Little-Known or Forgotten Racing/Driving Games

[Tornado]

How is the PSP version? Is it gimped in anyway, or is it relatively one to one? That's what always amazed me about the PSP port of Midnight Club 3, aside from a downgrade in graphics and framerate, it was a pretty much intact port onto a less powerful system.

Looks a decent amount worse. Load times are atrocious. Otherwise pretty much the same it looks like. Scratches a very specific gaming niche almost completely lacking on PSP (surprising considering how popular it was on consoles at the same time), though I would rather have just played TXR0 or something on PS2.

 

[ss3]

I loved Ford Racing 2 and Micro Machines V4!

 

[ZEROTHEKNIGHT]

I don't know if it was posted here but here you go :
F1 Sprit MSX SCC 1987 by Konami :

For it's time it had some realism.
It had actual pitstops where you pit manually by simply holding the brakes until you completely stop to begin pitting.
You also have to exit the pitstop manually by accelerating just after your pitting is done.
They even show you the team mates starts working on your car.
There is fuel gauge - damage for engine - damage on the tires ( which will effect your car behaviour on a straight line )
different classes of racing machines such as :
1- Stock Car.
2- Rally.
3- F3.
4- i think there is Le Mans.
Until you reach F1.
The car can lose control ( spinning 360 ) if you turn too hard at high speed.
The car flips if you hit a certain objects.
The cars also does shoot flames ( backfire ) in rally races.
The cars in rally also does jump if you stepped on a certain places on the course.
You can choose for each class the type of car - the transmission ( Auto or Manual ) - the suspension - the brakes & even the engine of your choice ^^
It was just too good for a game below 100 kb X)

 

[Snaeper]

Jeff Gordon XS Racing

Released in 1999 for Gameboy and PC.



Sci-fi fast paced racing along the lines of the Rush series. Graphics were less than stellar given its polar opposite system releases.

The game was likely trying to cash in on the release of the NASCAR Racers animated show that started airing the same year and featured a similar theme of sci-fi racing.

While most cars were fictional, I believe one was heavily "inspired" by the Ford GT90 concept from a few years earlier.

 

[Tornado]

I had a friend who had that. Played it a couple times. The actual game was, as you said, the most forgettable Midway arcade racer knockoff imaginable occupying that no-man's land between Test Drive 5 and NFS III where every game of the era went to die; but the time and effort that they put into the presentation was absolutely ridiculous. Completely, 100% straightfaced effort put into acting like this goofy generic future racing game was an actual motorsport with Jeff Gordon's actual endorsement; with a driving school and extensive (voiced!) lessons from Gordon on how to better drive. Especially considering to the complete barebones trash that the actual NASCAR games EA made were until the original NASCAR Heat came out; or how phoned in the similar structure of GT5's Gordon endorsement was.

 

[badAZbuddha]

Supercar Street Challenge (2001) is a gem of a game <3

 

[Silver Arrows]

CART Fury, Champ Car racing, given the NBA Jam treatment

That looks more like the various Thunder games Midway made then anything else.

 

[dandroid13]

Here are some I remember that didn't see anyone post.




This has an awesome soundtrack.

 

[Vandolph09]

How about this game?

Sad that this game is very underrated. It had so much potential to be good. Apart from the 'bumper car' like physics, it's pretty good. All the powerups and stuff were really well thought outc and the skill board was actually a pretty cool idea. I like how you don't need just the car to win in this game, you also need to level up your skills. Not to mention the skills also affect the car you're driving, so you have to prioritize your skills first before the car.

But with every good game comes with some cons. As I said previously, it has horrible physics. Hitting a car makes you freakin' bounce like crazy. And the way you turn makes every race a touge race. And the annoying 'chat box' or whatever. Can't these drivers shut the hell up?

I can't think of anymore, but this game is pretty 50% bad and 50% good.

 

[adam46]

I don't know about little known, but I certainly feel like Motorstorm is becoming more and more forgotten.

I only had fleeting experiences with Apocalypse, but Pacific Rift was in my PS3 rotation for many, many years. Hopefully we see it again, despite Evolution Studios' demise, just to see what whacky antics and jaw-dropping beauty the series could eek out of a PS4.

 

[The Chosen One]

Supercar Street Challenge (2001) is a gem of a game <3

Look what I found!

 

[Vinylshark]

TOCA 2 - Touring Cars

Destruction Derby 2

Gotta say I'm slightly disappointed that neither one of them got mentioned before
TOCA 2 was probably the first racing game I've ever played and still is one of my favourite racing games. Same goes for DD2. Dunno how many hours I've spent on those games as a child and even today I still enjoy them as much as I did back then.

 

[ShoXany]

 

[JacoJa]

TOCA 2 - Touring Cars

Gotta say I'm slightly disappointed that neither one of them got mentioned before
TOCA 2 was probably the first racing game I've ever played and still is one of my favourite racing games. Same goes for DD2. Dunno how many hours I've spent on those games as a child and even today I still enjoy them as much as I did back then.

Having binge-played the original Gran Turismo in '98, I was blown away by Toca 2 after the first race. It had a detailed interior view, lightning storms with heavy thunder sound effects, realistic damage (bumpers which would dangle off at one end of the car, front fenders rubbing against the tyres, broken glass particles, cracked windshields, broken headlights, sparks, and bonnets which would unhinge and fling up onto the windshield before eventually detaching). The Championships were also very engaging, with mandatory pit stops, pit wall commentary, and very difficult AI. You could even drive an XJ220 around a loch in Scotland... It was an amazing game!

 

[Stephan]

Since this thread is getting some love once more thanks to the Newswire, I'll be adding more.

Has anyone played Motor City Online?

This game is the reason why NFS World exists. After the successful release of Porsche Unleashed, once more they stick to the formula of focusing on one type of car and that is American cars. Ranging from the Ford hotrods (you can drive one in NFS2015) up to the Mustangs of the game's release year.

Of course this was successful and this was the first game to feature car auctions (Yeah sorry for those who say that Forza was the first racing game to feature car auctions). But due to poor servers, it led to it's downfall. But during its last days, two Japanese imports were added (Mitsubishi Eclipse and Toyota Supra).

So MCO is the father of MMO racing games.

 

[Racin-Rev]

Dirt to Daytona and Mario Andretti Racing were staples for me for a long time.

 

[badAZbuddha]

Look what I found!
View attachment 634739

Ayye that's fantastic! I got mine in a box with my og fat ps2!

 

[ZEROTHEKNIGHT]

TOCA 2 - Touring Cars

Destruction Derby 2

Gotta say I'm slightly disappointed that neither one of them got mentioned before
TOCA 2 was probably the first racing game I've ever played and still is one of my favourite racing games. Same goes for DD2. Dunno how many hours I've spent on those games as a child and even today I still enjoy them as much as I did back then.

I swear i was thinking on posting those but you beat me to it XD

 

[Jeanr]

There was also Advan Racing, which I always wanted to try and import from Japan.


Here's a pretty cool link about some PS1 Japanese racing games such as this one.
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/didyouknow_racing.htm

I played Advan Racing a lot! (in the 90s was very easy to find pirates games in Brazil, even japanese ones...) It was a very fun game!!! It wasn't so hard as Gran Turismo, but the evolution in game was really cool. You had to apply to the races, on weekends. And if you were racing in two series with races on the same weekend, you would had to choose which one you would miss!

 

[Jeanr]

SNES had a lot of very cool racing games - other than Top Gear and Nigel Mansell series - that never got much attention. Exhaust Heat, for example. You start a F1 team with a very simple car, and make money on races. With the prize's money you could buy new car parts - engines, chassis, aeros, tires and suspensions! I remember the game was not FIA licenced, so the engines names reminds only Judd, Ford, Ilmor, Renault, Ferrari and Honda.



Exhaust Heat 2 did not have this cool tuning part (it had a R&D department, but was not the same), but it was not only F1 any more. You start your career as a Group C driver (but, it has only Saubers C9, on several colors... )

Once you won Group C, you go to F-3000!!! And, after that, F1. But, the 3 first teams was Benetton, Footwork and Larousse. If you did well, you could go for the next 3 teams, McLaren, Ferrari and Williams. And this time, it was a FIA licenced game, so the teams and circuits had their real names.



The graphics on the second game was a lot better, but the tracks looks like F-Zero tracks, it was really weird!

 

[GTreal]

Its kinda strange that news poster didn't mentioned Need for Speed in "usual games of the racing genre." with GT and Forza Motorsport, but did Asetto Corsa?! Latest NFS sold better than any Forza game. Anyway i'm here not for this.

What is games "DT Racer" (DT Carnage first part?) and "Axel Impact: The Extreme Racing"?

 

[Terronium-12]

Its kinda strange that news poster didn't mentioned Need for Speed in "usual games of the racing genre." with GT and Forza Motorsport, but did Asetto Corsa?! Latest NFS sold better than any Forza game. Anyway i'm here not for this.

Evidently you are, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned it. There's no specific reason why I didn't mention it; no hidden agenda or bias, it simply didn't come to mind. Sales weren't a factor for those that were listed either.

 

[Turbo]

It's been almost nine years since Midnight Club: Los Angeles was released. Now that it's online mode is out of service, it is forgotten by many, but it was one of my favorite video games besides Gran Turismo. Anyone still remember it?

 

[Michelin Man]

It's been almost nine years since Midnight Club: Los Angeles was released. Now that it's online mode is out of service, it is forgotten by many, but it was one of my favorite video games besides Gran Turismo. Anyone still remember it?

I certainly don't remember it, in fact I nearly forgot of it's existence entirely . That said, I must admit I thought it was more than 9 years old.

I had never been that fussed by the series of Midnight Club games, and thus had never been able to get into them. Just always seemed like the very forgettable rival to NFS at the time.

 

[Sonygamer455]

It's been almost nine years since Midnight Club: Los Angeles was released. Now that it's online mode is out of service, it is forgotten by many, but it was one of my favorite video games besides Gran Turismo. Anyone still remember it?

I do. I will admit I got the game with my PS3 back in Christmas of 2010, but it wasn't until later on in 2014 I actually spent some quality time playing it. I played this game plenty just months before it shut down in favor of getting the R8. Haven't really played it since, but this is definitely one of my top 5 favorite PS3 games. I'd take this over NFS 2015.

 

[The Chosen One]

It's been almost nine years since Midnight Club: Los Angeles was released. Now that it's online mode is out of service, it is forgotten by many, but it was one of my favorite video games besides Gran Turismo. Anyone still remember it?

I played it quite a lot during its prime and past it. There was a modding community for it, I remember having a Ford Cobra Concept with 240-inch diameter wheels, and an older muscle car with ridiculously powerful hydraulics.

Good times!

 

[nis156]

I used to play Megarace 2 on the PC years ago.

 

[azidahaka]

Superstars V8: The Next Challenge

I have a kind of soft spot for this game so i made a video of it, and this time i have used my actual voice for commenting...



A weird cool game that made some things really good, had some exciting and good details, and sported one of the most interesting replays ever, along with automatically generated race highlights!

Also the race intro is great too with grid shown and with formation lap included too.

If interested take a lokk at the video, i did my best give the little time i have at hand lately.

 

[JohnBM01]

No game to share for this post, but I just wanted to show thanks for featuring this topic on the News page of GTPlanet. I am really pleased as to how much this topic has grown and how much we've contributed to this topic. Moreover, I have enjoyed how we have also educated people on various other racing games people may have never heard of. So thank you dearly for the feature of this thread in the GTPlanet News page.

 

[DeolTheBeast]

I used to play London Racer a fair bit many years ago, fun game - added bonus of police chasing you in Mk4 Astras lol

There was a second but I never played it, youtube footage shows this game was a good step on from the original