Over the past 25 years video game consoles have become common place within homes and while you may enjoy first-person action games, or story driven games, for us racing games are the epitome of gaming.
We like yourselves have spent hours upon hours of our lives playing the best racing games on offer, but which is the best of all time?
We asked you on social media for the top ten of all time, so if your favourite didn’t make the top ten, or you’re unhappy with the order, don’t blame us.
Honourable mentions:
Before we get started here are a couple of honourable mentions for games that just missed out on the top ten.
Chase HQ
This 1988 arcade racing game is seen as a spiritual successor to the popular Full Throttle. The player assumes the role of a police officer named Tony Gibson, member of the “Chase Special Investigation Department.” Along with his partner, Raymond Broady, he must stop fleeing criminals in high-speed pursuits in a black Porsche 928.
Virtua Racing
Virtua Racing, is a Formula One racing arcade game released in 1992. Virtua Racing was initially a proof-of-concept application for exercising a new 3D-graphics platform under development, the “Model 1”. The results were so encouraging, that Virtua Racing was fully developed into a standalone arcade title.
10. Micro Machines
Based on the toy series Micro Machines proved a big hit in the video game industry, when they took the plunge in 1991 releasing, yes you guessed it, Micro Machines. Since then they’ve released a further six games, with the latest being 2017’s Micro Machines World World Series on the current generation consoles. It will be interesting to see if they release a new game when the new Playstation and Xbox consoles are released later this year.
9. WipEout
This futuristic racing video game has a soft spot for all video gamers over the age of 25. It was originally released in 1995 for PlayStation and MS-DOS, and later in 1996 for Sega Saturn, being a launch title for the PlayStation in Europe only. It was re-released as a downloadable game for the PS3 and PS Portable in 2007.
Set in 2052, players compete in the F3600 anti-gravity racing league, piloting one of a selection of craft in races on several tracks around the world. Unique at the time, Wipeout was noted for its futuristic setting, weapons designed to both stall and destroy enemy opponents, a grown up version of Mario Kart if you will.
8. Grand Theft Auto
While not technically a racing game, Grand Theft Auto somewhat surprisingly took eighth place. Players can race against CPU’s in the games to earn extra money outside of missions, or just compete for fun. Players are now able to race their friends in the latest instalments of the series such as GTA IV and GTA V through online gaming.
7. F1 Series
Esports might be big in the current climate, but gamers have been able to race against their favourite Formula 1 racers for years, albeit CPU versions. Originally starting on Atari in 1976 (For younger readers Atari was a revelation in home game, we promise) the F1 series has been running for just under 45 years now and as you can imagine the gameplay and graphics have improved exponentially.
6. Need for Speed
Need for Speed has been around in some form for over 25 years now and has been a staple of the games available on the Playstation having released multiple titles for each generation of Sony’s console. Amazingly this video game series even spawned a movie, after the success of the Fast and Furious franchise it seemed logical at the time, however it’s for the best if you don’t watch it.
5. Colin McRae
Colin McRae Rally, and more recently Dirt, started in 1998 and the franchise has been a critical and commercial success and is generally acknowledged as a pioneer of realistic rally sports racing games. The series is named after the World Rally Championship driver Colin McRae, who provided extensive technical advice during development.
4. Out Run
Who didn’t enjoy controlling a Ferrari Testarossa Spider as you spent hours down the arcade racing along the tropical beaches as you tried to avoid traffic and reach your destination? Astonishingly Out Run’s creation was completed within ten months. The game was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of the best-selling video games of its time and Sega’s most successful arcade cabinet of the 1980s. It was ported to numerous video game consoles and home computers and spawned a number of sequels.
3. SEGA Rally
There have been five games released in the Sega Rally series. The original game, SEGA Rally Championship, was released on SEGA’s Model 2 board and became very popular in the arcades, so much so that SEGA ported it to their own gaming system of the time, the Sega Saturn. The port was of excellent quality and looked much better than PlayStation racing games of the same era. SEGA Rally then made a comeback as one of the launch titles for the Playstation 3 and was also released on the Xbox 360.
2. Mario Kart
Unbelievably Mario Kart finished second in our poll. If you don’t know what Mario Kart is by now, you’ve probably been hiding under a rock since 1992. This game is a great way for family and friends to pit their digital driving skills against each other, well after they’re done arguing who gets to race as which character.
1. Gran Turismo
Did you really expect any other game to take first place? Gran Turismo is the ultimate racing video game series of all time. Created as a Playstation exclusive title upon its initial release in 1997, this series has gone on to sell a whopping 85 million copies across 15 games in the series, including eight million for the latest release in 2017 for Gran Turismo Sport proving it’s popularity hasn’t waned.