Best driving game ever

[Safety 3rd]

Ah, at least two people have mentioned Rock n Roll racing but i'm afraid they both got it wrong. The SNES version was the only version worth playing and the one on the PSX was really, really terrible.

I'm not a fan of driving sims, more of an arcadey racer myself (to that end, has anyone mentioned GTI Club on the arcade? That game was awesome), but i think GT2 was the best in terms of realism and variety of cars, tracks and races. I didn't play it much, i just used to buy yank muscle cars because they look great lol. Oh and obviously the GTO worth half a million, because it was the best car in the game and the only one you needed outside the special events.

Oh and anyone remember Hard Driving on the NES? Goddamn that game, hours upon hours on the stunt track lol.

 

[luas_dublin]

Honestly, Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidge Racer(think I missed a few ii's there).The first PS version for preference.
In that its not a simulation,(I drive a car , I dont need to pretend to drive) its easy to pick up but balanced enough that you can play it for hours to shave a few seconds off the clock.The track is that well designed that it was enough for a whole game (OK, albeit with a few roadblocks and a mirror mode). And finishing a race by skidding sideways around a long corner into the straight , ALWAYS looks awesome.
Oh and mental Japanese take on Euro Techno > regular racing "licensed soundtrack"(shite remixes and crap nuMetal).

Also Buggy boy on the C64 (you had to be there)

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

Need for Speed II and the first Colin McRae game. Past the about 1997, the enjoyability of driving games decreased as the graphics quality increased.

 

[Safety 3rd]

Good call on Riiiiiiiiiiiiidge Racer dude, I never got bored of drifting backwards round corners on that game. And the little game of Galaga while loading, simply genius that i often wonder at why it never caught on.

 

[floppylobster]

I'm not really a fan but I liked the Need for Speed versions where the cops chased you or Chase H.Q. (arcade) where you have to drive and shoot. Just driving around a track kind of bores me. Except for Sega Rally (arcade) 'cause I like the sliding.

 

[hermes]

I am not really into driving games, but I love Burnout Paradise so far. I guess that should count for something.

The game is just fun, full of content (and free DLC), fun, solid online (even today, after a couple years since its release), fun and a great city to drive through. Also, its a lot of fun.

 

[silasbufu]

Gran Turismo..all of them were the greatest in their time period.. just an opinion

 

[Auric]

Most wanted.

Every NFS game after that was an improvement in graphics for severe reductions in gameplay.

 

[Hippobatman]

FZero on the SNES...

Here's a candidate I can relate to!

However, I haven't played the FZero on the SNES that much, more so on the 64, but even so I regard the franchise as one of the better racing games. Along with Mario Kart 64.

Says a bit about my relationship to racers, don't it?

 

[luas_dublin]

Good call on Riiiiiiiiiiiiidge Racer dude, I never got bored of drifting backwards round corners on that game. And the little game of Galaga while loading, simply genius that i often wonder at why it never caught on.

I'd forgotten about that!
I loved the loading mini games that Namco put on their early PlayStation games , If I remember rightly getting 100% in them would usually unlock extra cars/fighters (in tekken).

 

[Psychemaster]

I call Mario Kart DS.

 

[BubbaJeff]

Burnout and Mario Kart, obviously, but my vote goes to...

Carmageddon! Yes, stupid car combat involving Anthill mob style giant springs and the like, armies of people to drive over or park on and then do wheelspins to spray them up nearby walls, and if you fail the race you can just destroy everyone else in the world until you're first by default of being the only person alive!

Give us next gen Carmageddon now!

Yeaaaaahh!

This. Or Carmageddon 2, which was essentially Carmageddon + Iron Maiden. Incidentally, this formula = win.

 

[Zing]

NFS: Underground 1 and 2. Made me actually enjoy racing games. Undercover and stuff were okay, but didn't recapture how fun Underground was.

 

[mikecoulter]

Burnout Paradise is like heaven for cars. But then again, Gran Turismo 5 is hist around the corner.

 

[Psychemaster]

...if you fail the race you can just destroy everyone else in the world until you're first by default of being the only person alive!

This reminds me of the old Extreme-G games on the N64. If you were a crap driver you could just blow up every other racer and then it wouldn't matter how bad you were.

 

[SilkySkyKitten]

Test Drive Unlimited

Not only is the racing portion of the game great, TDU remains the only driving game where I actually can have lots of fun simply driving around. There's just something so pleasurable about cruising along the west coast of Oahu in a Ferrari with random 80's pop and 70's rock tunes blaring from your custom soundtrack folder that it's almost relaxing, something that very few other games in general can be.

 

[IamQ]

Burnout 3. Screw Burnout: Paradise, I want linear Burnout back!

 

[endisforever]

Burnout ! Imo, only fun driving game there is!

 

[almostgold]

So is this, like, besides mario cart, or what?

 

[The Warden]

I can't nominate one, really, because in games, I'm shit at driving.
Total shit.
I mean, give me any Racing Game, I'll get 8 for sure.
Unless it's GTA, because the people in Brucie's races are fucking terrible.
In fact, give me any sandbox game and I can guarantee my record for leaving cars because they're on fire and about to explode is going to outweigh my record for leaving them perfectly intact.