Racing game opinions

[C14ru5]

How about a topic where we share our impressions of various racing games? Quite astounding that no one has done this yet.
This topic is perhaps a bit large, but let me begin anyway.

Grand Prix Circuit (DOS)
I think this was the first racing game I ever played. Nice music and the game was from the heyday of Ayrton Senna, so of course it was fun.

OutRun (Arcade)
Mouth-watering graphics at that time, lots of speed.

VETTE! (Mac 68k)
My first Mac racing game. Open-ended with traffic and pedestrians. Due to this game, I don't mind missing out on the Grand Theft Auto games.

F-Zero (SNES)
Awesome speed, awesome music, awesome futuristic setting.

Super Mario Kart (SNES) / Cro-Mag Rally (Mac PPC)
Charming and fun! And of course, the wonderful game music and sound effects.

Burning Rubber (Mac PPC)
Jonas' first shareware racing game. Really difficult to drive!

Star Wars: Episode I Racer (Mac PPC)
Nice game without all the nonsense from the movie.

Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed (Windows)
One of the best racing games I've played. It really shines through that the developers cared about their work.

Richard Burns Rally (Windows)
Why don't they make rally games like this anymore? Serious simulation, challenging but rewarding.

Rallisport Challenge 2 (Xbox)
Great rally game that "just feels right". Today, it's features are overshadowed by DiRT.

Project Gotham Racing series (Xbox/Xbox360)
PGR2 had great cars, great tracks, "sim-arcade" physics that felt right, and a nice game progression. PGR4 had nice graphics and weather effects, but had lost the game balance that PGR2 had.

Toca Race Driver 3 (Xbox/Mac)
The best touring car simulation, maybe apart from the games that use the rFactor engine. Really large collection of nice cars and tracks, and the game takes itself seriously.

Colin McRae: DiRT (Xbox360)
Best rally game ever in all areas except two things: Yellow graphics, and way too good brakes. DiRT 2? Terrible. No more rallying, just childish X-games high-five attitude.

Race Driver: GRID (Xbox360)
Great flashback feature, damage and AI. But as above: Too yellow graphics, too good brakes and action amplified into surrealism.

Gran Turismo series (PS2/3)
Good games. They feel a bit too sterile, though. No damage, and too much emphasis on collecting stupid ricer cars.

Forza Motorsport series (Xbox/Xbox360)
You know when a game becomes so good that it's about to lose its soul? Forza 3 is getting close. I can't find anything wrong with it, and that worries me.

Need for Speed: Shift (Xbox360)
Absolutely stunning graphics and sound, but too much emphasis on crashes, ludicrous speed and action (same as with Race Driver: GRID, but even worse)

Racer (Mac, etc.)
Not really a game, but nice try.

rFactor (and all its derivatives), Live For Speed, iRacing (Windows)
Some of these games are really fun, they have an impressive selection of cars and tracks, and an even more impressive physics engine. For some reason though, I don't feel like I want to play the games for very long.

I'll be happy to debate any of the above with you, should anyone be interested.

[NoNameBrand]

NFS: Shift has truly awful controls. I gave up when I couldn't get an Exige through Eau Rouge on Spa, in the demo.

Forza 3 is spectacular, but because almost everything is perfect, I'm noticing a few glitches (PI doesn't seem to account for AWD's extra grip; some graphical issues (model, UV maps, shadows), clutch/revs are buggered in replays).

I really want to try Race Pro, but there was no demo, so I'll wait for it to be cheap.

I've had the same Mac Race games as you, except TOCA, and I had Al Unser Jr. Arcade Racing, Colin McRae 2005. I had Driver too, but that wasn't really racing. Fun, though.

VETTE! sparked my lifelong love of Corvettes and San Francisco.

Colin McRae 2005 was a bit disappointing - it didn't really feel like driving. I found PGR4 the same way.

[C14ru5]

I really want to try Race Pro, but there was no demo, so I'll wait for it to be cheap.

I think Race Pro is worth renting/purchasing if you're into sim racing and prefer consoles over PCs. Note: I didn't have time to try multiplayer which is what it really aims at.

[NoNameBrand]

I think Race Pro is worth renting/purchasing if you're into sim racing and prefer consoles over PCs. Note: I didn't have time to try multiplayer which is what it really aims at.

I drive Forza 3 with no assists* and don't use the auto-clutch....

*OK, I use the braking line. There's insufficient marking on many of the tracks to learn braking points.

[Toad]

Oh man c14, don't forget to add "Reckless Drivin" to the list. That game makes me laugh just thinking about it. A great way to goof away time. It was such a pleasant surprise to see that Jonas had also created Redline.

Have not been able to spring for any console yet. So I have to say I like rFactor the best.

NNB- Here's a couple of nice links to San Francisco that I keep in Google reader. I'm originally from "The City", nice to see someone from so far away appreciates it.
Laughing Squid, very eclectic, This is a good post to start with:
http://laughingsquid.com/time-lapse-video-of-san-francisco-at-night/

Spots Unknown, guy loves SF, this link is to the little problem the Bay Bridge is dealing with, lots of neato stuff on here.
http://spotsunknown.com/photo-infamous-bay-bridge-crack/
be sure to click on the pic of the crack.

[NoNameBrand]

The Bay Bridge crack pictures made me cringe.

When watching the Top Gear episode in which they depart SF for Bonneville, via Reno, they first showed them driving out of the city over the Golden Gate, and I thought "That's a bit roundabout...". They then had footage over the bay bridge, without comment. I guess it is less famous, but I loved its double decker roads (which VETTE! sort of ignored - all traffic went the way you were going, and it was just a single level suspension bridge).

[DANDY]

SpyHunter (C64): easy to drive, but no recovering from spins - cars with spinners were scary but the smoke screen was the ultimate.

Test Drive I and II - cockpit view, animated shifter in #II, extra challenge at 1.5 fps, I had all the track and car expansion packs.

Total Immersion Racing (Mac): Pretty damn good, liked the Race Engineer adjusting stuff based on practice lap times, and you could piss off the AI. Shame it was single player.

F1 CS 2001 (Mac): Freakin great, fully adjustable setups, didn't play it long as RL was released soon after I picked it up, so never played with the FFB patch. Very limited direct-IP multiplayer, never tested.

Redline: Wow, multiplayer! Scoffed at claims of 'realistic simulation,' great multiplayer and eclectic community. Could be improved with more tuning parameters, wear and tear, and flexible tires, either that or mount an effort to get a modern sim working in a wine distro, since it works in a commercial wine package.

rFactor (win[e?]): Has most of everything a sim racer could want, but no dynamic weather. rFactor 2 will have that. UI is kludgy, concept unclear if unfamiliar with organized motorsport or not reading manual. Enormous library of free user-created content, though it can be tough/annoying to track some of it down. Best experienced from a league or organized/sanctioned racing site like race2play.com

iRacing: Haven't tried it, but finding the idea strangely alluring... Hate the subscription business model, hate the idea of buying expansion tracks and cars even more. Still though, might be worth a try if a free month comes along, for the insanely detailed research that goes into content. No idea if it works on any wine derivative.

[slow]

Am I really going to be the first one to mention Pole Position?

Classic Atari. Who could forget that sound when you crash? I still have nightmares......

[Tomte]

C64:
Grand Prix Circuit from Accolade: you had the choice between a Williams Renault V10, Ferrari F1/87 V12 or McLaren MP4/4 Honda V6 Turbo.
I think this is where I first drove my favourite track: Spa-Francorchamps. Car: I prefered the Williams
Test Drive I&II: I was comparing racing times with a friend who had the same game on a DOS machine. Again, made by Accolade. They were my heroes back then.
Preferred Cars: Corvette C4 and Porsche 959

Windows:
Need for Speed II-VI
I can't remember a lot from II, but there where some very imaginative tracks. Preferred car: Ford Indigo and I think there was also a Lotus I liked, but I'm not sure anymore.
As for III and IV, I liked the copper idea a lot they added in IV, preferred rides include the C5 and the Jaguar XK(R?).
Some High Stakes (IV) tracks were Don's and my inspiration for Rocky Pass.
And then of course was Porsche Unleashed (V), the pinnacle of NfS for me. I still like this game, played it straight for 4 years or so. Preferred car: 2.7 Carrera tuned to the max, 944 turbo.
No VI was a disappointment, I didn't look at any of the following games of the franchise.

[Algae]

I was always terrible at Pole Position. Liked the game though.

Reckless driving was my second real racing sim; first ome was probably that grayscale mac game where you raced the Mercedes and passed the volkswagen beetles. Wish I remembered the name...

[Valentin K]

Mac:

NASCAR Racing (1996 Season) - the first Racing game I played, I must have spent months playing that game! (Machine: Macintosh Performa 5400/160)
Driver Mac - ok not really a simulation or racing game, but great fun, especially in the Freight Train mode .
NASCAR Racing 2003 Season - In a few words: one of the best racing simulations I've ever played.

PSone

Gran Turismo 2 - pretty much the best racing sim you can play on the first generation PlayStation. I still occasionally do 1vs1 races with friends.

Over the years I played many other racing games, including TIR, Racer, Toca 2, Toca World Touring Cars, Ducati World, 4x4 Evolution and Evo 2, but the games listed above + Redline are my personal favourites

...although Gran Turismo 4-onwards would likely get me hooked instantly if I had it myself. I played it exactly once - and that was epic IMHO.

[GeneralAntilles]

*OK, I use the braking line. There's insufficient marking on many of the tracks to learn braking points.

Pish tosh! I've been braking in Forza since #1 without any damn lines no problem.

[djpimley]

[djpimley]

And of course, the seminal F1GP:

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