Momentous Racing Games

[Bordersdown Twitter]

Great responses so far. WONDERFUL to see such positive memories and passionate people enjoying their time in the driving seat!

[MENTION=10111]QualityChimp[/MENTION] reminded me of Screamer on the PC earlier today. Quality game.

I'm currently addicted to Dirt Rally - when this comes to consoles, it should be an essential purchase for any self respecting race fan. It's even better than Rallisport Challenge 2 on the Xbox.

I've missed out on the multiplayer games of recent times like Burnout Paradise. I've tried a bit of NFS Rivals but it's a bit repetitive.

On the PC, it was all about GP Legends, GP2 and Ultimate Race Pro

On the N64 it was all about World Driver Championship and Top Gear Rally, with a bit of 1080, Excitebike and Waverace if you are willing to call those racing games.

On the DC, it was F355 and Metropolis Street Racer

On the Xbox it was Project Gotham Racing 2, Forza and RC2. Going back to Forza now shows you how far the handling and sound has come along since then, but the track design was more fun back then.

On the 360 I really enjoyed Jeremy McGrath's Offroad, but the multiplayer died in a couple of weeks Hilarious floaty handling model. Trials HD was digital crack.

Not familiar with Screamer or GP Legends etc? But looking good! We accept a forms of Racing in this thread hashtag: no racism!
Jeremy McGrath's Offroad sounds like some he's broken down, or a freaky Orienteering / Rambling Fest? But we'll try and find one when we're next out in the valley.

I loved GTI Club in the Arcades, I did pick it up on PS3 but it didn't have the same "feel".

GTI Club Arcades = YUS!

To me it's all about Outrun 2. The xbox version was a spectacular port but the most amazing version was on the psp.

Virtually arcade perfect in your pocket and all the rest of the play methods and route.

Outrun 2 is all about LARGE & LOUD surely? Fantastic game for certain regardless of platform.

i regularly play the shutokou battle games (going through 2 on the DC at the moment) and they are brilliant (well 0/1 & 2 are).

i can only image what a ps4/xbox one version would look like, with the graphics engine of the new need for speed game

Shutokou Battle DC = Some nights were well & truly lost there! Anyone here tried the new ones?

Outrun 2 C2C on the OG Xbox Jesus man that was increds. I was still owning the leaderboard in our seafront arcade when that came out I couldnt fathom how good the home version was. Granted nigh on same hardware but still, blown away.

And of course Ridge Racer 7 for the most complete RR experience.

Just remembered ive got Outrun 2 C2C on PC DVD somewhere, gonna get that reinstalled.

Get it done & show us these times!

RR was my favourite of the series, RRR and Rage had errors on the tracks and from there the drift business made it go downhill.

GT Japanese version got a lot of playtime as did Rock n Roll racing on the SNES.

Safe to say RR series hits many people, at various points? GT too, unless you never had a PlayStation ever.. Imagine that!

The pc version doesn't so it for me at all. Yep the graphics are shinier and all that but the feel of the game is off. The Xbox captured it perfectly and the psp does an admirable job but the PC version just felt hollow in comparison.

Also lets throw vanishing point on the DC up in here. I played the challenges in the side more than the actual game as they are so much fun.

Intruiging. Adds Vanishing Point to watch list.

Never Forget
It was the 16bit era before I was bothered much by racers outside Arcades. On 16bit it was mostly Rock n Roll Racing, Stunt Race FX, Street Racer, Super Mario Kart and Super Off Road

On 32bit the ones that pop immediately to mind are Sega Rally, Ridge Racer, Rage Racer and Need for Speed

On 64bit it was Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Mickeys Speedway

On 128bit it was F Zero GX, Rallisport Challenge 2, Metropolis Street Racer, Burnout 3, Outrun 2, Gran Turismo 4 and Daytona USA 2001

Last gen it was Blur, Burnout Paradise, Project Gotham Racing 4, Forza Horizon, Mario Kart 8, Ridge Racer 7 and Motorstorm Pacific Rim

This gen, so far Forza Horizon 2 and based on early impressions Dirt Rally. I need to revisit Drive Club too.

I definitely want more colour and fun in my racers, too much seriousness in most.

Such a colourful post! Seriously, some absolute diamonds mentioned here.

The pure joy of booting up Ridge Racer on my Japanese PSX in December 1994 remains my highlight. I played the game until my fingers hurt!! It was simple, challenging and FUN. The words "you have a new lap record" were (are) a joy to hear.

There have many greats after RR, but it is my number 1.

That announcer was so lively, they should get him to do annoucements for every store in the world!

A lot of my faces have already been mentioned, but I remember Le Manns 24 on the Dreamcast being a memorable racer. Also, Suoer Monaco Racing on the Mega Drive and Pit Stop 2 on the C64 were classics at the time, with hours of fun!

112

Nice to see Super Monaco mentioned, I can almost hear the screaming of parents.. Oh and some C64 action in place!

The joy of playing Ridge Racers on my Japanese PSP in December 2004 remains my highlight. The DS had come out only ten days or so earlier, and it had blown my mind to play Mario 64 on a handheld. But compared to the awesome Ridge Racers, the DS seemed a disappointment. The PSP was an amazing handheld but racing was its strongest genre.

Runner up - Metropolis Street Racer. Loved the real tracks and the radio stations.

All about those radio stations. Such a neat addition, Kudos too them.

[teddymeow]

R4.

Real Racing Roots '99.

[speedlolita]

Sega Rally Championship in arcades, before I even owned any gaming related items. Later, Gran Turismo.

[Anpanman]

A lot of my faces have already been mentioned, but I remember Le Manns 24 on the Dreamcast being a memorable racer. Also, Suoer Monaco Racing on the Mega Drive and Pit Stop 2 on the C64 were classics at the time, with hours of fun!

112

Never had Le Man on the DC - maybe one day!

Yes Pitstop II was ace, think it was one of the first games to have two player split screen. Even Pitstop I was very good and was 'different' to anything else at the time.

Super Hang on and Lotus on the Amiga, another two I remember well.

[Darwock]

18 posts before Gran Turismo gets a mention (edit- ampanman may have mentioned it by initials, missed that), that is just weird. It's a bloated mess now but the original was in a class of its own.

My life in racing games:

Ivan Ironman Stewart's Super Off-road Racer (ZX Spectrum)
(my Atari ST days didn't throw up any life consuming racers)
Formula 1 (Psygnosis, PS1)
Gran Turismo (PS1)
Metropolis Street Racer (DC)
Burnout 2 (PS2)
Wipeout HD (PS3)
Outrun 2 (I played it most on PSP but the cut-down PS3 version is the one that lingers)

All of these (with the exception of Burnout 2) became an obsession with setting lap times and/or had to be played with friends religiously.

Other notables:

Grand Prix Challenge on the PS2
F355 Challenge on the DC
Gran Turismo 3 - the last really great one in the series

[Anpanman]

18 posts before Gran Turismo gets a mention (edit- ampanman may have mentioned it by initials, missed that), that is just weird. It's a bloated mess now but the original was in a class of its own.

Yep it was GT, have edited my post.

Revs on the C64 and F1 on the Amiga just sprung to mind as well as the PS1 version.

I found the PS1 version really entertaining, Canada for me was hard as nails but Monaco I could give all the other cars a lap start even on the harder settings and I would easily catch them up - odd.

[gunrock]

I know it's not a die-hard racer but what did you make of Pure?

Only played it a bit but thought it was amazing.

[charlesr]

I never played Pure as far as I remember. What was the attraction?

I forgot to add GC to my list:
Burnout 1 and 2 (my first play of a force feedback wheel)
R: Racing Evolution - ignored by most because of the weird grainy graphics filter and the fact it wasn't RR. Countless hours disappeared into this, again with the wheel. Me and [MENTION=208]Commander Marklar[/MENTION] were totally representing the UK on the online leaderboards

[QualityChimp]

Good shout [MENTION=313]djtickle[/MENTION]! Loved GTI Club in the arcade. The handbrake was a great touch.

I think I prefer racing games like Super Sprint, Neo Drift Out and The Great Thousand Mile Rally.


Failing that, driving games where you've got something to do other than racing around the Nurburgering (...again) like the Stuntman and Driver series.

[djtickle]

Yep it was GT, have edited my post.

Revs on the C64 and F1 on the Amiga just sprung to mind as well as the PS1 version.

I found the PS1 version really entertaining, Canada for me was hard as nails but Monaco I could give all the other cars a lap start even on the harder settings and I would easily catch them up - odd.

The soundtrack to GT 1 was amazing too!

[nakamura]

i regularly play the shutokou battle games (going through 2 on the DC at the moment) and they are brilliant (well 0/1 & 2 are).

i can only image what a ps4/xbox one version would look like, with the graphics engine of the new need for speed game

Oh man.

[nakamura]

Where to start? 16 bit perhaps.

F-Zero is an all time fav. I love the feel and weight of the craft. Plus the difficulty levels offer the feel of a real race unlike most of the drone style opponent of the day. Amazing music and tracks too.

Power Drive. A SNES and MD classic. Lovely 16 but take on the Neo Geo style top down Racer.

Nigel Mansell's F1 Challenge. The SNES version is one of the best into the screen racers of the time. Much better than Monaco GP IMO. The cars have a lovely turning feel as opposed to the usual locked sideways sliding.

Stunt Race FX. Whilst Seriously dated, the superb physics and brilliant tracks made this a great game of the era. I'm lucky to have a sped up cart which makes the game playable still but no doubt would have loved a 3DS port with a 60fps update.

Super Mario Kart. All time classic.

Road Rash. Fantastic Mega Drive racer. Still highly playable, tough and great music.

[replicashooter]

Hot damn. Neo drift out.

Spent some coin on that one in the past, let me tell thee.

To throw a few more in the mix:

Arcade chase h.q. was and is the tits. So much fun with some uber funky music to boot.

F zero gx. There comes a time when playing this that if feels like your consciousness is residing in your brain stem and everything is taking place on a lower, more visceral and instinctual level. Great fun. Great controller smashing fun.

Wipeout pure. More of the same but on the go. A new reason for spending an hour on the toilet complete with tingling legs.

Lotus esprit turbo challenge on the Amiga had great tunes and was a top notch game too. Just reminded me of super cars ii as well which just oozed personality and humour.

[Tobal]

Played the majority of my racing games during Ps1-N64,Dc,Xbox, days, can only think of a few highlights from the 16bit era and have fallen out completely with the genre after Forza3, tried getting back into it with a cheap copy of the Crew, and while i love the idea the open road, the design of the challenges, car/mission progression and the HUD really put me off.

Megadrive - Micro machines series, Super-Hang on(more for the music), Road Rash 1-3, Skitchin and Virtua Racing, just Mario Kart and Z-zero from the snes days.

Ps1 - countless titles,
Destruction Derby 1 and 2- so many hours on packaged demo of 1, and 2 was just fantastic with the addition of flips and better racing.

Wipeout 2097- first and only time the series really grabbed me, the original left me cold, but the more forgiving controls and great soundtrack had me playing for months.

Rollcage - easily up there with the Wipeouts and FZero's of the world, game is fast and often upside down, and it felt like a technical marvel on the ageing ps1

Ridge Racer/Rev/R4 - Original i think i didn't get much play after i rinsed it, but Revo with the Angel/Devil Jnr cars, i remember having some intense 1v1's with the A.I. and R4 was the last time i enjoyed RR title before i skipped first years of the ps3 and didn't like the addition of turbo in the later games.

GT 1 - first game i felt really changed the way i saw racers, still remember that 1st reply after completing a racing... those graphics, that handling, the way the A.I. moved... majestic, countless hours lost. Never really found a connection with the sequels.

Rapid Racer - beatiful graphics with a Highres mode,

official F1 game - the 1st and 2nd versions mainly, don't remember the rest being good

Extreme Games - might have had ESPN in front of it but it was one of those Road Rash sprites on 3d courses games, i can't remember if you had to mash the button to pedal, but i certain remember the street luge being fast as hell.

Road Rash 3D - great sense of speed, the art direction for everything outside the racing and the soundtrack i remember the most.

Need for Speed 1 - the only NoS game i own, and as far i know based on demos i've played others... still the best one.

Porsche Challenge - decent sony made racer, one lost to the history books once GT came through town.

Super Sonic Racers and Circuit Breakers - Still top, top racers which as far i know have never been better in the isometric/to down single screen mutliplayer racers, frantic fun nudging mates of the track, those sumo matches on the lifts and rafts and balls to wall bravery trying to lead at the front with minimal view ahead of you.

N64
MarioKart 64 - one more for the mutli-player 4 player.. so many college afternoons spent playing this instead of the classroom.

F-zero 64 - my personal fav of the series, the speed and number of racers on screen had me hooked, as did the rivalry in the championship leagues, something i feel only Nintendo gets right . Still remember how proud i was to complete it on the hardest difficulty to get the title menu to graphics to change.

Dreamcast -
Crazy Taxi - as much a racer as an other game here, left me with serious finger cramp and an to occasionally need to go Naaa, naaa, naaa.

F335 - bit to hardcore me, even with all the aides on.

Super Runabout - strange, strange free roam car racer/smasher which gave you a mission to do then dumped you in an open map, like an the evolution of the driving bit from Die Hard trilogy. Stiff controls but i remember loving smashing into stuff.

Tokyo Highway Battle - i remember it having such a different driving model to every other game i thought, what utter rubbish it was.. wasn't until i left a mate to play the game and saw the thrill of 1v1 battles, screeching tyres' a hairs breath away from the barriers bending it around the ong fast corners. So i learnt the game, and both my mate and i took it in turns to hunt the gang leaders down.

Rush 2049 - easily one of the top 3 racers of all time, the modes, the tracks, the handling, the wings and the mutliplayer... a total package.

MSR - fantastic mix of arcade handling with abit of simulation on it, i remember the graphics being fantastic, the sound effects and radio channels along with the massive amount of tracks.

Xbox
Rallisport Challange 1/2 - best graphics at the time, silky smooth in single player, and great mutliplayer support.

Quantum Redshift - MS's wipeout/fZero - beautiful graphics, smooth framerate and better controls than wipeout, and on par with F-Zero, including a similar rivalry Nintendo puts in there championship leagues. Real shame it never got a sequel.

Forza 2 - 1 was a good start, but the customisation stuff and online pushed it to my Favorite sim racer. Lost countless hours in the editor, humming along to the knock off song covers like Ironman.

PGR - picked up here MSR left off but added really good online support.

[Bordersdown Twitter]

I know it's not a die-hard racer but what did you make of Pure?

Only played it a bit but thought it was amazing.

We put it in the 1st post for PURE fact!

I never played Pure as far as I remember. What was the attraction?

I forgot to add GC to my list:
Burnout 1 and 2 (my first play of a force feedback wheel)
R: Racing Evolution - ignored by most because of the weird grainy graphics filter and the fact it wasn't RR. Countless hours disappeared into this, again with the wheel. Me and [MENTION=208]Commander Marklar[/MENTION] were totally representing the UK on the online leaderboards

Commander Marklar? Oh we remember this one! Great to get nostalgic over the people who helped us DRIVE ourselves into the games, YES. Good form there charlesr repping the Glistening Cube & the UK!

Good shout [MENTION=313]djtickle[/MENTION]! Loved GTI Club in the arcade. The handbrake was a great touch.

I think I prefer racing games like Super Sprint, Neo Drift Out and The Great Thousand Mile Rally.

Failing that, driving games where you've got something to do other than racing around the Nurburgering (...again) like the Stuntman and Driver series.

Neo Driftout & 1000 Miles Rally are in a league of there own surely! Cannot fathom why we missed them from the initial post? Easy on the Burgers now... Driver & Stuntman, nice additions QualityChimp FlatOut?.

Where to start? 16 bit perhaps.

F-Zero is an all time fav. I love the feel and weight of the craft. Plus the difficulty levels offer the feel of a real race unlike most of the drone style opponent of the day. Amazing music and tracks too.

Power Drive. A SNES and MD classic. Lovely 16 but take on the Neo Geo style top down Racer.

Nigel Mansell's F1 Challenge. The SNES version is one of the best into the screen racers of the time. Much better than Monaco GP IMO. The cars have a lovely turning feel as opposed to the usual locked sideways sliding.

Stunt Race FX. Whilst Seriously dated, the superb physics and brilliant tracks made this a great game of the era. I'm lucky to have a sped up cart which makes the game playable still but no doubt would have loved a 3DS port with a 60fps update.

Super Mario Kart. All time classic.

Road Rash. Fantastic Mega Drive racer. Still highly playable, tough and great music.

Feel. Feel. Ooooh, we just left Super Monaco GP! Hacker. Industry Standard. Close the door behind you, there's a good chap!
That said. We are very much ALL looking forward to your next update, so we'll let that slide! Catch the DRIFT?

[MENTION=938]Tobal[/MENTION]... BLOOMING HECK! Error 426 (Great post)!?!!? We'll be back.. For you and that [MENTION=7878]replicashooter[/MENTION]