I like the Road Rash games on Genesis a lot.
Road Rash is still one of my favorites! I plan to play through the PSX version at some point since I only ever got the chance to play the Genesis ones as a kid.
Colin McRae Rally for PSX/PSP still holds up really well.
Is Burnout old enough to be considered retro? 🤔
Because otherwise I, too, would have to say Road Rash.
Not much of a fan of racing, which is why my picks are what they are; Burnout has the awesome crash mode, and Road Rash is basically just a beat 'em up on wheels.
Although, I also really like Wipeout.
Gran Tourismo 2 and 4, Ridge Racer Type 4, Burnout 3 Takedown and NFSU2/MW. I like a lot of racing games but these are my favorite retro ones.
Rock and Roll Racing
Excite bike
Excite bike
We had endless hours of fun back in the day using the track builder and figuring out the exact spacing and combination of ramps to make your little dude crash out in a manner that flung his tumbling corpse the absolute maximum amount of distance. (Okay, so you never really die in Excitebike, but you know.) You can achieve significant hang time if you do it right.
Random unsolicited video game trivia: First run editions of Excitebike were actually Japanese Famicom cartridges bodged into Famicom-to-NES cartridge converters. They’re literally Japanese copies of the game, verbatim. This includes the theoretical ability to save out your track to the Famicom Data Recorder, which has only the minor wrinkle of never having been released in the US. This was baffling to us at the time, not understanding why the option was there when it self-evidently didn’t work (but your Zelda cartridge could save just fine).
Somehow my dad figured this out using the early Internet or Usenet or something, and then I had the actual answer. Still not actually being able to save, mind you, but at least I knew why you couldn’t. Except nobody in the schoolyard would believe me.
(I do know!)
Sonic the Hedgehog for Sega, Super Maro Bro for the NES, along with Zelda, and Hotwheels micro racer. Blaster Master waa also a super fun game that I am on the hunt for. Far as Road Rash loved the PS1 version. Also play the shit out of Cruising the USA for the Nintendo 64.
Rc Pro Am was pretty great.
Super Hang-On is a comfort game for me, if I need a pick up and play racer I often choose that
If I wanna get more technical while staying retro I’d play Gran Turismo 2
If I’m in a “I need the arcade experience” mood I’ll play Daytona USA
Not sure it’s my favourite, but Wipeout XL/2097 deserves a mention.
No clue whether people consider the wii retro yet, but it’s a tie between Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity on wii (since that’s how I experienced it) or Cartoon Network Racing on PS2 (same reason). I’m fairly certain PS2 is technically retro by now, as insane as that sounds.
Ridge Racer for the PlayStation
Stunts was the best. You could draw your own circuits.
Yes!! This and Fatal Racing was my entire early teens!
The first that come to mind are, in no particular order:
Need for speed hot pursuit (PC)
Sonic drift 2 (game gear)
Monaco F1 (mega drive)
Death Rally (PC)
Big Red Racing (PC)
Ballistics (PC)
WipeOut (psx)
The racing game in the Sega 4in1 pack (game gear)
Virtua Racing (mega drive)
Micromachines (mega drive)
Penny Racers (psx)
All very different from another.
Almost forgot: carmageddon!
I hate that I can call this “retro” now, but 100% INITIAL D arcade machine or PSP game.
SPEEDY SPEED BOY
GASOLINE’S BURNIN’ IN
Top Gear 3000. It’s the main reason why I have a SNES emulator installed on every device I own lol.