What’s the best racing game ever?

It's an age-old question and one that’s sure to spark a debate in the comment section. This week, Top Gear wants to know what you believe is the greatest racing game ever. Which game(s) really puts you behind the steering wheel and satisfies both the driver and gamer in you to make you feel like Sir Lewis Hamilton when, in truth, you’re really just definitely-not-a-sir Shafiq Abidin from East London?

To help point you in the right direction, we’re going to run you through some of our notable candidates throughout the years, from whacky racers to full-blown simulators, and we begin with perhaps the most well-known franchise of them all: Gran Turismo (GT).

The dynasty launched in the summer of 1998, with the development of GT1 said to have started way back in the latter half of 1992. Kazunori Yamauchi and his team spent countless nights in the office to perfect what would become the world’s first true simulator, featuring 11 tracks and 140 cars - though this was taken out of context as it included multiple variations of the same vehicle, the cheeky buggers.

Then in the spring of 2001, arguably the most revolutionary racing game ever was released in the form of GT3. The graphics were an almighty jump from almost anything which came before it. The driving dynamics and feedback of the cars truly started to feel lifelike and individual from here, since the comical steering and unrealistic speed of the series’ first two iterations saw a total revamp.

And now, 25 years later, we find ourselves on the seventh ‘official’ instalment in the series. With access to a plethora of virtual reality headsets, full-on race seats and force-feedback steering wheels, racing simulation has been taken to whole new heights. Sadly the 4K resolution and 60 FPS output are probably wasted on someone whose eyes have been corroded by the GT series over the years to now only see in 360p, like that definitely-not-a-sir bloke. 

It’s nigh impossible to mention Gran Turismo without crossing the divide and spotlighting its eternal rival, Forza. Launched in 2005, Forza has since split into two separate divisions (unlike GT): Horizon, an open-world racer, and Motorsport, a track-based simulator. With total sales said to have surpassed 16 million copies already across the series, Forza is going nowhere in its pursuit of the crown.

Let’s take a step back from the more earnest games and bring up an arcade racer which has given life to a huge cult following: Need for Speed (NFS). First dreamt into existence during the early ‘90s, the series has so far produced more than 20 games during its run, with our standouts being Underground 2 and Most Wanted.

What makes these two games in particular so captivating is not just the storyline, but the fact they revolve around the golden age of tuner and street racing culture. They both recaptured and repurposed those themes to make them accessible to children and those who could not go out and embrace it for themselves. 

This is why they continue to be held in such high regard by so many people. There’s nothing quite like dropping a boosted Honda Civic and fitting an audacious body kit, before adding a network of vinyls and coating it in the most inappropriate pearlescent colour conceivable. Ah, the good old days. 

Sticking to the Noughties (since this always tugs at a few heartstrings), who remembers Juiced and Street Racing Syndicate? Though both were less successful than NFS, we still hold an appreciation for what they offer: genuine street racing and an endless scope for creative expression.

As we headed into the 2010s, ardent track simulators started to take precedence once more, what with the emergence of new technologies which let you truly exploit a car’s on-track behaviours to make you think you’re a better driver than you are. This was something which really appealed to the then-new generation of gamers, and developers duly complied with games like Asetto Corsa, DriveClub and Race Driver Grid. 

Let’s not leave out the hardcore motorsport derivates such as the official F1 and Dirt Rally series, which built on the strong fanbases conceived by older motorsport titles like Toca Touring Car and Sega Rally. Oh, there’s also the small matter of iRacing - an online simulator which has been running consecutively since 2008. Gordon Brown was still only just warming his seat as UK Prime Minister back then, which goes to show how long iRacing has been active.

Last but not least, why not spare a thought for the whole host of comedy racers like Mario Kart and Rocket League, or even those who bridged the gap between completely unserious and entirely serious, like Burnout and Ridge Racer?

Over to you then, readers. What do you think is the greatest racing game of them all? Ping your thoughts in the comment section - we look forward to combing through the arguments.