When a new gaming system is released, racing game are often used as a showcase for the product. Yet, every year also delivers new entrants in a genre with some truly die-hard followers. How many other types of media need specialized hardware to enjoy?
In 2023, we got new entrants in the Formula One, World Rally Championship, and Horizon Chase series, plus the relaunch of Gran Turismo and Need for Speed. They showed that racing game are about more than simply putting vehicles in a straight line. The fantastic one for racers of drift hunters all stripes since it saw the comeback of Gran Turismo and Need for Speed in addition to new competitors in the Formula One, World Rally Championship, and Horizon Chase series. These games demonstrated that there is a lot more to racing games than just driving around a track in a circle, which is true of all racing games.
The 2023 Best Racing Game Award goes to:
GT7: Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo 7 is a pleasant return to form after almost a decade since the last conventional, numbered GT iteration, and it arrives just in time for the 25th anniversary of Sony’s greatest first-party franchise. Gran Turismo 7 is both fondly nostalgic and technologically advanced, with the return of classic Gran Turismo courses and the introduction of a real single-player career mode, both of which were first seen in the PS1 version.
Gorgeous visuals, a fantastic driving experience, and more customization possibilities than ever before make Gran Turismo 7 the finest game in the series since the PS1 and PS2 eras, when it dominated the racing simulation genre. There’s still a damn good racing game underneath those blemishes, despite the fact that the full scope of its predatory microtransaction system was obscured until after its release. An extended and unannounced server outage shortly after its arrival that left us unable to play for over a day also didn’t exactly help its always-online case.
F1 22
Codemasters’ long-running F1 series got its own somewhat delayed makeover this year, with updated visuals arriving with this season’s brand-new vehicles to coincide with some of the largest regulatory shakeups in the sport in four decades. Even though the new lifestyle-focused racing game outfit and living space customisation mode is a little naff, F1 22 maintains this series’ podium position with its top-notch graphics and handling, class-leading career mode (buoyed by new budget options to suit veteran players who may be a little exhausted clawing their way up from the bottom of the grid every year), and appealing range of difficulty options and assists.
GT7: Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo 7 is a pleasant return to form after almost a decade since the last conventional, numbered GT release, and comes just in time for the 25th anniversary of Sony’s greatest first-party franchise. Gran Turismo 7 is both fondly nostalgic and technologically advanced, with racing game the return of classic Gran Turismo courses and the introduction of a real single-player career mode, both of which were first seen in the PS1 version.
Graphically stunning, with a fantastic driving experience and more customization possibilities than ever before, Gran Turismo 7 is the series’ strongest entry since the PS1 and PS2 eras, when it dominated the racing video game market. Although it’s unfortunate that the game’s predatory microtransaction system made clear until after its release, and a lengthy, unexpected server outage shortly after its arrival that prevented us from playing for over a day didn’t exactly help its always-online case, there’s still a damn good racing game underneath those blemishes.
A New Horizon: Horizon Chase 2
The fantastic sequel to Horizon Chase Turbo is still only available on Apple Arcade, but it has already won over a legion of admirers. Horizon Chase 2, developed by the Brazilian firm Aquiris, is an homage to 16-bit and arcade races from the 1990s like Top Gear and OutRun. The game has a brand new music composed by the late, great Barry Leitch. More than twice as many circuits, along with racing game robust co-op and versus multiplayer possibilities, join the original’s addictive blend of arcade racing and fuel/nitro management (including, finally, online play). The game’s attractive retro-styled visuals drew us in once again; we shouted at the screen after completing a race with almost little gasoline; and we replayed it to compulsively track down all the treasures we had missed the first time around. Good old-fashioned racing fun that can compete with the big-budget titles.
A Need for Speed: No Limits
Need for Speed Unbound’s crazy, anime-inspired animated racing game embellishments have garnered attention, and although the aesthetics are somewhat polarizing, the arcade racing at its core is still solid. While the Need for Speed series has switched studios from the defunct Ghost Games to the arcade racing masters at Criterion, Unbound is quite similar to 2019’s Need for Speed Heat.
Even though the new lifestyle-focused outfit and living space customisation mode is a little naff, F1 22 maintains this series’ position on the podium thanks to its top-notch graphics and handling, industry-leading career mode (which is buoyed by new budget options to suit veteran players who may be a little exhausted clawing their way up from the bottom of the grid every year), and its appealing range of difficulty options and assists. Despite this, F1 22’s new lifestyle-focused outfit and living space customisation
The WRC Eras
KT Racing went all out with WRC Generations, its last hurrah with the official WRC license before rival rally gurus Codemasters take control. WRC Generations is a fantastic racing game package, with a large number of championship-winning vehicles spanning the sport’s 50-year history and the most extensive variety of courses we’ve seen in a rally game. From the broad savannah of Kenya to the cold grooves of Sweden, the tight asphalt of Germany to the damp woodlands of Wales, almost every nation that has hosted a round of the World Rally Championship in the previous decade is here and well portrayed. WRC Generations is a pretty excellent attempt, with a terrific sense of weight and a superb sense of speed, as well as some nice tweaks to WRC 10’s customization features.
Gran Turismo 7 is without a doubt the greatest installment in the series since the company completely dominated the racing video game market on the PS1 and PS2 generations. It has stunning visuals, a fantastic driving experience, and an unprecedented number of customization choices.
