10 retro racing games we all need to revisit
Step away from Project Cars and Forza Horizon 3, it's time to revisit some old favourites.
Sometimes a retro racing game is all you need. Forget your fancy graphics and sophisticated gameplay, I need some boxy cars and a midi soundtrack.
Road Rash
This was one of the first racing games I ever played. Not only did it take you around some stunning landscapes in the US but you could hit your competition with chains and poles.
You could choose from an array of characters and work your way up through the ranks. I need to dig out the Sega to play this again.
F-Zero GX
All the F-Zero games are great. They satisfy my need for racing as well as the sci-fi nerd in me. I've recently been playing F-Zero GX on the Gamecube and everything about it is fantastic from the techno soundtrack to the fantastic story mode missions.
Micro Machines
What I loved about this game was the unconventional race tracks. The joy of micro race cars is that they can battle it out on a pool table, in the garden or across a desk.
Super Mario Kart
This still gets rolled out at parties. The competition of racing is so much more fun when you can blue-shell-blast a friend out of first place.
Sega Rally 2
This started out as an arcade racer but soon came to Dreamcast and PC. The goal was to complete a track as you hit different checkpoints along the way. For a late nineties game it was superbly replayable with a range of different tracks in different environments.
The Need For Speed
This was the first game in a long-running series. It had some amazing driving mechanics that varied with each car. This included realistic over and understeer.
I've enjoyed most of the Need for Speed games. The street racing element is a lot of fun but what keeps me coming back to the franchise is the chance to destroy absolutely everything and anything I can crash into.
Driver
Former racing driver turned undercover police officer, this is the persona I want to play. This is a game that brought open-world driving to the masses and throughout the whole thing you get to pretend you're in a movie car chase, it's just great!
TOCA Touring Car Championship
This was great because it was a chance to drive your favourite cars from the BTCC. You could compete in an entire 24-race season with weather and 15 AI drivers.
Ridge Racer Type 4
This was a fun game that was all about the power slide. Not only that but it featured fictional female racer and mascot Reiko Nagase.
Pole Position
This F1 racer gets a mention because it was the first racing game to feature a real circuit. You'd compete in a time trial round first to qualify you to race at Fuji. It was a great game that just screams eighties at you. That's part of its lasting charm.
What retro racing games do you keep going back to?
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Comments (45)
Enduro Racer
Gran Turismo!!!!! Rally Championship
You forgot Test Drive, which came out in the 80s
I was complete crap at that lmao.
That NFS screenshot is from NFS 2...
You're right, it's from Nfs2
Thy could have jus been addressing the whole game series. I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt.
Thumbs up for the list!
But watch: that screen is from Need for Speed II (1997), not from Need for Speed 1 (1995).