Great racing game

Simple pleasures. See our full Wreckfest review and buy it now from Amazon. TrackMania is one of those odd little corners of gaming that is almost its own genre: a brutally fast and difficult stunt-driving time-trial game with hugely exaggerated physics that allow for impossible feats of what you can only call airborne car ballet. The PC games have a fantastic, dedicated community, but are bewilderingly fussy in their structure and business models, and last year's reboot, simply called TrackMania, is no different.

So allow us to direct you instead to this fantastic primer in all things Trackmania, made for consoles but also available on PC. It's far more accessible while sacrificing none of the series' legendary, just-one-more-restart, obsessive edge. See our full TrackMania Turbo review and buy it now from Amazon. This lush package is currently the best way to play the iconic, futuristic PlayStation racing series - the original ultra-fast anti-grav racer, and still the best, even if the PS3 and Vita entries remastered here HD, Fury and are not quite of the blistering calibre of the original PlayStation games from the mids.

They are still gloriously slick, fast and beautiful, retaining the clean and cool sci-fi aesthetic that has always set the series apart from its brasher competitors. See our full Wipeout Omega Collection review and buy it now from Amazon. We usually favour recent releases over retro classics in our best-of lists, but a handful of oldies play as fresh now as they ever did, and that goes for this blast of summer breeze from Sega's stone-cold classic of free-wheeling road racing is available on Switch in this lovely version by the remaster artists at M2 - although, if you still have a 3DS, it's even better on that machine, with the stereoscopic visuals.

It's just you against the clock, the traffic and a branching route, drifting forever in a topless Testarossa. It's a crying shame, though, that OutRun 2 and its superb mids console versions are no longer available. Find out why OutRun is still the pinnacle of driving games. In fact, it's probably the best there has ever been. While it may not be a perfectly rounded package, its handling model is second-to-none and the driving experience is as purely gripping as anything else in any of these categories.

It's hard, and best experienced with a good wheel, but for communicating the sheer thrill and challenge of a car and a course, there's nothing better. See our full Dirt Rally 2. While many don't consider it to be a "full" Gran Turismo game, the series' sole PS4 entry which also features in our best PS4 games list has expanded substantially over time and now boasts many of the solo campaign events and license tests fans love, as well as an impressive car and track list.

But it remains Polyphony Digital's most focused piece of work, and that's not at all a bad thing. The handling is a sublime balance of accessibility and sim-like bite, and the extremely well designed online multiplayer brings the clear rulesets and competitive edge of serious PC titles like iRacing to a more casual and welcoming setting. In short, it's still a GT game, as well as being the best and fairest online multiplayer experience on console - by a long chalk. See our full Gran Turismo Sport review and buy it now from Amazon.

Even if you're new to sims, you'll probably know a little about iRacing: that it's expensive, time consuming, tough. It is also, if you allow it, an all-encompassing take on some of the very best aspects of motorsport. Work your way through the ranks and earn a slot in a team endurance event and you'll be witness to all the camaraderie, excitement - and, yes, crushing disappointment - of the real thing.

There's no doubt that some aspects of iRacing are getting a little long in the tooth - and there are certainly better-looking sims out there - but with all those years of experience since the service rolled out well over ten years ago comes a competence that you can't find elsewhere.

Find out what makes iRacing the ultimate driving sim. Kunos Simulazioni offers up two very different experiences - though they're both so good we've cheated and included both. The original Assetto Corsa might be getting a little long in the tooth, but with a handful of the right mods it can still be the best pure driving game on PC, while Competizione - after a handful of welcome updates - now offers a purebred racing experience that's the measure of iRacing.

When it comes to GT racing - perhaps the healthiest and most diverse form of motorsport right now - it's pretty much peerless. Try your hands at this fantastic simulation game and have fun drifting and racing or simply trashing everyone in your way.

Additional features possessed by this game include user-generated content and the Xbox LIVE for online playing communities. Adjust your mirrors and gear up for an all-new action-packed adventure with stars like Cruz Ramirez and Lightning McQueen. Together you will train and prepare for a race against ace rival and arch-rival, Jackson Storm. Experience competitive racing at its best while you master your driving skills for the ultimate world-class competition.

This game enables you to play with over 20 customizable characters including the veterans and the next generation of racers. All iconic locations from the movie such as Florida International Speedway and Radiator Springs make an appearance in this game in over 20 tracks. To get the highest score, try to perform as many stunts as you can and also catch air while using a variety of power-ups to eliminate as many crash karts as possible. Gang up for the ultimate racing challenge. You and your crew are reunited in the underworld of Fortune Valley, by a search for vengeance against The House, a cartel that rules both criminals and cops.

Each driver is given some missions, races and challenges which will secure them a spot in the ultimate competition, where they compete to take down The House finally. In this game, you can create rides with unique performances and visual customisation. Enjoy the many races in varied environments such as deserts, canyons, mountains and the city itself.

You can even connect via Autolog to play with friends and rivals, to claim the ultimate bragging rights. With your car at the centre of everything you do, keep winning to see your level rise against many players all around the globe. Have you figured out what to get your little one as a Christmas gift?

Keep your options open by including the Need for Speed Payback to your list of possible purchases. The DriveClub PC racing game is one designed with inspiration from diverse regions and roads all across the globe. All racing tracks found in this game feature many different challenges for every driver thus, no two individuals get the same experience. This racing game is designed for having a great time with your friends, and it is one you have never experienced before.

It highlights the importance of teamwork, and encourages you and your friends to work, win and earn points together while enjoying the thrill every race and track offers you. The cars featured in DRIVECLUB are not only powerful, but also carefully designed; they are displayed in outstanding detail both on the inside and outside of the vehicle. The Forza Horizon 4 racing game for PCs introduces players to a different, exciting world. It is one of the best Xbox one racing games that is continually being updated, with new content being added weekly.

Every week brings along a new season, and with that new gameplay, themed content, challenges and ultimately, rewards. The seasons change everything in this shared-open world. Explore Britain and see it in a way you never have before.

Experience the valleys, castles, lakes and all breathtaking sceneries in the fantastic native 4k and HDR resolutions. Decide between playing solo and teaming up to play cooperatively. You can engage in casual fun by joining the team multiplayer or take on the best in the world by joining the ranked teams. Choose your path to becoming a Horizon Superstar, racing, stunts, creating or exploration.

Featuring a mixture of RPG, action and of course, racing, this game comes along with an insane plot, goofy characters and many secrets that will increase your thirst for adventure and encourage you to discover every nook and cranny in their worlds.

You can buy items such as vehicle upgrades and outfits by getting every Power Crystal and coin made available to you. There are also Die-O-Ramas that must be searched for in their many equally hilarious mini-games. In this game, a new clashing technology has been introduced; whereby in the event of two vehicles crashing, they merge to create a supercar equipped with a powerful turret gun.

Players are given the option of firing an onboard weapon or getting behind the wheel to drive after a clash. Outside the car, players can still explore the many worlds on foot while they unlock bonus tracks by collecting upgrades for their vehicles. Jostle against these and more problems, about twenty of them in total, and stay ahead in your unique character vehicle. By launching some character moves or dodging traps, you can make it round the twenty tracks that span several Sega games such as House of the Dead, Sonic the Hedgehog, Samba De Amigo and many more.

There are also weapons such as boxing gloves, the Mario Kart, rockets and stars that flip your world upside down. Drive through many different terrains from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Africa, Europe and the US.

The DiRT 3 delivers all the gears, mud and sweat from the world over and boasts of more locations, more cars, more events and more routes than any other game available in the series. In this racing game, the rally returns with double its initial content, making this one action-packed and addictive game for players all around the world. All rallies in this game come in multi-stages, and they feature locations from the jungles of Kenya all the way to the heartland of Scandinavia.

Take the traditional route, and drive a sports car on a racetrack. Or, weave through traffic on a busy city course! You can hit the streets with your friends, or compete with other racers online. For a slower challenge, pedal your way through a bicycle racing game. Race in tons of different environments! Motorcycle racing is inherently exciting - the lean angles, suicidal overtakes and acceleration rates just make for a great spectator sport.

And Italian superbike specialists Milestone really nail that feeling of terror and bravery of being on a factory MotoGP bike. The Codemasters F1 games are obviously a big inspiration, to put it politely, but the upshot for anyone playing it is a layer of career simulation on top of the racing. Work your way up through slower categories, build a reputation, and hold out for that big team ride. It's not a cheap habit, but it will please serious racers. That's only half the story, though. The sheer volume of user-created mods is enormous, and while the focus is on Formula One throughout the years those with an itch to be scratched in DTM, WTCC, GT racing and other open wheelers will be satiated too.

Hot Pursuit is a driving game frozen in a particularly special time for arcade racers. The purest essence of Need for Speed before the series went all open-world, it delivers exactly what the title promises, in race after race, with no downtime.

Enjoy the simple life as you aim a European exotic down a stretch of hauntingly beautiful Pacific coast highway with a train of police cars following in your wake. It's aged like an oak-smoked A-lister too. The roadside textures and car poly counts might not be able to compete directly with the latest releases, but the overall aesthetic in Hot Pursuit still looks luxurious.

And above all, fast. At least half your time in My Summer Car is spent outside of a car. It all begins with a note from your parents telling you to rebuild the junked car in your garage. From there you construct a driveable, moddable vehicle down to the most minute nuts and bolts, teaching you exactly what an exhaust manifold looks like and what happens when it rattles loose along a lakeside single lane road at 70mph.

Car ownership has never felt more satisfying and personal in driving games than in this slightly janky but beautifully esoteric builder-meets-racer. Venerated for decades and still playable in , Grand Prix 3 was a turning point in racing games. Grand Prix 3 was a new level of fidelity. It modelled things like tyre wear, wet weather grip, and tiny setup tweaks - things that games had only been able to approximate in the broadest manner previously.

Simply put, it felt like sitting inside a Formula One car. And to look back on today as a playable museum piece, it has the added incentive of capturing the sport at an especially exciting time, when legends like Schumacher and Hakkinen were battling for top spot and previous champions Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve struggled at the back of the pack. This is the descendant of SimBin's once-mighty racing empire.

Think of it as GTR Online: it's the ruthlessly-authentic car sim you remember, but retooled for online free-to-play.