|
A racing game is any game that involves competing in races through a surrogate playing piece or vehicle, either getting it from one point to another or completing a number of circuits in the shortest time.
One of the more common uses of the term racing game is to describe a genre of computer and video games. Racing games are either in the first or third person perspective. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings, and feature any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. In general, they can be distributed along a spectrum anywhere between hardcore simulations, and simpler arcade racing games.
Simulation style racing games strive to replicate the handling of a car as it feels in the real world. They often license real cars or racing leagues, but will use fantasy cars built to resemble real ones if unable to acquire them.
Arcade racers
Arcade style racing games put fun and a fast-paced experience above all else, as cars usually fight rather than compete. They often license real cars and leagues, but are equally open to more exotic settings and vehicles. Races take place on highways, windy roads or in cities; they can be mulpiple-lap circuits or point-to-point, with one way of multipath (sometimes with checkpoints), or other types of racing, like crashing, jumping or testing driving skills. Popular arcade racers are the Need for Speed series, the Project Gotham Racing series, the Burnout series and the classic OutRun.
Over the last three years there has been a trend of new street racing; imitating the import scene, one can tune your family cars or coupés and race on the streets. The most wide common known ones are the Need for Speed Undergorund series, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Street Racing Syndicate and Juiced. Street racers have been critizised for becoming too mainstream; some say that the subgenre is already dead.
Arcade style racing games
Arcade racing games time line
- 1982 Pole Position - Namco
- 1983 Pole Position 2 - Namco
- 1984 TX-1 - Atari
- 1986 Out Run - Sega
- 1987 Final Lap - Namco
- 1988 Chase HQ - Taito
- 1988 Continental Circus - Taito
- 1988 Hard Drivin' - Atari
- 1988 Power Drift - Sega
- 1989 Winning Run - Namco
- 1989 SCI - Taito (Chase HQ 2)
- 1989 Super Monaco Grand Prix - Sega
- 1991 Rad Mobile - Sega
- 1991 Final lap 2 - Namco
- 1991 F1 Exhaust Note - Sega
- 1992 Final Lap 3 - Namco
- 1992 Super Chase - Taito
- 1992 Virtua Racing - Sega
- 1993 Out runners - Sega
- 1993 Ridge Racer - Namco
- 1994 Cruis'n USA - Midway
- 1994 Daytona USA - Sega
- 1994 Sega Rally Championship - Sega
- 1995 Rave Racer - Namco
- 1996 Cruis'n World - Midway
- 1996 Scud Race - Sega
- 1996 San Francisco Rush - Atari
- 1998 Sega Rally 2 - Sega
- 1998 DaytonaUSA 2 - Sega
- 1999 Battle Gear - Taito
- 1999 Cruis'n Exotica - Midway
- 2000 San Francisco Rush 2049 - Atari
|
