 |
After playing for a couple of hours and seeing some recognizable aspects, a few friends and I started talking about what racers we liked growing up and this is what I came up with as our list of favorites.
Night Driver (Atari)
 |
For me, this is the Granddaddy of them all and yes, I've played it. In fact, I OWNED this game as a kid. Laugh now but back then this was AMAZING technology, considering the Atari console only had about 3 games to choose from at this time, lol. I know, I know. It looks like Pong with cars but don't let the 8 bit fool ya, those other racers are sneaky and out to get you. Gotta have respect for the original first-person racing game, folks.
Pole Position (Namco/Atari)
 |
Pole Position was hands down my favorite coin-op arcade game because it was the first game that was ballsy enough to include a gas and brake pedal and I also loved the sit down coin-op version because you felt like you were actually inside a Formula One car (and if I remember right, had a gear shift). That, along with the sexy lady saying "Prepare to Qualify", the revving engines and the "DOOT. DOOT. DOOT. DOOOOOOOOOOT!" of the starting lights...ooooohhhh so fun. Sadly, I loved the coin-op so much that I didn't play too much on the console because it felt like something was lost in the translation.
Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
 |
Pretty much ANY racer from the Mario franchise rules, but my reasoning why I chose this game is short and sweet. Mario, killer tracks with vibrant colors, and the Wii Wheel. Done.
Forza Motorsport franchise (Turn 10/Microsoft)
 |
Admittedly, the first Forza game I got my hands on was Forza 3 at last year's E3 when they were introducing the Rumble Seat/Wheel. SO SICK. Loved it immediately. Later that year, I did a show for Machinima in which I had to battle someone in a rather (boring) backward race on Forza 2. The Forza franchise took me back to Pole Position, thanks to the wheel, gas/brake pedals (yay), and the beautiful cars that go vroooooom.
Blur (Bizarre Creations/Activision)
|
For those of you who haven't been lucky enough to play Blur yet, it's basically Fast and the Furious meets Mad Max meets f' yo shiz UP. With multiplayer races that allow up to 20 players at a time, plenty of bombs, nitro, mines, and all sorts of other things that go BOOM available on the track, your goal is not only to win but to blow the holy hell out of your opponents in the process. Super fast, super loud, super fun (so far), and the "real world" cars are pretty sweet. I am especially a fan of the round "Motor Mash", a high speed, timed demolition derby where the only way you'll come in first is by inflicting the most damage. One of the 'tracks' is a pit in a desert wasteland and as the round started, I remarked "Hey, this reminds me of the Balloon Battle in Mario Kart (Wii)", then went on to play for a good solid 90 minutes, giggling every time an opponent's car flipped into the air. Blur can also be linked to your Twitter account, I've trashed talked a couple times using Twitter, not gonna lie. More and more beta keys are flying around, so grab one!
Ooookay! So those are my choices and I'm SURE I'm gonna hear plenty of "What about Turbo and Out Run?!" First of all, simmer down now. lol. Second, these are just MY choices and I'm SURE I've left out some classics, which is why I turn to you to leave YOUR top 5 in the comments!
Prepare to Qualify...
Tags: Activision, Atari, blur, forza motorsport 2, mario kart wii, Namco, night driver, pole position
Join The Joystick Division!
Become part of the Joystick Division community by following us on Twitter and Digg and Liking us on Facebook.
