This is a thread I've been meaning to make for a while. With so many fantastic racing games that's been released in recent years and months and with many more to come, I thought it'd be interesting to see what people regard as their favourite racing circuits of all time.
This is a pretty unrestrictive thread...any game where racing (either against the clock or against the opponent) is the objective is eligable. So that could be GT4, Burnout 3, Mario Kart, Uniracer, Sonic R or SSX3. Your reason for picking that circuit is also unrestrictive...could be the course design, background design, music, whatever. All I ask is that you name the game, the format (or formats), and if possible the track itself. If you wanna post pics showing the course or video links to a great course run, that's cool too. And if you have a wishlist for courses you'd love to see in a racing game (be they real or imagined), that's also cool. Also feel free to make mutiple posts if you remember other circuits after the fact. And don't think you need to type out chapters like I've done...I'm just psycho like that. :lol
So with all that out the way, here are some of my favourite circuits ever in (sort of) chronlogical order...
Seaside stage - OutRun (arcade, Master System, XBox)
The moment I saw and raced this stage at the arcade, I was hooked on racing games (and Sega games) forever. In it's time it looked absolutely mindblowing...a track that started out six lanes wide (you were lucky to see racers with three lanes), the crowd at the start, the Ferrari, the traffic, the brilliant blue of the ocean to the left...and all this done to your choice of music.
Seaside Street Galaxy - Daytona USA (arcade, Saturn, DC)
I think this course really showed me what was possible with real 3D and hot track design. It had it all...long straights, tight hairpins, sweeping turns, and some great visual touches like the space shuttle, Jeffery's statue, the birds and running horses, and the cool as hell Model 2 message on the wall just prior to the shuttle.
Lakeside - Sega Rally Championship (arcade, Saturn)
A gorgeous looking course in the arcade version (didn't look half bad on the Saturn for the time either), and devilishly fun. Starts off with a ton of tight turns, throws you out into a long straight, then a series of medium turns, a long left sweeper next to the lake, before a couple of reverse S turns to finish off.
SS3 - Sega Rally 2 (arcade, DC, PC)
The Sega Rally 2 tournies that I were involved in probably made these courses in better in my mind then they really are, but the fact that I had so much fun competing on these courses despite pulling my hair out and restarting my races 87 times in a row shows that they were more then competent. Snowy SS3 was the arcade course, and a blast to race through...it's an extremely fast course and most of it can be taken flat out as long as you're on the right line and cut the apex. Desert SS3 is extremely tricky with a lot of wide space in parts that makes it difficult to find the line, and a host of devilish S turns that really test your ability to soft throttle and your nimbleness in steering the car. Mountain SS3 has a combination of tarmac, sand and mud, along with some tight turns of it's own that need to be taken just right in order to get through them without losing a lot of speed. Muddy SS3 was similiar...very fast for the most part if you take the lines right, but with some tricky slow turns in a few places including ultra tight hairpins. And Isle SS3 stitched three or four hairpins together in one part of the track that simply couldn't be tackled properly in a 4WD car without the e-brake. Oh yeah, Riveria was a cool take on the Monaco GP/Monte Carlo scene, and Super SS was an extremely intense last track (though not as cool overall as Lakeside).
Australia - Colin McRae 2 (PC)
This still remains one of my all time favourite games, and my two favourite races in the game are Australia and Greece. Greece had a lot of hairpins that required the e-brake, and a lot of drop offs at the side that added to the thrill and danger of real rally racing. You couldn't go too fast, or it'd eat you for lunch. Australia on the other hand was very fast, but the surface was looser making it easier to lose control if you weren't on the ball. It also had one stage with two great high jumps in a row, similiar to one of the stages in the WRC event.
Circuit de la Sarthe - Le Mans (DC, PS2), Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
Not a particularly difficult course (save for a series of mid-speed turns towards the end), but a fun course that's steeped in history and provides the opportunity to simply fly like a rocket.
I do have more to add, but I'll save 'em for later. I'll just add that my most wanted course for inclusion in a game is undoubtedly Mosport, a road course just east of here. It's reputed as being one of the best and toughest road courses on the planet, and I don't think it's shown up in any game outside of GP Legends.
This is a pretty unrestrictive thread...any game where racing (either against the clock or against the opponent) is the objective is eligable. So that could be GT4, Burnout 3, Mario Kart, Uniracer, Sonic R or SSX3. Your reason for picking that circuit is also unrestrictive...could be the course design, background design, music, whatever. All I ask is that you name the game, the format (or formats), and if possible the track itself. If you wanna post pics showing the course or video links to a great course run, that's cool too. And if you have a wishlist for courses you'd love to see in a racing game (be they real or imagined), that's also cool. Also feel free to make mutiple posts if you remember other circuits after the fact. And don't think you need to type out chapters like I've done...I'm just psycho like that. :lol
So with all that out the way, here are some of my favourite circuits ever in (sort of) chronlogical order...
Seaside stage - OutRun (arcade, Master System, XBox)
The moment I saw and raced this stage at the arcade, I was hooked on racing games (and Sega games) forever. In it's time it looked absolutely mindblowing...a track that started out six lanes wide (you were lucky to see racers with three lanes), the crowd at the start, the Ferrari, the traffic, the brilliant blue of the ocean to the left...and all this done to your choice of music.
Seaside Street Galaxy - Daytona USA (arcade, Saturn, DC)
I think this course really showed me what was possible with real 3D and hot track design. It had it all...long straights, tight hairpins, sweeping turns, and some great visual touches like the space shuttle, Jeffery's statue, the birds and running horses, and the cool as hell Model 2 message on the wall just prior to the shuttle.
Lakeside - Sega Rally Championship (arcade, Saturn)
A gorgeous looking course in the arcade version (didn't look half bad on the Saturn for the time either), and devilishly fun. Starts off with a ton of tight turns, throws you out into a long straight, then a series of medium turns, a long left sweeper next to the lake, before a couple of reverse S turns to finish off.
SS3 - Sega Rally 2 (arcade, DC, PC)
The Sega Rally 2 tournies that I were involved in probably made these courses in better in my mind then they really are, but the fact that I had so much fun competing on these courses despite pulling my hair out and restarting my races 87 times in a row shows that they were more then competent. Snowy SS3 was the arcade course, and a blast to race through...it's an extremely fast course and most of it can be taken flat out as long as you're on the right line and cut the apex. Desert SS3 is extremely tricky with a lot of wide space in parts that makes it difficult to find the line, and a host of devilish S turns that really test your ability to soft throttle and your nimbleness in steering the car. Mountain SS3 has a combination of tarmac, sand and mud, along with some tight turns of it's own that need to be taken just right in order to get through them without losing a lot of speed. Muddy SS3 was similiar...very fast for the most part if you take the lines right, but with some tricky slow turns in a few places including ultra tight hairpins. And Isle SS3 stitched three or four hairpins together in one part of the track that simply couldn't be tackled properly in a 4WD car without the e-brake. Oh yeah, Riveria was a cool take on the Monaco GP/Monte Carlo scene, and Super SS was an extremely intense last track (though not as cool overall as Lakeside).
Australia - Colin McRae 2 (PC)
This still remains one of my all time favourite games, and my two favourite races in the game are Australia and Greece. Greece had a lot of hairpins that required the e-brake, and a lot of drop offs at the side that added to the thrill and danger of real rally racing. You couldn't go too fast, or it'd eat you for lunch. Australia on the other hand was very fast, but the surface was looser making it easier to lose control if you weren't on the ball. It also had one stage with two great high jumps in a row, similiar to one of the stages in the WRC event.
Circuit de la Sarthe - Le Mans (DC, PS2), Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
Not a particularly difficult course (save for a series of mid-speed turns towards the end), but a fun course that's steeped in history and provides the opportunity to simply fly like a rocket.
I do have more to add, but I'll save 'em for later. I'll just add that my most wanted course for inclusion in a game is undoubtedly Mosport, a road course just east of here. It's reputed as being one of the best and toughest road courses on the planet, and I don't think it's shown up in any game outside of GP Legends.
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