How come they don't make basic arcade style racing games anymore? One of my all-time favourite games is Burnout 2 on the Game Cube. You picked a car, you picked a series of races, and you raced. It was simple and fun and the controls meant that it was actually fun to play.
But racing games like this aren't made anymore. Nowadays they're all about big, open worlds, and it's all got to be online, all the time. Drive around to find your cars, drive around to find your events, and oh by the way by the time you find an event you'll likely be in the middle of a police chase (mainly referring to 2012's Need for Speed: Most Wanted here, but it applies to other games too.) I'm sorry - if I want to play an open world game I'll play an open world game. I don't want to drive around in a racing game looking for stuff to do. I want to pick a car and pick a track and go.
And I don't care about all the online stuff. By the way, does DriveClub actually work yet? Look at Need for Speed: Rivals. I don't want random people or even friends driving around when I'm trying to have a single player experience. I want to be left alone so I can race and have fun. I love the driving mechanics in the Need for Speed titles, but the open world aspect just kills it for me.
2010's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is the closest thing I've ever found to my beloved Burnout 2. You pick an event, you pick a car, and gasp you just race. Yes you still have all that police garbage that I'm not too crazy about, but there's plenty of just straight racing events that I'm happy to play repeatedly.
And before anybody suggests any of the Forza or Gran Turismo titles please note that I said "arcade style racing games." I enjoy Forza 4 because, like I want, I just get to pick a car and track and go, but these driving sims just aren't all that fun to play. I have a car in real life that I drive properly... why would I want to do that in a video game?
Wow I wrote a lot. I bet nobody's even going to read this (I know I never read epically long posts.) Oh well - maybe somebody will enjoy this or even agree with me before it gets lost in the shuffle. I'm going to go re-play some racer events from Hot Pursuit. I've gladly put over 70 hours into that game (all offline) because I've yet to find another modern racing game that compares to it.
My game library ranges from Mario Kart to Call of Duty to Tales of Xillia to Diablo 3 to Forza. To me gaming is about having fun - not blindly supporting only one company while thumbing your nose at "the evil other systems."
Yeah, I played a lot of Cruis'n World & Cruis'n USA back in the day on N64 (at it seemed like there were a lot of games like that back then, but you don't see them that much these days.
Burnout Paradise was pretty fun though, and is the most recent arcade racer I've played (other than Mario Kart).
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I agree with ya big time. I am not a big fan of racing sim games like GT or Forza or open world racing games like Need for Speed. I miss racing games from like the SNES era games like Top Gear on the SNES or Daytona USA in the arcade/Saturn.
About nowadays the closest we have to an arcade racer is Mario Kart but even that doesn't feel quite like an arcade racer due to the items, because its not how you drive in MK games its how you use your items.
There was the Project Gotham series on Xbox which I wish they would bring back but even then I am not sure I would run out and get an Xbox One for a Project Gotham 5 since the company behind PGR is now gone so who knows if it would be the same. That's why I had high hopes for Drive Club since alot of people were saying it was similar to the PGR series but wanted the PSN version to check it out, but thats a rant for another day.
I am also hoping for 90s Arcade Racer to come to the Wii U. Last I heard it was due out in 2014 but here we are near the end of 2014 and I haven't heard anything about it for awhile now.
But yeah I feel your pain man.
It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this way then
And yeah, I've had my eye on '90s Arcade Racer ever since it was first announced... we'll see I guess.
My game library ranges from Mario Kart to Call of Duty to Tales of Xillia to Diablo 3 to Forza. To me gaming is about having fun - not blindly supporting only one company while thumbing your nose at "the evil other systems."
I didn't play a lot of racing games growing up, but I do prefer playing offline and by myself with any game. I have played a bit of Hot Pursuit and I really enjoyed it...even though I need practice drifting. ;P
I think that F-Zero would be a great opportunity for a return to an arcade style racer... hopefully they wouldn't make it an open-world style game. If they make one at all, lol.
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Yeah arcade style racing games are pretty fun! Wish there were more of them. Obviously 90's arcade racer caught my eye but yeah the Burnout games are just awesome! So much fun with a buddy!
Tell me about it. I love Rush 2 on N64, but they don't make games like that anymore. Most big "racing games" aren't really even racing games. They are driving simulators, which begs the question of why are adults playing them at all when they can go drive in real life?
NFS is okay. At least the franchise understands that it's about racing and not driving.
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Because Racing games are driving themselves into a niche, to the point where most of their fans expect a lot of depth and content - something Arcade Racers aren't very good for. Sure, maybe it'd open up the genre to more casual fans, but would casual fan buy lots of racing games, or would they just stick with the one they like?
It's the same situation with Fighting games, actually. You have the occasional casual fighting game, but most of the casuals don't buy them year after year, so most just cater to the hardcore.
Tell me about it. I love Rush 2 on N64, but they don't make games like that anymore. Most big "racing games" aren't really even racing games. They are driving simulators, which begs the question of why are adults playing them at all when they can go drive in real life?
I like racing sims because although I can go out and drive a real car, driving to the supermarket isn't as fun as driving a Bugatti at 240mph on the Nürburgring.
It's why I play video games in the first place: to do things I can't do in real life.
To answer the original question, I do miss classic arcade racers. It's a shame that Bizarre Creations isn't around anymore, I miss the Project Gotham series.
The thing is that driving sims don't feel like you are driving 240mph. Games like Forza lack the feeling of speed. Whether you are driving 24 or 240 mph doesn't matter if they feel the same. I honestly have more fun driving to Kroger in my dad's old sports car than I do playing Forza. In that car I feel the road and the engine, and I feel like I'm going fast, even if I don't pass 50mph.
What I can't do in real life is race, but modern racers don't seem to focus on that component.
Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F
What racing games are you playing? I mean, I don't like Forza, but Gran Turismo definitely has that sense of speed (if you can reach a high speed, which often isn't easy...). Besides, the fun in racing sims isn't the sense of speed, believe it or not. You can get that from any racing game. The fun is in the mechanics, the (usually steep) learning curve, the look and feel of the cars themselves, and learning the tracks until you can do them blindfolded. They're rewarding games, just like any other Simulation game.
What racing games are you playing? I mean, I don't like Forza, but Gran Turismo definitely has that sense of speed (if you can reach a high speed, which often isn't easy...). Besides, the fun in racing sims isn't the sense of speed, believe it or not. You can get that from any racing game. The fun is in the mechanics, the (usually steep) learning curve, the look and feel of the cars themselves, and learning the tracks until you can do them blindfolded. They're rewarding games, just like any other Simulation game.
But you can get the steep learning curve with a sense of speed and increased focus on competitive racing. That's what games like F-Zero or Episode 1: Racer do.
I totally get the cars part. I'm not a cars nut, but I do enjoy them to an extent.
Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F
What racing games are you playing? I mean, I don't like Forza, but Gran Turismo definitely has that sense of speed (if you can reach a high speed, which often isn't easy...). Besides, the fun in racing sims isn't the sense of speed, believe it or not. You can get that from any racing game. The fun is in the mechanics, the (usually steep) learning curve, the look and feel of the cars themselves, and learning the tracks until you can do them blindfolded. They're rewarding games, just like any other Simulation game.
But you can get the steep learning curve with a sense of speed and increased focus on competitive racing. That's what games like F-Zero or Episode 1: Racer do.
I totally get the cars part. I'm not a cars nut, but I do enjoy them to an extent.
F-Zero is peanuts compared to even a Mid-level GT City track...I still can't believe how many hours I lost just trying to clear the one of the early GT4 "arcade" Trials...
Wipeout is the closest I've seen a non-sim get to a sim's level of difficult and depth (except maybe GRID, but then that was a Sim that tried too hard to be arcade-y...which just made the racing feel like utter crap...), but Wipeout is also probably the closest we'll ever get to a "Hover Car" sim until they start actually making hover cars...
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Topic: Why can't somebody just make an arcade style racing game??
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