Most enthusiasts' love of cars extends beyond driving to other areas of their lives—clothing, tattoos, lawn decorations, Underoos, etc.—but for many, if they can't be behind a real steering wheel, the next best thing is playing video games about cars. Indeed, there's a whole generation of automotive fanatics who discovered their passion not cruising around in dad's old Mustang but rather with a controller in hand, whirling around Laguna Seca or the Nürburgring—or the Rainbow Road—on their TV.
Over the past four decades or so, a massive number of driving games have blinked into existence; many were total crap, but others took players' breath away, and it's this latter group that we celebrate here. We dove into the history of driving games and pulled out 10 titles that blew our minds, games that brought us—and probably you—hours upon hours of fun. Enjoy!
(Note: Attempting to come up with rankings brought with it the threat of fisticuffs among the staff, so we told everyone to stand down and went with chronological order.)
Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road – 1989
Near as we can tell, Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road may be the first driving game ever to feature modifiable vehicles. Released in 1989 as an arcade game—who didn't love standing there racing against your buddies?—Super Off Road was as addicting as it was fun. Players race against each other on a simply depicted stadium-style off-road course. As you progress through races, you win money you can use to give your truck increased capability via a speed boost, better tires, better shocks, better acceleration, and a higher top speed. The handful of track layouts all have nefarious obstacles to slow you down—don't hit the water!—and even the most minor mistake can send you to last place. Simple game, big fun, especially once it was ported to NES and later to Sega Genesis and SNES, and you could stop pumping quarters into a machine.
Super Mario Kart – 1992
We just couldn't do this story without including the original, console-based Super Mario Kart. It's here because it's superfun, but also because there's no doubt it's the game on which an entire generation of Gran Turismo and Forza players first cut their digital-racing teeth. Based on Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers franchise, all Super Mario Kart asks you to do is try to be the first player to the finish line. To accomplish this, though, a player needs slick karting skills as well as the ability to avoid barrages of bananas, Koopa shells, and other deterrents unleashed at the whims of their opponents.
The game features eight characters, each with their own special skills and abilities; the most well known, of course, is Mario. While the physics aren’t even close to realistic and the graphics are rudimentary to modern gamers’ eyes, in the early ’90s, there were few better ways to pass the time with three of your closest friends than a game of Super Mario Kart.
Gran Turismo 3: A-spec – 2001
Gran Turismo 3: A-spec was the definitive driving game of the early 21st century. Released in 2001, it brought a whole new look and feel to the series with better graphics and a new rallying mode.
With a wide variety of true-to-life cars and racetracks, plus an advanced championship system, there's never a dull moment behind the controller. (Well, except for the car wash.) One of the best features carried over from GT2, which was substantively improved upon, is the ability to extensively modify and tune cars with noticeable—and sometimes disastrous—results. The game’s designers did an excellent job with this deeply immersive portion of the game; the modification options are just technical enough to satisfy those who know what all of the available parts and pieces do, but still simple enough to allow experimentation by those who don't, thereby teaching them how each mechanical alteration changes the car’s behavior.
Every subsequent Gran Turismo title has become more and more impressive—the main series is up to number six now—but, to us, GT3: A-Spec laid the foundation for those that followed.
NASCAR Racing 2003 Season – 2003
We wouldn’t be surprised if this one resulted in a bunch of quizzical comments, but before clicking that post button, consider the fact that NR2003 was the best of the early NASCAR simulators, and its source code became the architectural basis for the ridiculously accurate iRacing simulator. It was just that good.
The game continued to be popular for years, due to its excellence and the fact that developer Papyrus folded in 2004, making the game's code essentially open source. That allowed individual users to take advantage of the software’s excellent physics engine and create their own expansions and modifications. During its heyday, online players could find themselves competing against some of NASCAR’s finest real-life drivers—including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, and more—who found the game realistic enough to use it as a training tool. Today, there are still numerous online series and championships that use NR2003, a game that proved to many that a lot more goes into being quick on an oval than turning left.
Richard Burns Rally – 2004
While it's among the lesser-known racing games on our list—and in general—those who participate in the driving-simulator community generally view Richard Burns Rally as the best rally sim ever made.
RBR allows players to drive true-to-life rally stages in a variety of WRC cars as they strive for the championship. During a season, you’ll have to deal with vehicle service, changing weather conditions, and challenging new stages across the globe. Like real rallying, any off-course adventures can damage your car to varying degrees, changing how it drives and potentially rendering it completely inoperable.
The game remains popular today due to the expansive, annual modification dubbed RSRBR, which delivers updated cars, stages, and full races. RSRBR also allows users from around the world to compete in privately hosted championships, adding even more depth to an already fantastic game.
GTR 2 FIA Racing Game – 2006
Now nearly 10 years old, GTR 2 still reigns as the go-to GT-racing simulator, and it was far ahead of its time with reasonably decent graphics and some of the best physics of any publicly available driving simulator. The cars and tracks available in the stock version of the game were those from the real-life 2003 and 2004 FIA GT Championship racing series. Unlike some other driving games, GTR 2 is not story driven; it’s a true simulator. In offline mode, you can attend a lengthy, challenging, and educational racing school, attend an open track day, or compete in a championship season. But beware: The computer-controlled AI in GTR 2 is no slouch. With difficulty cranked all the way up, you will feel the pressure—if you’re not at the back of the pack.
There’s also online play. Due to this game's massive popularity, fans from across the globe have designed modifications that bring a wide assortment of new cars, including those from Formula 1 and Australian V8 Supercars, as well as modern and classic touring cars. There are private championships and period-correct tracks to match the vintage metal.
Perhaps the best part about GTR 2 is the low cost of entry. It’s available online for less than $10, and installing most of the mods for the game will cost you nothing but time.
iRacing.com – 2008
When it comes to driving simulators designed specifically to improve overall racing skills in the real world, few if any games can touch iRacing. But iRacing is more than a driving simulator—it’s also a computer-based racing series.
Using NASCAR Racing 2003’s source code, the iRacing physics are top-notch and all of the cars, tracks, and vehicles are painstakingly true to their real-life variants in terms of aesthetics and behavior. The big difference with this game is that its formalized structure eliminates the type of casual online players who tend to wreak havoc in other online racing games. The structure is possible because iRacing is a subscription service, and you’re paying to be part of a virtual world of serious racers. For a monthly access fee, you can participate in real races and championship series against other drivers, some of whom are real-life driving stars looking to hone their skills and learn track layouts. There are a ton of leagues to run in, too, but opening up the whole thing will dent your wallet, since all additional cars or tracks must be purchased.
This isn’t a game you and your buddies play on a rainy afternoon, but it's still among the best digital driving experiences ever conceived. To get 100 percent out of iRacing, though, you’ll need focus, skill, the proper equipment, and money. Sounds a bit like real-life racing, doesn’t it?
Grand Theft Auto V – 2013
Okay, sure, this is basically 180 degrees from iRacing, but GTA V offers a driving experience like no other. Although the driving physics aren't exactly realistic, and the cars, while usually inspired by real models, are made up, no other game allows for so much fun while running from the cops, shooting while driving, launching off anything and everything in a deeply immersive world, and doing pretty much anything else you want.
GTA V has been out for nearly two years now and along the way it has received multiple updates including bunches of new vehicles and a first-person gameplay option, which has really made the driving experience even more compelling.
But there’s a lot more to drive than just cars. The assortment of aircraft, watercraft, motorcycles, and even construction equipment give you more ways to be the ultimate mobile bad-ass—or simply cruise and explore San Andreas in style.
Assetto Corsa – 2013
One of the newest driving simulators on the scene, Assetto Corsa has made waves in the sim-racing community due to its incredibly realistic laser-scanned tracks, extremely detailed cars, and stellar driving mechanics. While some casual players may be turned off by the game’s relatively limited number of cars and tracks, the Assetto Corsa community is rapidly growing, which means new content is constantly available.
Those interested in a truly breathtaking racing experience will gravitate toward the online gameplay mode, which allows you to participate in a variety of racing series. Combine that with Assetto Corsa’s ability to work with the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset and you have one of the most realistic digital racing experiences extant.
Forza Horizon 2 – 2014
This game’s calling cards are its fantastic graphics and massive open-world environment that lets players explore, using one of hundreds of cars, a virtual world that spans southern Europe.
Forza Horizon 2 is further set apart by its focus on community play. Online, you can explore the vast landscape of towns and twisty mountain roads alone or you can link up with friends and enter a wide variety of races and challenges. The game wasn't designed to cater to the hard-core sim fan, so the in-game physics aren't as rigid as, say, iRacing's, but they're still very good and the game will satisfy just about anyone who loves playing driving games.
Indeed, Forza Horizon 2 provides a unique experience among car-focused games, giving you the ability to race trucks through a forest one minute, and push a mid-engine supercar across an open highway the next. Given that freedom and the insane number of cars and challenges available, there’s no way you can walk away from this one with anything but a smile on your face.
BONUS! Car and Driver: Test Drive Ten of the Best – 1992
2015 marks our 60th anniversary, so it’s only appropriate that we recognize our small contribution to the driving-game world.
We were ahead of our time in a couple of notable ways, first and foremost offering a selection of exotic machinery that included the Porsche 959, Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Countach, Shelby Cobra, Ferrari 250TR, and more. (The game also has an Eagle Talon and Toyota MR2, decidedly less exotic rides.) And our game was among one of the first that would save your times at a track and insert a ghost car for you to compete against to get better. It also offered good-for-the-time graphics, including the in-car driver's view, and featured environments in which you could pretty much drive wherever you wanted. Available tracks include California's Highway 1, a high-speed oval, a drag strip, Laguna Seca, and, uh, the San Dimas Mall parking lot.
The bad: There's rarely if ever an AI car in sight, so you only race yourself. And while all of the pre-gameplay screens are designed to look like a contemporary page out of the magazine, and even included staff-written reviews of the cars when you selected them, the menus weren't particularly easy to use. Still, if you want to play it, it's basically abandonware at this point. Get to Googlin'.
Also, all of this has us thinking it's time for a sequel—game developers, give us a call.
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