In honor of Rush 2 I
decided to dedicate this time to discussing more about the genre.
Today I'll be counting down the Top Ten Racing Games of all time! Or
more accurately the Top Ten Racing Games out of all the ones I've
played, but that doesn't get nearly as many hits, does it? So,
buckle up and get ready for a wild ride!
10.
Road Rash is a game known
for its motorcycles, cops, and use of weapons to battle it out for
first place. This racing gem by Electronic Arts was one of many Sega
exclusive that made getting a Sega Genesis worth the money. I was
first introduced to this game through my brother as I watched him
and his friends used to play it all the time. I can still remember
his friend falling off his bike and trying to finish the race on
foot. Yeah, you can actually do that. Unfortunately for him, he got
caught by police.
While Road Rash 1 and 2
are particularly bland, mainly due to technology restraints I'm sure,
Road Rash 3 offers a lot more color and features and ages a little
more gracefully than its predecessors. There are more variety to
the courses and focus on fighting other racers, and that was always
one of the things that made it standout from other racers, and
introduces bike upgrades that changes the controls when you install
them. There's more than enough to keep you busy even now assuming
you're a fan of retro games or grew up with them.
9.
While it can be seen as a
little bit of a Mario Kart rip off, Crash Team Racing still has that
Naughty Dog team spirit and was one of the last good Crash Bandicoot
games next to Bash. Unlike Mario Kart this game actually has a plot
and a reason why everybody in the Crash universe is racing. All of
our favorites are here: Crash, Dr. Cortex, Coco, Dr. N-Gin, Ripper
Roo, even Tiny Tiger. You start the game off with eight characters,
but there are fifteen characters you can play overall after
unlocking them. Remember when you had unlockables for new content?
Good times.
Like any good racing
game based off a platformer, it has plenty of weapons and power ups
to use during a race. We have bowling bombs, explosive crates a
plenty. We have turbo, warp orbs galore. You want Aku Aku masks?
I've got twenty! But who cares? No big deal. I want more... Okay,
I'm getting sidetracked. Back when I first played this I didn't care
for it all that much, but that had more to do with my thoughts on
the genre than the game. Looking back it was actually pretty good
and help cement Crash as a good alternative to Mario.
8.
Rush 2049
pushes the franchise into a futuristic settings with new cars, new
tracks and an even better obstacle course. Not to mention that this
time around you have up to four players at any one time making it
great to play with friends. If you're familiar with the series at all
then chances are this addition is the first one you think about.
There are more obstacles on the actual tracks during races you have
to contend with too. You think you're safe and happy and then next
thing you know you run right into a train! Tough luck, pal.
Instead of
being all around America the game goes back to the city of San
Francisco. I would've preferred it'd be all around the world given
the expansion of the last game, but I digress. We're in the future
so we have that going for us and cars even have wings. It's 2049 so
it's about damn time cars can fly, but it only for a limited amount
of time so look out! The circuit is a lot more refined and is
separated by difficulty. Be sure to strap in and get ready to drive
off into the future!
7.
Have I mentioned lately
that I like San Francisco Rush a lot? This is the game that started
it all for the Rush franchise and introduced me to a new way of
racing with more explosions and... explosions. I'll always remember
the sight of the Golden Gate bridge when starting at the first
course and driving through it. This game doesn't have any of the
refinements or additions that Rush 2 introduced, but it's still a
good game to pick up and play either alone or with a friend.
Especially if you just want to race. The whole franchise is good if
you just want to race and not care about anything else.
While you can't set the
difficulty of the track, you can make things easier or harder for you
depending on the type of car you choose, and each one was labeled
easily so you knew what to expect going in. Like 2049, it was
limited to San Francisco, but that was fine because it was the first
game. If you want present day San Francisco (well, more like 90's day
San Francisco now) this was the game to get. If you wanted Future
San Francisco then 2049 was your baby. You could bang up your car,
make others crash, and enjoy all of the explosions that dare I say
was better than the sequels? I haven't encounter a miniature
explosion in the other games yet. If you like the other games and
haven't played this one yet then I definitely recommend it.
6.
A friend introduced me to
this game back in either the late nineties or early two-thousands and
it quickly became one of my favorite racing games. This was also my
introduction to Donkey Kong as well. Unlike CTR you can actually
race in other vehicles like a hovercraft or a plane in addition to
the usual cars. This game even came with its own adventure mode in
Single Player that really makes it stands out among other racing
games, even one based off of platformers.
You can definitely tell
Mario Kart had a lot of influence over this game. It even comes with
a battle stage where you can just run around blasting the hell out
of each other. Weapons include things like explosives, a trail of
bananas, and a bunch of other things I forgot. Been a while since I
played this. I may need to correct that soon. By the way, plane is
the best vehicle. Diddy Kong Racing is a lot of fun and easily earns
its spot on the list. Now it's time for the top five!
5.
Let's face it, this was
going to get on here eventually. Mario Kart 64 is one of the best 3D
racing games to ever come out and like all things Mario it executes
its straightforward presentation to perfection. No story, no
adventure mode of any kind. Just good old fashion racing with weapons
and power ups that you can only get from a Mario game. Play as
Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Bowser.
Wait a minute, he invited his sworn enemies to have a race with him?
That's pretty generous.
Each characters have
their own stages like Mario and Luigi Raceway, Toad's Turnpike, Wario
Stadium, Royal Raceway, DK Jungle Parkway, Yoshi's Valley, and
Bowser's Castle. There are four tracks per cup you want to race for
and in the end first, second, and third place winners gets a gold,
silver, and bronze trophy respectively. Mario Kart 64 also has its
own battle arena where you can fight to the death. Whether you want
to race or fight, you can never go wrong with Mario Kart.
4.
Road Rash 3D took
everything that was great about the previous titles and brought it
together in 3D for the first time. Now with full-motion-video, we
could experience Road Rash in a whole new way. This was the one that
really made you feel those catches by the police because it'd cut to
a clip of a dog's face barking at you. I can still remember doing so
poorly on a race that the guys gave me training wheels when I
finally reached the finish line.
You can still whack
other racers upside the head with weapons, but there's a lot more
emphasis on the actual racing aspect of the game this time around.
The various courses all connect to one giant track rather than being
set in different cities and it's pretty cool seeing how everything
interconnects. Big Game is your one-player mode where you can buy
bikes, earn more cash, and even lose cash depending on how you do in
the races or if you're caught by police. This is one EA game we
don't want to toss out the window.
3.
Need for Speed is another
game by EA that raced its way into our hearts in 1994. First only
available on the 3DO before being ported to PC, Sega Saturn, and the
PlayStation. In case the cover choice wasn't hint enough, I only
ever played the PlayStation version. I remember playing this on one
of my brother's demos a long time ago and while I haven't divulge any
deeper into the franchise what I have played was very enjoyable.
Similar to Road Rash,
it's possible to get arrested in these games and run into traffic on
the roads you're racing on. People just can't help but to street
race. Unlike Road Rash the cops don't carry you off straight away.
Only after you receive a couple of tickets do they take you to jail.
The game really goes out of its way to tell you more about the cars,
from detailed specs, history, audio commentary, and real-life videos
of each vehicle you can select excluding Warrior. It's actually
educational! I'm glad they took the 'the' out in future titles. The
Need for Speed? That sounds horrible. With seven tracks, and eight
cars to choose from, Need for Speed is a great start for a great
series.
2.
This shouldn't come as a
surprise to any longtime race fan. Gran Turismo 2 was my introduction
to the franchise and one of the first racing games I played after
Road Rash and Need for Speed. Instead of racing in the street you
have official race tracks to drive on so there's no reason to worry
about being pulled over by police. Depending on how good you are may
have to worry about staying on the road, but that's another story.
Like Need for Speed, the game has licensed cars separated in three
categories and plenty of color choices. I always liked riding in the
Mustang since it reminds me of my mother's car. There's also an
option for drag racing.
Gran Turismo 2 is
separated by two discs: Arcade and Simulation. Arcade is your
straightforward racing stuff that I always spent the most time on.
Simulation is about getting your license and starting your career
out as a racer. Not a bad setup and I'd talk about it more if I was
any good at taking tests. As embarrassing as it to say, I never past
the driving test in that game so I never got my license. GT2 also
has the best opening of any racing game I've ever played. The black
and white scenery, the music, it's just great. Just one more reason
to love the PlayStation.
And first place goes
to...
1.
Oh, what a shocker. The
game I reviewed last week is number one. Let's just say it managed to
leave a lasting impression on me. I can't help but feel the series
should have taken a cue from this game and kept expending until we
were racing all around the world. Rush 2 refines a lot of the
gameplay from the first game and introduces a lot of things that are
carried over to the third game like cars modifications, course
settings, and the obstacles/stunt course. Another thing I like about
Rush is that there are no licensed cars. Just pick the car you like,
pick the color you like, and race away.
With the difficulty
setting on tracks you can play the game at any level you're
comfortable with and decide how many cars you want to race against
as well as weather conditions. I have a whole review on the game so
if you haven't checked it out you can scroll to the bottom to find
the link. This is the only game in the franchise exclusive to the
N64 too, and they were smart to keep it to themselves. Rush 2 is
worth getting a Nintendo 64 for if you're a huge racing fan.
And that's it for the
Top Ten Racing Games. I had a lot of fun writing this list up and
hoped you had just as much fun reading it. Catch you guys tomorrow
when I review Xenogears. You won't want to miss it.
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