Are there any racing games you would recommend?

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

After looking through my game collection a couple of weeks ago, I noticed I haven't bought a racing game in over 2 years. This is odd, considering that racing games have always been my favorite. Part of the reason for this is because I have an Xbawks (intentional misspelling is obvious) where the only notable game really that gets heavily promoted on the system is Forza, and other than Forza Horizon, they have basically been the same game (and mostly same tracks) with newer cars and a slightly tweaked "feel" to the driving mechanics. Granted I dont have an Xbawks steering wheel, so I would never get the full feel of it, but anyways...

 

Obviously I have a computer or I wouldn't be posting here right now. The computer is almost 12 years old now with no upgrades to the hardware I also have a 3 year old laptop...unfortunately with one of those integrated Graphics Accelerator things that makes it impossible to upgrade the graphics/video card.

 

So if anyone knows of a good racing game either on the Xbox or PC and wants to tell me about it, or hey, i guess anyone who wants to discuss racing games in general since this is going to become a thread after all, go right ahead and thank you.

[WOLFjr]

I'm not very interested in the driving simulator racing games like Forza Motorsport. I do enjoy Need for Speed, though. I'm mostly into the party racing games like Sonic All-Stars Racing and Burnout Revenge. Those are the only two I can think of right now.

[DoctorAllosaurus]

Burnout Paradise is pretty fun, it's kinda old but I got a lot of mileage (harhar cwatididthar) out of it.

[Icy]

Burnout Paradise is the best racing game ever. So much to do and I still play it occasionally after countless hours clocked in.

 

Split/Second is my second favorite racing game. It's such a fresh take on the genre and it's a crying shame the sequel got canned.

I play it quite often, even though I've had it for 2+ years it still doesn't get old.

 

The original Hydro Thunder (on pretty much any system you could possibly imagine it being ported to) still holds up today and is an amazing game. It's my third favorite.

If that's too old, there is a newer one called Hydro Thunder Hurricane, exclusively on XBLA. Well, actually, it's also on the Windows 8 app store, but if your computer isn't very good, I wouldn't bother.

But anyway, it's a good game and is worthy of the Hydro Thunder name.

 

I hate that Microsoft ended up with the rights to that series. Such a shame since it's probably just going to be forgotten. Heh, probably already is.

 

That's all I've got for now. None of those are simulators, but more arcade-like.

 

And just in case you wanted to know, Split/Second has splitscreen and Hydro Thunder Hurricane does too. The rest don't.

All of these are available on the 360.

 

Good luck.

[Arashikage]

Race 07, the official WTCC game!  It's a racing game, ultra realistic, or ultra unrealistic depending on how you like it.  You can race, you can time trial, and you can practice, you get a plethora of maps that are real tracks in Europe, a bunch of actual car models, and drivers.  The game could run on your grandma's rig, and its' like, 3 bucks on Steam.  Actual price, not sale price.  I'd recommend it highly.

 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/8600/

[Prince Elite]

Well Burnout Paradise has already been recommended, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit isn't bad either. 

[Harmony Descent]

Damn, I wish you would have said you had a PS3.  Otherwise, I would have recommended Motorstorm and Motorstorm:  Pacific Rift.

Oh, you should check out Fatal Inertia for the 360.  It's sort of like F-ZeroXMario Kart, in that you drive ships like in F-Zero, but use pick-ups to use against other racers.  Just be warned, there probably isn't anyone playing this game online anymore since it's an underground game.

Here's some gameplay:

 

 

Also, I would look into checking out Flatout: Ultimate Carnage.  It's probably the most outrageous racing game out there that's tons of fun to play by yourself, but EXTREMELY fun to play with others.

Here's some gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDqltwbi3LA

 

 

Another game I used to love playing was Grid.  It was similar to other racing games, like Forza and Dirt, and was given pretty good praise whenever it was released.  It varies from exhibition races, derbies, sprints, and drifting.

Here's some gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhbXZSMii6A

 

 

There's also Dirt, which I mentioned above.  Dirt 1 focused mainly on races being mainly...  Well, on dirt.  Dirt 2 had some dirt tracks, but also mixed in concrete ground races.  Dirt 3 had the addition of derbies, while also incorporating what Dirt 2 had in it.

Here's some gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM-rb_wpZ3E

 

 

Last, but not least, there's Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.  It's made by the people that made the Burnout series (Criterion Games), which means this game will have some aspects carried over from the Burnout series into this game, but with the touch of Need for Speed.  EXTREMELY fast game and fun to play!  Especially when you have those reds-and-blues hot on your ass during a race.

 

Here's some gameplay:

 

Also, and crazyfooinc, if you're reading this, they have the Crown Victoria interceptor in the game, but for the police-only.

 

 

Hope that's enough recommendations.  If you want me to recommend some more, I'll look around for some!

[CrypticQuery]

Also, and crazyfooinc, if you're reading this, they have the Crown Victoria interceptor in the game, but for the police-only.

 

 

Hope that's enough recommendations.  If you want me to recommend some more, I'll look around for some!

 

Don't worry, I already have the PS3 and PC versions.  That's how insane I went when I found out the CVPI was in there - bought a Logitech steering wheel just for it.

[Snys93]

Yeah Burnout Paradise indeed. However, the Burnout series itself as a whole is golden. Insane driving coupled with carnage and destruction. Paradise indeed.

[Harmony Descent]

I also forgot to mention another racing game for the 360.  This game was one of the first games I had for my 360, and I cannot tell you how many hours I spent playing this game just stopping to blow up the environment, while also trying to win the race.  If I felt like going back to totally annihilate the environment, I would pick the Warlord - vehicle being used in the video - and I would put dual rockets on the front with grenades.  Yeah, total overkill.  Think of this as if Twisted Metal was a racing game, you would get this.

 

Here's some gameplay:

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

Well thank you for giving me so many choices so quickly everyone. I'll start from the top of the list:

 

First off, Need for Speed series in general. I have played NFS Hot Pursuit on the Xbox, but I don't see what all the hype was about for that game. It felt just as glitchy as past NFS games (making that turn, and you hit that little thing thats sticking out of the edge of the guardrail, and it stops you completely for instance) except the game dosent feel that great. The two best NFS games imo were NFS Hot Pursuit 2 (from the original set of Hot Pursuit games which if i remember there were 3 of ) and NFS: The Run. My reason for not getting The Run was because it felt like the cars were all generally the same in terms of their top speeds and cornering. Most other NFS games at least address the difference in cornering abilities of cars.

 

Burnout is always fun to play for sure. I've played the demo to Paradise, and it felt like NFS Carbon, except without a story. Which is good and bad at the same time. So basically, it feels just like how all NFS free-roam style games feel after you beat them, almost no replay value...maybe if I watch some more gameplay i'll change my mind about it.

 

Sonic All-Stars Racing. As you may recall Wolf Jr, I made a big stink about how people complained the game was "too hard". As someone who has beaten F-Zero GX on the hardest difficulty level (where the computer is CLEARLY cheating by going faster than they are should be capable of) on all the circuits...yada yada yada. And so when I played the demo to SASR:Transformed, and it felt like a breath of fresh air, actually having to study the track to hit the drift button at the right time for fear of hitting a wall. And honestly, it felt like the faster the engine class, the better the game got. Sure the honeybees weapon is a cop-out by the cpu AI in case you are too good, but at least its avoidable unlike say, the dreaded Blue Shell in Mario Kart. I'll probably get the game when the price drops about five bucks. For a game that has been criticized heavily, the price tag hasnt budged much at all...

 

Split/Second looks like it could be a really fun game. My only concern would be that the AI might be a bit easy, as most of the challenging parts of the game mentioned were special scenario challenge races where you beat the clock or try to make it across the finish line in one piece. In your opinion Icy, was the game too easy at times?

 

Hydro Thunder, one of my favorite games on the N64 that could also be found in arcades back in the day. No doubt its a great great game. I've played the demo of the new one on the Xbox, and they did a great job with it for sure. The only real issue is the lack of unlock-able vehicles (I think the whole game features 12 vehicles or so?) Feels like a lot less than the old game if I remember it well enough.

 

Race 07 looks like a diamond in the rough. It could possibly hold up along side Grand Turismo and Forza if what I am reading about it is true. I hope it works with my Graphics Accelerator hindered laptop. Its where i have Steam downloaded after all. Wait a minute there, is it not supported by Windows 7? Thats my assumption since it only has limited support on Vista (guess who's going to download steam on their old Windows XP computer now LOL)

 

I've played Fatal Inertia demo. And the whole checkpoint thing is really painful to deal with, especially after getting hit by an opponents weapon and going straight into the checkpoint post as a result. Sometimes the terrain feels flawed in that it sometimes affects steering a bit too much, or my vehicle goes airborne....Otherwise its a great concept for a racing game, actually having to upgrade your vehicle and what not on various classes. But at the end of the day, if the racing is poor, the racing game feels poorly made. The manual charge-up nitrous thing doesn't add to the game at all.

 

Dirt is a great game, but it feels like the kind of game that needs an NFS game style story to it.

 

I know I sound a little nit-picky, but i dont want to get a racing game for the sake of getting a racing game. I want a game that feels groundbreaking, or at least like a game that has lots of replay value, even if the replay value is solely based on the extreme amount of difficulty.

[Arashikage]

Race 07 looks like a diamond in the rough. It could possibly hold up along side Grand Turismo and Forza if what I am reading about it is true. I hope it works with my Graphics Accelerator hindered laptop. Its where i have Steam downloaded after all. Wait a minute there, is it not supported by Windows 7? Thats my assumption since it only has limited support on Vista (guess who's going to download steam on their old Windows XP computer now LOL)

 

It'll run on your graphics accelerator.  It runs on almost anything.  Also, I've been playing on Windows 7 without problems at all.

[Icy]

Split/Second has Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulties for races. Easy is pretty easy after you get a feel for the game, medium is always a good challenge until you've mastered the game, and hard really does present a challenge still, even for me.

 

It is a really fun game and while it seems pretty simple, once you start to learn the tracks and where power plays are located, etc, it really is a whole lot of fun.

It's not just the races that make it so good. It has a couple of modes where you try to take out/dodge a helicopter shooting rockets at you. Another one is "survival" where you try to go as long as you can without hitting red barrels that fall out of trucks in front of you. Also, an "elimination" mode. Very fun, IMO, but it may not be for everyone.

 

As for Burnout Paradise, I can actually see what you mean by that. If open-world racing with no real goals (the races aren't really all that challenging... the game is more about just pulling off stunts, beating events, roaming around and smashing gates & billboards, etc..) is not your thing, then Burnout 3 is probably a great choice if you don't already have it. It's an amazing game. Burnout Revenge too, since it actually had a true 360 port. Burnout 3 is for the original Xbox and may not work on the 360.

 

Both, of course, are just made up of a bunch of tracks. No open-world stuff.

[2Tie]

For computer, I'd recommend any of the TrackMania games (I own Sunrise). A little bit on the not-all-that-realistic side, these games have GREAT track editors and getting the medals become quite a challenge later on.

 

And LEGO Racers is great, just keep in mind that it's an old game. Near-fully customizable characters and cars, powerups a la Mario Kart but with the ability of being powered up themselves, decent AI, unlockables galore, and a side of LEGO humor. It seems more people have played the sequel (I never have), but I must say this one is a lot of fun, given you can find it.

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

I just looked up Trackmania, and that looks like a lot of fun. That's almost the ideal game for unrealistic just-for-laughs type of racing game I would want. Since it was made in 2008 (the one on Steam) I would assume it works well with my laptop. I'm just going to have to download the free version and see.

 

I have the original LEGO Racers, and it's definitely better than the sequel was. Warp Boost item FTW am i right? In the second LEGO racers, they lost their focus in terms of the LEGO aspect of the game, very few customizable options. At least they turned it into a story somewhat in the second game. Rocket Racer will always be one of my favorite antagonist/bosses in racing games ever.

 

And just in case nobody else did so already, i'd like to welcome you to SF-O, 2Tie

[2Tie]

Yes, TM is great for some laughs :3

 

Ha, yes warp boost was amazing (except vs Rocket Racer >.<). I also have LEGO Stunt Rally for GBC, it has some great music and another great track editor, but I must say gameplay falls a bit... simple, and easy. Especially when you start memorizing the courses.

 

And I don't think anybody has yet, Thank you very much~ :3

[WOLFjr]

This game I'm about to mention isn't available on xbox live arcade, though I really wish it was. Everybody here loves Hydro Thunder, but I really haven't played it a lot to give my opinion. However, there is another game in the 'Thunder' racing series that I remember both playing and really enjoying... Arctic Thunder!