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Lobst

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Top ten racing games I'd rather play than Gran Turismo 5:

Gran Turismo 5 is out! And according to the Quick Look, it's just as much a smooth-jazz-listening simulation as it is a competent car simulation with decent graphics. However, it's far from the only racing game on the block; indeed, there are plenty of racers with more amazing hooks than "awkward menu design" and "damage is off by default"; though reviewers are quick to praise the mechanics that make GT5's ingame cars 'more enjoyable to drive' than any simulation to date, I remain staunch in my patronage of other racing sims that value fun "racing" over fun "driving". Allow me to illustrate my point with these, the racing games I'd rather play than GT5:

List items

  • Any TrackMania product provides a fun-factor far outclassing any Gran Turismo game, provided you can get past the egregious copy protection in some of its earlier retail installments. Regardless, Nadeo's flagship racing experience is capable of providing massive and outrageous, sprawling tracks, that voyage well beyond the realm of physical possibility in a way that sets one's imagination afire. (Also, they didn't have to charge for their truncated version. Just saying.)

  • S&SASR exists as the Saints Row to Mario Kart's Grand Theft Auto, in the sense that it was clearly conceived under one pretense: "How can we take this gameplay formula and improve on it?" -- and SUMO Digital did exactly that, with a (comparatively) original arrangement of characters, bright, colorful, varied environments, excellent tracks, and a charismatic announcer. Add it all together, and you have the kart-racing experience other developers will need to beat.

  • Criterion, the studio behind Burnout Paradise, has deftly proven to the world that they know how to make a brilliant racing game. It has arcadey physics and niche mechanics, but none of that takes away from its core conceit: that it provides fast-paced, frantic gameplay at the touch of a few buttons, with the bare minimum in extraneous fluff.

  • If you're looking for a graphical masterpiece attached to an excellent arcade rally game, you need look no further. SEGA Rally Revo provides outstanding environments, spot-on car physics, incredible rally mechanics (track deformation/car grunge), a blazing-fast Crush 40 soundtrack, and nothing short of the bluest of skies. And it can be found for a pittance on Half!

  • The entire Forza license has lived in the span between GT4 and GT5 -- and though the number of cars in Forza Motorsport 3 certainly pales in comparison to Gran Turismo 5's (400-some compared to over 1,000), Forza's competitive advantage is that it's only as deep as you want it to be. I've had to wade through a sea of options in both GT3 and GT4, not knowing what to do -- not the case with this one.

  • Getting into the classics, now: Metropolis Street Racer is Bizarre Creations' first project, setting the stage for a series of racing mechanics that recontextualize the way you think about cars. In this case, it rewards stylish racing with Kudos -- points, essentially -- and brings it all together with a snazzy, wonderful soundtrack. The PGR games do it better, of course, but MSR has that Dreamcast charm that remains difficult to deny.

  • SEGA's Ferrari license has run out for Outrun games in general (meaning you couldn't pick this up from Steam if you wanted), but that doesn't mean this wonderful race against the clock can't still be had on eBay or in arcades if you're lucky enough to find it. Both Outrun 2 and Outrun 2006 are truly wonderful, if you can find them on Xbox or PC. Absolutely worth a look.

  • This isn't so much a "racing" game as it is a stunt-driving game -- but it revolves heavily around knowing the mechanics of vehicles (it's by Paradigm Entertainment, developers of Pilotwings 64), which is one of the core aspects of any good racing game. It radiates polish, excitement, and charisma, and is an total joy to play as a result.

  • I haven't played this one, but I desperately desire to, in order to finally familiarize myself with Bizarre's non-Bond swan song; applying kart-racing mechanics to real cars is a novel idea that I absolutely want to try out. This is enough to rank it well ahead of GT5, in my book.

  • In this case, I just want to sing along to the soundtrack as I race. I WANNA FLY-Y-Y SKY HIGH!! LET'S RO~O~OLL TOGETHERRRRRRR
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