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Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
In the closing weeks before the racing season begins what is there to do for the thousands of gearheads around the world to keep themselves entertained? With the technological world we live in today, racing is never far away thankfully with plenty of racing video games.
The area of racing video games has seen great strides in recent years to make the experience more accurate to what the drivers see and feel. Online racing tools like iRacing have become favorites among both drivers and fans, providing such an accurate experience that young drivers can use these setups to prepare for upcoming races.
Today, the video game world stretches beyond the console and computer too, into the small handheld devices we use on a daily basis. Even these games, once maligned for lag and pixilation have now become crisper, cleaner, and much more accurate to the racing world. Certainly the days without racing have become a thing of the past for race fans everywhere thanks to these games.
But what are the must have racing video games for all the racing fanatics out there? The cream of the crop is certainly above all others.
Game play as seen in NASCAR The Game: Inside Line.
No. 5 – NASCAR The Game: Inside Line
While the gameplay and damage sustained in this game is nothing to write home about, Eutechnyx’s second ever NASCAR game makes the top five list because of two things – paint schemes and custom schemes.
The paint schemes in the game are some of the most realistic in any NASCAR game. While yes, some drivers are omitted and replaced by others with zero Cup Series starts (looking at you, Travis Pastrana), the choice of paint schemes available on both the Gen 5 and Gen 6 cars is excellent. Even more paint schemes were added to the game with downloadable content, but more were prevented from being added after a company ran into problems with the number of them in the game.
If the scheme you were looking for wasn’t in the game, however, you could always create it in the paint booth. In what could be called the most sophisticated paint booth since NASCAR Racing 2003, there are nearly endless possibilities for how you can design the cars. And that has led to some wacky designs over time.
Of course, no game is truly without its flaws. Like many recent NASCAR games, Inside Line does not have racing available in the Xfinity Series or Camping World Truck Series. Here’s hoping the next video game developer adds that for future NASCAR gamers.
Game play as seen in NASCAR 07.
No. 4 – NASCAR ’07
The third-to-last release in the EA Sports NASCAR collection of games, it was probably the best attempt overall by the company to make a game the fans could enjoy. While NASCAR ’09 would go without manufacturers, and earlier editions were plagued with issues from drivability to damage imaging, NASCAR ’07 is the best of that generation.
Of course, one of the games from the EA Sports generation had to be included in this list because it had what many these days with video games are clamoring for – developmental series! NASCAR ’07 allowed you to compete in the Xfinity, Camping World Trucks, and even the modifieds. And it included in it most of those actual drivers who raced there.
Beyond that bit of nostalgia, NASCAR ’07 also provided a number of fantasy tracks that you could race at, including the road courses at Texas, Daytona, and Talladega. On top of that, ever wonder what it would be like to drive through the desert or through downtown New York with a NASCAR? You could in these fantasy tracks. Now, if only they could’ve added some real life road courses…
No. 3 – NASCAR Racing 2003
The most legendary NASCAR video game thus far only makes it to number three on our rankings, and it comes from way back in 2003. Before EA Sports owned the rights to produce a NASCAR video game between 2004 and 2009, Activision partner Papyrus Games created a computer desktop game called NASCAR Racing 2003. And it was a huge success.
The game itself was advanced for its time. It quickly grew legs of its own, becoming a racing simulator for some of NASCAR’s top competitors, including Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin. Hamlin in fact used training from using the game to find near-instant success at Pocono Raceway, winning in his first start at the track.
As a simulator, it has also become a cult classic. Hundreds if not thousands of players are still active online with the game, playing it in many online tournament at active and fantasy tracks. It has also become a spark for dozens of YouTube videos and creative new paint schemes from the past and present. But if you’re not one of the lucky owners already, it’s going to cost a pretty penny.
Promotional image for Real Racing 3.
No. 2 – Real Racing 3
Another great progression in the great series of racing video games has been the Real Racing saga. Real Racing 3, the latest in this series, was released in 2013 to much fanfare for its inclusion of NASCAR into the group.
While panned for it “freemium” style where in-app purchases can aid the player in progressing through the game, it has been lauded for the inclusion of over two dozen real-life cars, including many used in racing. From Porsche to Ferrari to Audi to NASCAR, they are all available for the user to race.
More importantly, the accuracy and clarity of being able to race these cars on accurate tracks from around the world is universally welcomed. Tracks like Silverstone, Melbourne, Indianapolis, and Richmond come to life in living color on your smartphone. And that fact proves even more astounding, that such a strong performing game is primarily found on iOS and Android devices. It is certainly worth the extra data and storage on your phone if you are passionate about racing.
Game play as seen in F1 2012.
No. 1 – F1 2012
Arguably the strongest performing video game of this decade, the ratings for the game were some of the strongest for open wheel gaming in a long time.
The game provides the opportunity to race as any of the twenty-four drivers across the twelve teams that competed in the 2012 season, including now-defunct HRT and Caterham. More importantly, is the intimate details given to the cars and tracks that the leading open wheel series in the world competes on, including the addition of the Circuit of the Americas for the first time.
The game also made strong overtures to make the user be able to progress in ability and competitiveness like most working through the Formula One ladder. While it does not include the GP2 or GP3 Series (which I feel should be included much like NASCAR’s feeder series), the developer Codemasters consulted with drivers to make the game feel as though the user could improve over time.
The complexities of F1 are certainly evident in this game, and to be able to put such a difficult car in a video game with such success is remarkable to many. Here’s hoping this progress and the subsequent games that have come too will help build America’s F1 audience.
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