For as long as video games have existed, so have racing games. The idea of speed and competition, which many only saw on television, gained interactive contours with the arrival of electronic games, with the PlayStation and its three-dimensional graphics only raising the bar of a genre that, there, already had its classics.
Among new games from well-known franchises and new experiments, at least two great speed franchises that are big until today gave their first accelerations in Sony’s first video game. we are talking about Grand Touring, until today a medallion of the Japanese line of consoles; It is Need for Speedone of the most renowned names when it comes to virtual speed.
With so much classic and sequence, it gets to be difficult to select a list of this type. Here, however, the Canaltech features 10 of the best racing games for the PS1.
10. Test Drive 5
The number in the title also indicates the success of a revival. Here we are talking about a franchise that emerged in the 1980s as a good name among PC racing games, but that had gone a few years without winning new titles. With a different developer and an unprecedented focus, the brand returned, with this continuation being considered the best among the five titles released for the first PlayStation, between numbered and spin-offs.
Test Drive 5 had the selection of cars as a central focus, putting machines like the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and the Dodge Viper 98 in the players’ hands — some even say that the car became their favorite sports car because of this game, in which it appears with its classic blue paint white stripes. The tracks simulated different cities in Europe, while the physics and AI were responsible for much of the criticism.
9. V-Rally 2
The Eden Studios game has a curious history, carrying in its regional releases the names of two respected franchises, even though it has little real relationship with them. Upon being published by Electronic Arts in the US, the game became part of the brand. Need for Speedwhile in a re-release, on the Dreamcast, it became a subtitle of Test Drive.
Despite that, V-Rally 2 is a game that walks on its own wheels and draws attention due to the number of cars and tracks. When trying to reproduce the 1999 season of the World Rally Championship, the developer included dozens of cars and more than 50 original tracks, expanding the possibilities even more with a circuit editor and competitive modes that simulated the rules of the category.
Weather conditions altered both graphics and gameplay, while a multiplayer mode allowed up to four people to share split-screen races. In this ocasion, V-Rally 2 it was hailed as the closest to simulation that the PlayStation was capable of getting, quite an achievement for a console and a game that signaled changes in the approach to racing titles.
8. Jet Moto
We went from cars to jet-skis (or nearly so) in this game that was considered by many to be the equivalent of Wave Race for the first PlayStation — even though both came out in the same year, which shows that the competition was a coincidence. Anyone who was enchanted with racing on the Nintendo 64 and with the imposing arcade that simulated a real vehicle, however, could find a futuristic and equally competitive alternative here.
The first in a series of three titles for its first console, Jet Moto was developed by Sony itself and inspired by motocross. The sinuous circuits full of shortcuts or obstacles demanded attention and agility from the players, while dealing with the behavior of these flying vehicles defined as a mixture of hovercraft and jet-ski, with aggressive gameplay and different modes, such as one in which competitors must complete circuits in the correct order and then reversed.
7. Wipeout XL
Another big hit on Sony consoles, this game marks the birth of a franchise and also of a studio that, after multiple reinventions and a previous game, specialized in racing titles. After the success of the first game in its franchise, Psygnosis would become the home of the series and also of Formula 1 simulators until its closure in 2012.
Also known as Wipeout 2097 in some territories, Wipeout XL puts us up for grabs in the anti-gravity vehicle league more than 50 years into the future. In this tournament, whoever comes first still wins, but to do that, you need to know how to control the highly fast ships in the curves and take care of the bodywork so that they don’t explode in the barriers or under the fire of the opponents in the dispute.
6. Formula 1
Yet another great entry in the list of racing games developed by Psygnosis, alongside Bizarre Creations, this was one of the first to attempt to faithfully reproduce a full Formula 1 season. This applied not only to the size of the competition itself, but also to the full cast of drivers and crews, official narration and TV broadcast elements, plus tracks reproduced as in reality as the PS1 could deliver.
Formula 1 started a sequence of annual games (with few breaks) that lasts until today. With customization options and different car setups, the title drew attention to the presence of idols like Rubinho Barrichello, at the time driving for Jordan; and Michael Schumacher, still at Benetton. An unprecedented and non-existent track on the calendar still served as a prize for those who won the championship of drivers and teams, a task of the longest.
5. Crash Team Racing
After three titles that became true classics and are still loved today, PlayStation’s most beloved marsupial followed in Mario’s footsteps and also stepped on the accelerator of karts. Naughty Dog, however, did not stray so far from its adventure roots, delivering a dispute, yes, focused on speed, but also full of elements beyond that.
Crash Team Racing it had a plot that brought together the classic characters of the trilogy to compete in races, in addition to power ups and attention to the scenario that revealed secrets and allowed you to gain an advantage in races. Different modes were also part of the title, such as one in which players should collect boxes and another focused on specific items or elements that bring spice to the quest for first place.
4. Driver
And since we’re talking about essentially racing games, but that decided to bring something more, Driver couldn’t stay out. The original of a franchise that many people still miss today put us behind the wheel of fast cars not to compete with other racers, but to complete missions, demonstrate skills and roam freely through the streets of big cities.
Driver it may be the first open world game in many people’s memory. In the shoes of an undercover police officer and strongly inspired by movie chases, the game scales from common crime and the hostile streets of large cities to a plan that involves the assassination of the President of the United States, with the player always behind the wheel and fulfilling objectives. .
3. Ridge Racer Type 4
In the fourth title of the franchise Ridge Racer released for the first PlayStation, Namco reached its peak. Changing the graphics engine and betting on a drift-based gameplay, the title with races, cars and fictional competitions marked its trajectory on the Sony console not only for the quality gameplay, but also for the original soundtrack that would become one of the most classic in the world. console.
Ridge Racer Type 4 marked, in 1998, the departure of the PS1 franchise with a combination of more than 300 vehicles to be unlocked according to different parameters obtained by the players. It was possible to combine teams and manufacturers to create specific models according to driving categories, while new versions were being enabled as the user did well in races, while compatibility with PocketStation allowed players to exchange machines with each other.
2. Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit
After running around for a while, it was time to settle accounts with the law. Even if the police existed in video games Need for Speed since the first one, it was here that the pursuits gained prominence, setting up one of the best titles of the classic era of a franchise that lasts until today and paving a path that, even now, still shows its reflexes.
Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit presented great evolution in relation to its predecessors, with the addition of multiplayer with split screen and new categories of piloting. Those who preferred the classic style still had a chance, with the presence or not of the police being a player’s choice — at the time, however, everyone agreed that the chases brought an additional spice and one of the best, making this one of the best racing games on the market. end of the 1990s.
1. Gran Turismo 2
One of the bastions of racing games to this day, the franchise led by Kazunori Yamauchi followed a glorious path, with players becoming real drivers, an absurd graphic fidelity and even a coming film adaptation. Here, however, she took her first big leap. The already established direction of the first game gained improvements here, which increased the competitiveness and the challenge involved in piloting.
Gran Turismo 2 it still mixed the arcade gameplay users were used to with a system that tried to approach a simulator. In the so-called Gran Turismo Mode, players needed to obtain licenses to drive the fastest cars, rising little by little and according to their discipline behind the wheel, from the base categories to star competitions. Along the way, 27 tracks, the presence of rally competitions and the largest number of vehicles so far, with more than 600 cars available.
