned
My top ten:

Gran Turismo 4

Before GT got too big and where every aspect was polished. GT6 still has my favourite physics in the series, but PD still hasn't cleaned up a lot of aspects that need to be brought up to snuff.

Daytona USA (arcade ver.)

The feel of this game is glorious. This list could probably be Sega racers alone with how many stellar versions of Initial D, Daytona and Sega Rally there are, but Daytona USA takes it for how far ahead it was on release. Daytona USA made PC racing games look bad till the end of the decade.

Project Gotham Racing 4

Essentially PGR3 but more, this was PGR at its sharpest. Motorcycles, terrifying weather, still ridiculous graphics, smooth feel. PGR2 might be the more influential game given its release at the dawn of XBL, but I still prefer PGR4 for bringing more all at high levels of polish.

Burnout Revenge

The logical step after Burnout 3. Everyone and their mother likes Burnout 3, but Revenge gave us what such an aggressive game should have been in the first place without losing any of the danger from the previous games.

F-Zero GX

GX at its hardest commanded as much finesse and focus as sim racer combined with the aggression of Road Rash. Still a looker after all these years, I wish AV came back to make another one of these.

Wipeout HD/Fury

Zone mode is pretty much REZ. Wipeout and F-Zero is always pitted against each other, despite the drastically different feel. The floatier, slower controls of Wipeout combined with the audiovisual experience of Zone mode results in a zen I rarely reach with racers.

Pole Position (arcade ver.)

The granddaddy for how we experience racing games now. Yes, it does borrow a lot from Sega's Turbo from a year earlier - the behind the car view, different tracks/stages, sit-down cabinets, etc. Pole Position improves on it with its motorsport focused design and making it about the racing, not "lives" or anything like that.

Forza Motorsport 4

When Forza learned to have a soul. Forza has always been a great series but has often been derided as clinical in its approach to car culture and history. It took the ex-Top Gear hosts to help show T10 how to show it, but AutoVista is the addition Forza needed to stop being a racing game and start being a car game. And for a game that offers as much as Forza, I think it needed this.

Super Mario Kart

Super Mario Kart showed the joy of racing to a larger audience. It might not be fair in that the fastest racer doesn't always win, but part of the appeal in Super Mario Kart is that everyone has a chance. Giving people that chance makes every race entertaining no matter the odds.

Need for Speed Most Wanted (2005, 360 ver.)

The best of the Black Box racers. The style, the FMV cheese, the difficulty, the cops finally being back. The absolutely iconic M3. The physics being brought closer to weighty, drifty goodness after NFSU and U2. This is what you need to play if you're new to NFS.
 
Ristifer

Ristifer

Member
Branson said:
My personal list

San Francisco RUSH

NASCAR Racing 2003 Season
Click to expand...
Glad to see someone finally mentioning NASCAR Racing 2003 Season. That game was stock car racing at its finest. That was going to be my mention, too.

Also, the RUSH games were hilarious fun. Personally, I need to nominate the TOCA games from Codies. I could never get tired of those.
 
R

Retromelon

Member
Mupod said:
Mario Kart 64 is close to my heart even though the series is quite iterative and everything has been done better by now. 8 is so good and has so many tracks.
Click to expand...
Battle mode has never been done better, unless you're partial to bob omb blast and shine thief from double dash
 
Z

zephervack

Member
For semi-sims:

PGR4: Nurburgring covered in ice with a 1950's racing car, bliss.

For Sims:

Gotta be GT5 or GT6, yeah the menus sucks and low res cars but when it comes to actually driving around its just sublime, that plus the thing is sort of a car museum, dont really care if some models arent the best, the fact that you have stuff you wont see in any other racing games is amazing.

For Fun:

Wipeout HD/Fury/2048, can get a bit too insane towards the end but the whole ride is just a joy.

I like Forza when Im trying to just have fun and not take it serious, just for the rewind feature alone.
 
J

Joelstinton14

Member
There are better racing games out there, but i'm going to nominate Ferrari Challenge. It just scratched an itched so throughly, that i can't help but impressed my it.

It so old school it hurts, but for me it had some of the best pad feedback and weight that i have come across in a game, each car felt really unique and just a pleasure to drive.
 
B

Branson

Member
Ristifer said:
Glad to see someone finally mentioning NASCAR Racing 2003 Season. That game was stock car racing at its finest. That was going to be my mention, too.

Also, the RUSH games were hilarious fun. Personally, I need to nominate the TOCA games from Codies. I could never get tired of those.
Click to expand...
Sadly other than iRacing, it's still the best oval focused title. The game is fantastic and still has a dedicated mod community.
 
S

Shambalakan

Member
It's really hard to say only 1 game.
1. Gran Turismo 4: One of the best games of my life. Amazing graphics + Great gameplay and physics for its time + LOTS of cars, track and event + Photo Mode & ...
2. Burnout 3: The Ultimate arcade racing of all times!
3. NFS: Hot Pursuit 2: I have lots of nice memories with this game on PS2 and It has a great place in my heart.

Others without order:
Forza Horizon
Gran Turismo 5
Burnout Revenge
NFS: Underground
Forza Motorsport 4
Crash Team Racing
NFS: Most Wanted 2005
Project Gotham Racing 4
 
M

MoonFrog

Member
Not much of a racing game person or even a car person, but I liked GT a lot in my youth, played 1-3. I got 5 later on and liked that too.
 
D

dubc35

Member
Probably (hopefully) mentioned many times already but my favorite two:

RalliSport Challenge 2
Richard Burns Rally
 
L

lumzi23

Member
Rallisport Challenge - This game started my mini passion for rally games and rally racing in general. Shame I have played more rally games over the years or gotten more into the actual sport(?).
 
G

Gestault

Member
It's actually incredibly hard to break this down, thinking back. There are so many standouts that cross genres in one way or another. In any case, my best try at meaningful categories:

Cart racers: Mario Kart 8
Open world: Forza Horizon 3
Traditional/Arcade: Project Gotham Racing 4
Sim-lite: Forza 6/Gran Turismo 3
Futuristic: Wipeout XL/F-Zero GX
Chaotic: Burnout Revenge (360 version specifically)

Full-on sim I'm reluctant to categorize because if you're comparing overall polish, amount of content, or the underlying game structure, the best sims aren't the "best" games. With my G920, Project Cars has a lot going for it, but with a controller, it's a struggle to enjoy.

I also love San Francisco Rush 2049, Re-Volt (DC), Test Drive Le Mans (DC), Daytona USA and Ferrari F355 Challenge, but those are harder to fit in.
 
Y

YAWN

Ask me which Shakespeare novel is best
Is Double Dash as good as I remember?
I wanna say that, but haven't played it in yonks. I remember liking all the tracks, kart designs, music, and selection of characters. King Boo and Petey were ace. I dunno, just haven't felt the same way about a Mario Kart since, but it may be nostalgia talking.
 
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