Little-Known or Forgotten Racing/Driving Games

[TypeRDC5]

This game had it ALL for me. Cockpit view, damage, and acceptible car sounds with backfires.

V-Rally 3 PS2,Xbox,PC

Ahh the memories! My favourite ever rally game!

Didn't really enjoy VRally 1 or 2 but this surprised me greatly back then, played it to death. amazing game :}

 

[JR98]

Crash & Burn (PS2)

This was quite possibly my favourite PS2 game.

 

[Yarf]

SSX sega rally hybrid thing

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQfMXStEZ4o

We need another one of these but in simulator form

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDNlqAHZJRU

Newman haas racing, i'd like to see Christian Fittipaldi's car from this game in a future GT or FM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_xLqtIuh0

Micro Machines clone. It's great though

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMgRT6U698

Maldonado Simulator 2025

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXYe412hfj0

Mentioned here a couple of times, may also be a different name where you live

http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/09/total-drivin-how-a-psone-racer-sowed-the-seeds-for-future-success/

Before flatout there was this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLKp0APR4JA

Other:

-Rapid Racer a PS1 powerboat game
-The first Rallisport challenge, okay the first one wasn't that great but the second one might be one of the best arcade rally racers ever, and possibly a building block for the first Forza Motorsport game.
-Grand Prix Challenge a licenced F1 game from the same creators behind the Dreamcast Test Drive Le Mans and the PS2 Le Mans 24 hour game (same game but with a slight roster update). The AI is great and the weather effects are fantastic.
-Destruction Derby Arenas,this ones not that great, but having 20 cars on track and explosive enviroments must have been a huge feat for the PS2 at the time.

 

[JohnBM01]

GTC Africa for the PlayStation 2 is very forgotten and little-known. To provide some insight, I've found this video for your viewing pleasure:


I surely wouldn't mind playing the Rallisport Challenge games. Those have been mostly forgotten as well. Ultim@te Race Pro remained the basis of me wanting to discuss racing/driving games that are little-known or forgotten. I even remember once seeing this game as a PC game from an old Kay-Bee Toys store back in the mid-late 1990s. I'm glad we have stuff like YouTube, along with certain dedicated YouTubers, offer videos and such of these games in action.

 

[Yarf]

The pre milestone MotoGP games were a favorite of mine, the THQ ones were really fun and the Namco ones were the same every year but still managed to be a fun series as well. The Namco ones also had Klonoa as a playable rider.



www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP3eBMgvgfA

 

[JohnBM01]

The only MotoGP game I have is "MotoGP 4" for the PlayStation 2. I mostly liked the music in the game. It does have some great racing action also. Had it not been for this game, I wouldn't have known about motorcycle makers like Gilera and Derbi.

 

[Casey]

Delete.

 

[MisterWaffles]

 

[JohnBM01]

Wow! I didn't know "Smuggler's Run" had a sequel. I didn't even play the first one.

 

[Yarf]

Rally Championship. A arcade predecessor to the hyper realistic, more real than real life Richard Burns

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlVZCK7OctY

 

[LeGeNd-1]

While we're on the subject of rally, most people remember Colin McRae as the top rally game from the PS1 days, but to me this gem is the best rally game on PS1:



Narrow stages (based on real life GPS maps, I might add), huge selection of lesser known Kit cars, time of day/weather and reasonably realistic physics makes for an awesome experience.

And while we're at it, here's a Truck version of Wangan Midnight

 

[JohnBM01]

I have "Mobil 1 Rally Championship." It isn't as good as any of the Colin McRae Rally games, but it is still a very good rally racing game. I completed this game on the easiest difficulty. I never got to race the major machines in this game, but it is very much a good game.

 

[Yarf]

Side by side special, i remember playing this when i was 3 or 4, and since it was Japanese, i had no idea how it worked on my cousins PS1 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyM1yoKEfHA

 

[JR98]

Race Driver GRID is a game that seems to have been forgotten about. IMO it's one of the best racing games that was released for the PS3, with an amazing variety of cars and tracks and one of the best career modes of any PS3 racing game.

Part 2 of the above review:
​

 

[Wolfe]

@JASON_ROCKS1998 -- GRID is indeed a great game. I just recently finished it (I forgot I didn't!) to kinda wrap up my collection of XB360 games because that's probably the system I'll shelve to make room once I get a PS4.

I was never a fan of the physics, but they're workable and the racing itself is pretty good. Running your own team is what really hooked me, and I can't fathom why Codemasters ditched that. I was charmed by the first teammate I hired, Eiji Matzuke, and kept him through the whole game. He placed last a lot of the time, but his personality made it endearing. In the right car, though, I could let him pass me to take the podium in a 1-2 team finish.

I also have GRID Autosport, and aside from the cars/tracks, it's a soulless downgrade from the first game.

 

[JR98]

This just got a re-release on Steam which has gotten me to go back to playing it. Such a fun game that had tons more customization than the NFS games of the time, with literally every single part of the car, down to the individual parts of the engine and running gear. Car list wasn't that great but the moddability of the game was extreme. This re-release appears to be way more stable and includes a long list of improvements.

It is still a very old game and it isn't that great graphically but it is a lot of fun just modifying the cars, plus the mods usually look pretty decent.

 

[Wolfe]

It's incredible how much effort fans have poured into what honestly began as a garbage low-budget racing game, simply because it offered an innovative and entertaining garage feature.

 

[Tornado]

Looking at that video, it looks like quite a grab bag of late 1990s car games. Midtown Madness 2 crossed with Sports Car GT, Gearhead Garage, XTreme Racer 2 and a touch of Porsche Unleashed. Shame it came out in... er... 2003. Some of the persnickety things from the garage menu are the exact kind of obnoxiously unfun things that I love in games.

 

[JohnBM01]

I mentioned this game previously in this thread, but I really think a game like Racing Lagoon probably could have been a hot game today. Someone witty enough and talented enough could possibly make a fairly decent "CarPG." The game was made by (then) Squaresoft. Squaresoft would then create the mediocre "Driving Emotion Type S." If you're going to make an RPG, best do it with a company that knows the genre like the back of its hand, right? I can imagine maybe a modern "CarPG" made by even an indie developer. It doesn't have to be illegal street racing. It doesn't have to be touge. It can be an RPG with the familiar theme of going from an amateur to a racing world champion. While I don't like storylines to racing games, a cleverly-told storyline can make for an outstanding RPG racing/driving game.

If you need a little video insight on Racing Lagoon, I've provided this video for you all. Enjoy:


You're welcome, world.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

I mentioned this game previously in this thread, but I really think a game like Racing Lagoon probably could have been a hot game today. Someone witty enough and talented enough could possibly make a fairly decent "CarPG." The game was made by (then) Squaresoft. Squaresoft would then create the mediocre "Driving Emotion Type S." If you're going to make an RPG, best do it with a company that knows the genre like the back of its hand, right? I can imagine maybe a modern "CarPG" made by even an indie developer. It doesn't have to be illegal street racing. It doesn't have to be touge. It can be an RPG with the familiar theme of going from an amateur to a racing world champion. While I don't like storylines to racing games, a cleverly-told storyline can make for an outstanding RPG racing/driving game.

The Crew is meant to be a car RPG. Ironically the reason what made RPG so great (taking your character and gradually improving it) doesn't translate well into cars. When you started out all cars handle horrifically. Only by grinding and levelling up it will handle like a proper car. Not a great idea IMO. Leave RPGs to people, and leave cars being cars

 

[Liquid]

Mobile 1 Rally Championship on PC is fantastic. By far and away one of the best racers of its time. I'm pretty sure the stages are based on real-life Ordnance Survey maps of the UK too.

 

[Tornado]

That's the one that had the crazy advanced track creator right?

 

[daan]

From my point of view, it went downhill fast, but the original Need For Speed was a great game. It debuted on the 3DO (remember that?) but I had it for my Sega Saturn. At the time it was one of the most realistic driving games you could get with long, point to point tracks as well as some circuits.

 

[Grandea GTR]

I mentioned this game previously in this thread, but I really think a game like Racing Lagoon probably could have been a hot game today. Someone witty enough and talented enough could possibly make a fairly decent "CarPG." The game was made by (then) Squaresoft. Squaresoft would then create the mediocre "Driving Emotion Type S." If you're going to make an RPG, best do it with a company that knows the genre like the back of its hand, right? I can imagine maybe a modern "CarPG" made by even an indie developer. It doesn't have to be illegal street racing. It doesn't have to be touge. It can be an RPG with the familiar theme of going from an amateur to a racing world champion. While I don't like storylines to racing games, a cleverly-told storyline can make for an outstanding RPG racing/driving game.

If you need a little video insight on Racing Lagoon, I've provided this video for you all. Enjoy:


You're welcome, world.

Played it and 100% completed it. No regrets, absolutely loved the game.

Pretty sure this is the only game where you can octa-turbocharge an engine.

 

[Liquid]

That's the one that had the crazy advanced track creator right?

Possibly. I can't say I remember for sure. V-Rally 3 had a fantastic track creator. I just really loved the fact that, as someone from North East Wales, the Welsh Rally in MB1RC game had the legit stages through the Clocaenog forest.

It did have a belting late 90s soundtrack though.



I'd really love to own this game again and take the time to play it properly. I seem to recall that it was widely distributed as part of a bundle pack in the UK at that time; you'd buy a new PC from PC World or Dixons and you'd get this, Unreal Tournament (!) and Ultimate Soccer Manager 98/99 thrown in for free.

It might be difficult to work on a Windows 8 PC, mind.

 

[VXR]

Ultimate Soccer Manager 98 was the bees knees.

 

[daan]

Possibly. I can't say I remember for sure. V-Rally 3 had a fantastic track creator. I just really loved the fact that, as someone from North East Wales, the Welsh Rally in MB1RC game had the legit stages through the Clocaenog forest.

It did have a belting late 90s soundtrack though.



I'd really love to own this game again and take the time to play it properly. I seem to recall that it was widely distributed as part of a bundle pack in the UK at that time; you'd buy a new PC from PC World or Dixons and you'd get this, Unreal Tournament (!) and Ultimate Soccer Manager 98/99 thrown in for free.

It might be difficult to work on a Windows 8 PC, mind.

I have this one.

It didn't work last time I tried, but I may have to give it a go in DOSbox.

 

[wvmgmidget]

This is quite possibly the worst racing game I've ever played. There are only a few fictional cars, three tracks, atrocious physics, and laughable AI. The career mode is only only few races and if I remember correctly (I could be wrong) might be the only mode in the entire game.

On a positive note, I heard that A1 Games Bowling was pretty good.

 

[Neddo]

good game

 

[Liquid]

Pretty fun game when I was 10.