What was the first game that got you into racing games?

[Stephan]

Gran Turismo 2 (played Arcade mode only that time), Need For Speed Porsche Unleashed, Ridge Racer Type 4, and Test Drive 6. Those games is what made me hooked me up to racing games.

 

[SPhilli911]

It was between the first Gran Turismo and Need for Speed for me, played both real young. Played many, many racing games ever since.

 

[Casey]

For me it was Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2. I enjoyed that game a lot back then and I still do today.

 

[VBR]

Gran Turismo 2. Although the first one I owned & fell in love with was GT3. Having the official Logitech FFB wheel along with stereo speakers & a sub-woofer helped as well.

 

[Carbonox]

World Rally Championship 2001, my first video game altogether. Not a bad one at all, and I have fond memories of completing the entire championship mode (14 rallies, 5 stages each) in one sitting because I didn't know how to save a game yet.

Just sucks knowing Richard Burns died only 4 years after that game... being one of the more distinctive drivers for me, as a frontrunner in a nice-looking Subaru. Philippe Bugalski was another driver I liked to play as, and he died prematurely as well.

 

[torque99]

Since I was very young i got addicted to the atari pole position with my big bro then on to outrun (arcades were always better than consoles) until the mid 90's. As for really getting me hooked it was the NFS hot pursuit2 and GT1. Then Forza 2 and original dirt got me back in to last gen and I have kept going. I really wouldn't like to think how many racing games or consoles I have brought over the years.

 

[imported_rik19]

Makes me laugh when you see the threads for todays games, people moaning about the sounds or number of cars or tracks or trees, non of that ever happened back in the day, sega rally could be completed in about 15 mins i think, 3 cars and 4 tracks, the 4th was the bonus..I remember neighbors and mates all coming round to see games etc, mouths open Oh my god, that is ace...

 

[Benny44]

Makes me laugh when you see the threads for todays games, people moaning about the sounds or number of cars or tracks or trees, non of that ever happened back in the day, sega rally could be completed in about 15 mins i think, 3 cars and 4 tracks, the 4th was the bonus..I remember neighbors and mates all coming round to see games etc, mouths open Oh my god, that is ace...

Haha this exactly! You always here things like "this game is completely unplayable because it drops below 60fps", or screen tear, etc.

Things have changed....a lot. Rad Racer II (I think someone mentioned it earlier this thread) eventually got to where the city was visible, and that was incredible to me at the time. Road Rash 3(Sega Genesis)- that was the first game I played where you could upgrade your vehicle, and that too was incredible. That wasn't really THAT long ago either - 22 years ago (ok, it's been a while). It seems games, and in particular the racing genre, have gotten better exponentially as time has moved on.

 

[FPV MIC]

Road Rash (point to point racer) was my first ever, and then Mario Andretti Racing (circuit) on the Sega Mega Drive. It wasn't hard to get me into racing games, I've been a Motorsport fanatic for as long as I can remember.

Then PS1 came out and a friend bought it along with a Formula 1 game, about a week later I'd bought the same. I just couldn't go back to the Mega Drive.

 

[Lain]

Sega GT 2002

 

[CCM284]

For me, it was NASCAR 08 on the PS2. I wasn't really a fan of racing at the time... but my parents bought me the game one Christmas and I was hooked ever since.

 

[Wolfe]

It seems games, and in particular the racing genre, have gotten better exponentially as time has moved on.

Numerous classics have aged quite well, racing or otherwise. Of the ones I contributed to this thread, F-ZERO is continually worth a go once in a while; its handling/gameplay has held up better than many other racing games over the years.

You're definitely right about racing games, though. They really established themselves around the turn of the millennium (including PC games during that period), and overall they're only getting better. Unlike other genres, I think they rarely worked out very well with 2D graphics, and few developers could figure out a decent handling model in the early years of 3D.

Now this year is a little crazy!

 

[TheCracker]

Chequered Flag on the ZX Spectrum 1983.

I can't really say it "got me into" racing games. I was already into motor racing and computer games, so i was always going to show an interest in any racing game that came about.

 

[barryf1fan]

Someone mentioned these two already, but for me, it was Pole Position and Excite Bike arcade machines - I always played Tempest, Xevious, Galaga, and Joust, games like that. Then I played Pole Position, and have been hooked for life.

One of my all time favorite "play-at-the-Arcade" games was Sega's F355 Challenge - probably dropped enough coin in that game to buy an actual car.

Been trying to play every home racing game I can since about 1989. 👍

 

[Joey D]

The Duel: Test Drive II and Outrun on the Sega Genesis.

 

[Morgoth_666]

The very beginning was probably Pole Position II in the arcade. I may have played something or other racing related before that but I don't remember. PP was the one that stuck with me and probably that I first loved.

I remember a number of NES driving/racing games much later that I did play a lot... Rad Racer, Ivan Stewart Super Off Road, Super Sprint, R/C Pro-Am, Excitebike, not sure if Spy Hunter would really count but you were definitely driving [usually way too] fast.

The one that probably solidified me as a hopeless addict for life was Ferrari Formula 1 for the PC(by EA or MicroProse I think). In retrospect, it's probably a pretty crummy game in a lot of respects but it had such incredibly strong "sim" elements -- A full year-long schedule including testing between races both at home and at other tracks, many aspects of tuning from wings and suspension to fuel mapping and engine durability, time spent making minor changes or changing the gearbox or the engine all included, full weekend sessions, the works. I could get so immersed in an imaginary racing career and I was hooked forever.

Everything that came later was just fuel on the infinite fire. Gran Turismo has a very special spot in my history and I don't know if anything will ever compete with the first rFactor for ultimate racing game, but that was all long after any question of being a permanent race game fan was settled and forgotten.

 

[TripleA5]

When I was a kid I remember playing a lot of Monster Truck Madness 2 on PC with a joystick, spent hours with each truck and track. Not too long after my family got a GameCube and I played NFS Underground, still remember beating my first race with a green Dodge Neon.

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

I was time attacking with a friend on Super Mario Kart on snes to see who would you win the candies we had. That was back in the early 90's.

Then super Monaco gp and finally I really dig it with gt and the infamous skyline and supra ^^

 

[Rallywagon]

My first foray that set the tone was Atari's Pole Position (aging myself a bit aye?) It continued to blossom with Test Drive on an old DOS powered PC. But what really set my love for racing games was a mix of Need for Speed, GT and CM Rally. That is when it shifted from fun to near obsession. I can remember races were I would go nearly the whole race not blinking.

 

[GTPVenomZombie]

WRC Arcade got me into Rally & Gran Turismo 1 got me into circuit racing games.

 

[Rallywagon]

WRC Arcade got me into Rally & Gran Turismo 1 got me into circuit racing games.

Back in the early 2000s we had a GameWorks that had a pair of Initial D racing rigs. On Thursdays they ran a $10 gets you unlimited play from 7-close. They also ran that with dollar wells and drafts. A few of us would circle those machines and race the whole time. That was my intro to touge and Initial D.

 

[TRLWNC7396]

Wow... I'm going to date myself here. I remember playing Pole Position as a kid.

But....

I don't remember NOT playing a racing game any time I got the chance. I just never put up the money to get my own system. I have played most of the games mentioned in this thread, and a couple that weren't (Mario Kart, Nigel Mansell's World Championship, Pit Stop 2).

But the first one that impressed me so much that I bought a system JUST for it was GT1.

Enough said.

 

[AOS-]

Gran Turismo 1 - demo disc

Close 2nd: Rally Cross 2

Then NFS 4 High Stakes

 

[numbnuts70]

I can't find all the 'arcade' driving games that I used to play but did find this:-



A very early driver that was a predecessor for 'chequered flag' on the Spectrum, much the same game.
Pole Positions (1+2), Sega 'Hang-on/Super Hang-on', Out-run - the list goes on, I only usually played drivers or the Track and Field/Hyper Sports in the Arcades in the late 70s early 80s.
Will try and rack my brains to try and find the others but were probably too early for YouTube footage.

 

[Katiegan]

Hard to remember which one exactly, but Midnight Club 3 definitely played a part for me. I spent hours on it on the PS2.

 

[Carlos]

Stunts, a game from 1990

I was 4 years old when my dad got me my first pc (1994) and it had this game. He also got me a keystick!

 

[Benny44]

I can't find all the 'arcade' driving games that I used to play but did find this:-



A very early driver that was a predecessor for 'chequered flag' on the Spectrum, much the same game.
Pole Positions (1+2), Sega 'Hang-on/Super Hang-on', Out-run - the list goes on, I only usually played drivers or the Track and Field/Hyper Olympics in the Arcades in the late 70s early 80s.
Will try and rack my brains to try and find the others but were probably too early for YouTube footage.

Oh wow! That brought back memories I didn't think I had.....but I owned that game! It's strange seeing these games, even the one @Carlos just posted brought back memories. I didn't think I enjoyed racing games until GT, but I guess my love for them started well before. Thanks @numbnuts70 for that video.
@Katiegan I played that as well, but I'm probably twice your age, so it was long after I got into racing games. A lot of you on here are making me feel old

 

[Tired Tyres]

This. On the Amiga 500.

 

[baja_j]

I came from the days of atari LOL
ihad great fun with twisted metal! played senna, nigel mansel, mario kart, need for speed, but it was not untill i played gt1 that i felt like i was actually driving/racing with actual true car behavior. the next big thing for me back then was papyrus nascar 98 i think it was called... i had a wheel attached to a modified chair lol Im getting ancient

 

[Peasantslayer]

A demo version of Test Drive 5 on PS1 is my earliest racing game memory, I must have been 5/6 playing this, IIRC I found the disc in an alleyway near my grandparents house.



The first game that really got me into racing games though was probably NFSU or GT3 A-Spec.