10 best racing games of the 1990s

Racing games in the 1990s came on in leaps and bounds. But more important than the development of graphics and physics, was the launch of a whole host of legendary franchises, from Gran Turismo to Need for Speed and even Mario Kart.
#FOSFutureLab #racingames #granturismo
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:48 Grand Prix
02:01 Lotus Turbo Challenge 2
03:03 Road Rash
04:06 Super Mario Kart
05:05 Ridge Racer
05:55 The Need for Speed
07:10 SEGA Rally Championship
08:45 Gran Turismo
09:47 Grand Prix Legends
11:18 V-Rally 2
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[@GoodwoodRR]

Which games did you play in the 1990s?

[@BOABModels]

Micro Machines for the Mega Drive, TOCA Touring Cars, Colin McRae Rally, Gran Turismo and Crash Team Racing for the PlayStation were my favourites. Crash Team Racing still stands up today as a really fantastic kart racer!

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

I played most on this list but I also played Wipeout, Screamer, Carmageddon, Fatal Racing, Sportscar GT and the most standout arcade racer I remember was probably Daytona USA.

[@TheWisdom3]

Screamer, Nfs, Toca, Destruction Derby, Carmageddon..

[@PSXGamingMemories]

Mario Kart on the SNES, had so much fun with that with my brothers & friends, Loved playing Sega Rally in the arcade, That was the 1st time I truly got to experience what it was like to drive a car, awesome. Got Ridge Racer & Destruction Derby when I 1st got my Playstation back in 1997, Destruction Derby 2 is still the most insane and frantic racing game I've ever played, that was just epic, Gran Turismo 1& 2, Colin McRae Rally, V-Rally 1 & 2, sunk hours into those games, Porsche Challenge is another epic game alongside Need for Speed 3 Hot Pursuit, NFS Road Challenge/High Stakes, Rage Racer & Ridge Racer 4, honestly there is so many to choose from but these are among my all-time favourites., Great video, really enjoyed it!

[@creepingjesus5106]

I still play GT2 now and then. No idea how many copies I've worn out!

[@libbysworld1509]

Screamer and outrun and also super hang on come to mind.

[@constipatedparker5879]

GT1 & GT2 are still timeless classics to me. Not just a simple game but a showcase of all-time favorite, underdog and exotic cars with mostly accurate details and description. The TOCA racing games also introduced me to touring cars. Early NFS games, especially NFS2 introduced me to prototypes and GT1 cars. Some other underrated games I can remember was OPTION tuning battle and Mille Miglia (1930s-1950s cars).

[@ZX3000GT1]

Mille Miglia on PS1, as well as the Kaneko made ones on the arcade is cool. Spend hours playing it as a kid.

[@trevagraham1605]

I also loved Race Drivin, Daytona USA, Outrunners, Super GT, Virtua Racing, Cruisin USA, San Francisco Rush, Nigel Mansell, Stadium Cross, and Test Drive 2 The Duel

[@scottoleson1997]

Midtown Madness (1999) definitely needs a mention, as it was one of the first games to have a fully fleshed out open world that you could just cruise around the city and cause chaos. Also a huge modding scene.

[@wittsend86]

Pretty much half my childhood wrapped up in this one video... What a nostalgia trip!

[@paulanstey4577]

GPL was sooooo difficult on a keyboard back in 98. Got my first wheel a few years later for GTR1. But for me it was TOCA that got me into racing sims. I have vivid memories of me and my mate playing two player on a single keyboard.

[@Ash-928]

I still have the PS1 versions of TOCA 1 and 2, although the graphics are dated, they are still great games. I remember completing them on the hardest setting, one of the most challenging moments was racing at Thruxton in heavy rain in the final race of the season, it was a very tense feeling knowing another driver could nudge you off the track and put you in last place.

[@23GreyFox]

I still love the 3rd TOCA for the PS1. For me it was ahead of most games. And it's still better than most modern racing games.

[@adriancho74]

And many say that it is wrong to say that all past times were better... nonsense! The past was much better! The proof is in the games we played. The best!

[@Etendard1708]

The beauty of 1990s. You can play any games in splitscreen.. two players at the same computer lol.

[@gufo_tave]

Grand Prix Legends was an hardcore game fot its time: you needed a wheel to play it, and even with the wheel was really difficult to drive. In short, there was NO easy mode, only HARDEST

[@duncanself5111]

I really liked Ferrari F355 Challenge on Dreamcast and was the first online multi-player racer I think I played. The first Gran Turismo was revolutionary at the time

[@SteveBrandon]

F355 Challenge only counts as a 1990s game if you're talking about the arcade version, the Dreamcast version didn't come out until 2000. I still think F355 Challenge kind of deserves to be there for the 3-screen arcade version and for being on the sim-mier side of 1990s arcade racing games but I suppose they didn't want this list to be bottom-heavy with games from the end of the decade and they probably didn't want more than one Sega-developed game on there (hence why Virtua Racing and Daytona USA also are absent).

[@SteveBrandon]

Can't see your reply in the thread for some reason but Sega Retro lists the Japanese release date for F355 Challenge on Dreamcast as August 3rd, 2000. I can't prove it wasn't released earlier but they're usually more reliable than any other site for Sega release dates.

[@timorgano]

I absolutely adored the original Gran Turismo. It just moved the racing game on so far. Need for Speed 2 was another one I spent lots of time on. Especially with the cheats to play as a dinosaur or a box crate. NFS Road Challenge was probably my absolute favourite of the NFS games.

[@romus3550]

A man of culture

[@p40warhawk91]

I'm 53 years old. I played nearly all of these games, ESPECIALLY Gran Tourismo but never heard of Gran Prix Legends. Now I am on mission...

[@tonya5809]

There's a huge community out there and the game now has very impressive visuals. For an in depth install guide check out GPLaps recent KZbin video.

[@davide744858]

Psygnosis' first F1 game for PSX is missing, to this day there hasn't been a better F1 game than that one for console.

[@ShonnDaylee]

Gran Turismo has the crown. hands down. Changed racing games over night.

[@MaxTheFun1995]

Without a shadow of a doubt!!

[@89tmoverdriveyt62]

I'm glad Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix and Grand Prix Legends aren't forgetten.

[@spavatch]

TOCA, Viper Racing, Need for Speed III, Motorhead and... surprise surprise - Death Rally. These were the games I spent thousands of hours on back in the 90s. And then, in 2002, came Live for Speed which changed everything and stayed with me ever since.

[@Arexion5293]

I think these are the best ones from this era: - Viper Racing - Gran Turismo 2 - Wipeout 3 - Crash Team Racing - Need for Speed High Stakes PC - Colin McRae Rally - Toca 2 - Sega Rally 2 - F1 97 Would've listed Porsche Unleashed and Colin McRae Rally 2.0, but both of those were released year 2000.

[@Arexion5293]

@@Braindizruptor Dunno enough about it. Might put it on the list if I did.

[@roflBeck]

@@Braindizruptor Yeah, awesome game right there!

[@TheInkPitOx]

GT2 was awesome. I miss it.

[@malcolmar]

Great list but 2 games I think that are missing are Sega's Virtua Racing and Sega's Daytona USA. Those 2 games just blew my mind when I saw them for the first time in the arcades.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Yep Virtua Racing is missing from this list.

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

100% agree, Daytona was absolutely mind blowing at the time and I think Virtua Racing was the first fully polygonal Racing game in the arcades.

[@MyNameSucksBad82]

I remember being blown away by Ridge Racer and Wipeout. Those soundtracks and beats. The PlayStation 1 start up logo too..... Nostalgia

[@OldRacingGames]

Formula One '95 or F1 '97 should definitely be on the list. Grand Prix 2 also beats Grand Prix by a long way. Maybe I would also have thrown in TOCA2, Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP or Virtua Racing.

[@gastonhernandez2666]

yes the real racing simulator it was TOCA especially the 2.

[@EcknerMJRamos]

@@gastonhernandez2666 It's not from 1990 right?

[@thatcarguy6190]

@@gastonhernandez2666 TOCA touring cars was a true gem 👌🏻

[@binplus8517]

@@EcknerMJRamos 1997/1998

[@PsychomachineryEBM]

It's ridiculous how the include a flop like Mario kart instead Screamer or Daytona USA

[@DjFIL007]

Nice! Grand Prix 2 (1996) is the one that got me truly hooked.

[@Niklas.K95]

Gran Turismo 2 has the perfect size to just play it through any other year

[@adammundell406]

Hard to believe you completely missed Toca Touring Cars!

[@pitergriffin01]

I started all the way back with both the first gran turismo and colin mcrae rally games, still playing the modern iterations today, but my dad had grand prix 1 and 2 on his pc and I also played those

[@SparkyOne549]

Grand Turismo was my fave. It was the first time I came across a game that with each car felt different to drive, with oversteer, understeer, 4wd, front wheel drive, rear wheel drive. Where as games prior all felt the same to drive. Road rash was fun, Colin McRae I spent a lot of time on too. Mario kart I had a ton of fun with too. I played ridge racer too.

[@handsolo6241]

Hard driving and race driving were my favorite arcade games, though they were probably pre 90s.

[@victorvance2573]

Hard Drivin' first released in 1989 yes, but Race Drivin' debuted in 1990 and could have fitted into this list.

[@trevagraham1605]

Race Drivin is still my favorite racing game. I play it on Mame with a Logitech 920 wheel, and shifter.

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

@@trevagraham1605 That sounds like a much better way to do it then how I've been playing it on Sega Genesis, lol!

[@trevagraham1605]

@@scottthewaterwarrior The Genesis version is a million times better than the SNES version. That game is depression in the form of a video game lol.

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

@@trevagraham1605 Oh yeah, even the GameBoy port is more playable then that!

[@SimonJones265]

Sega Rally is my all time fav Arcade game. I also have console versions on Dreamcast & Ps3. Formula One 95 was revolutionary when it came to F1 games. It still holds up today especially with Murray Walker's one liners.

[@neckray]

This is such a perfect list, containing arcade titans like Roadrash and NFS while also remembering legends like GPL and VR2. Amazing job guys!

[@paulrnaylor]

Grand prix legends is still playable now.

[@paulanstey4577]

It's a highly modded game with loads of tracks, up dated graphics and physics even support for triple screens. Still have my original boxed copy. The manual is insanely detailed.

[@GrandPrixYannick]

Grand Prix Legends, still the to-go to sim for me.

[@jothain]

I don't blame you at all. I still kinda miss weekends from about ten years ago when I used to race with couple friends for few hours virtually every weekend. Our favorite titles were GPL of course and LFS. From rally games I used to love RBR and it caused so many angry moments. Maybe I should buy wheel again after all these years 🤔

[@waynemillard8412]

Geoff Crammond Grand Prix was an amazing game back in the day. Great video showing all the great games I grew up playing.

[@pocketstationman6364]

Gran Turismo 2 was simply the best racer of the decade.

[@tobjord]

No, GPL wasnt a flop! it wasnt a major success because of the difficulty level but a flop is too harsh. Gaming Magazines praised it for its physics. I fell in love since the demo came out...

[@11NetNet11]

GPL was indeed a major success but was sold poorly when it was release. Even in wikipedia it was mention that the game was a commercial failure

[@marvinlinnarz5856]

@@11NetNet11 i think one of the reasons might be, that most Games of that time were Arcade. While GPL was one of the best Racing Sims at the time

[@scottoleson1997]

@@11NetNet11 yeah I think it was rated even worse on Dreamcast, but I got it recently. It’s so fun driving formula cars from the 30’s (edit) whoops I guess I meant Spirit of Speed 1937.

[@SMlFFY85]

ToCA 2 is my favourite racing game of the 90s.

[@stevenrawls1986]

I remember playing road race and lotus and when I go back and look at reviews of the games it brings tears to my eyes because something's I just forget about and they brought it back to my remembrance

[@oliverbentley8125]

Many simracers and lovers of modern competitions have begun in their first experience in the 90s'. So fond memories...

[@tonya5809]

Papyrus' Nascar Racing just has to be in this list. It went on to become one of the very best sim racing titles..

[@_Lineman_]

Powerslide was one of my favorites as a kid 😁

[@PS1DemoMuseum]

Very cool of you to use my recorded footage on V-Rally 2 section without asking any sort of permission from the original source.

[@ZX3000GT1]

Try contacting them or something, hopefully they'll add the attribution.

[@super_street_racer5094]

Granturismo is still to this day unbeatable! What a racing franchise, I really like that GT has some glimps of every game that came before it.

[@AvexFuddle]

Ridge racer and sega rally are both still amazing even now. Such depth. 😎👍

[@mobjwez]

amazing video! loved road rash as a kid

[@SprowstonRipper]

Enjoyed both v rally and Colin McRae rally in the 90’s but there’s no way v rally was better, codemasters effort was an absolute game changer for rally games. The toca series and the original f1 series by psygnosis on PlayStation are also glaring omissions!!

[@OldRacingGames]

Agree with this. Colin McRae was a legendary game, V Rally 2 not so much!

[@BOABModels]

Totally - Colin McRae was leagues ahead of V rally.

[@WerdnaLiten]

Agree; the original is still a great game. For example picking tyres for two stages which are totally different; on the Monte one stage is dry tarmac, the next is wet snow/ wet tarmac....Similarly in NZ there is a dry gravel stage, the next is wet. Even now, some rally games don't do this.

[@marvinlinnarz5856]

@@BOABModels what i didn't like about Colin McRae Rally was, that there wasn't much Cars and Tracks.

[@Snarl616]

I always had the feel that V-Rally was made for money only, and Colin McRae was done with passion. And I was a teenager in the 90s.

[@jamescartier8728]

It gives me chills to see such a legendary institution pay homage to the games that fostered my love of cars.

[@Larry]

No Daytona or Virtua Racing?

[@bob_._.]

I expected to see IndyCar Racing 2 from 1995 but saw Mario Kart instead. Then I remembered it's "racing games" not "racing sims" but then I saw Grand Prix Legends, so who knows?

[@Blasio66]

The Project Gotham Racing series had a great vibe and graphics too

[@derosiflo6524]

Gran Turismo 2 no doubt

[@Jardier]

Grew up on all these! Love it!

[@marcelluscunningham9071]

The Tokyo xtreme racer series and shutoku battle series are super underrated

[@thomasgotting6105]

F1 95 and F1 97 on PSX. I've played it hundreds of hours.

[@fridgeracer]

Racing Lagoon got an English fan translation recently, definitely worth a play if a cheesy PS1 racing RPG is up your alley

[@mrbagitos]

Great to see racing games/ sims getting some coverage on this channel. Sega Rally is still amazing to this day. I’m still not bored of this and will happily put a pound coin or two to have a go. I’ve got versions on Saturn and PC. The PC version plays really well with the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback wheel, which was pretty amazing back in the mid 90s.

[@samghost13]

I would pay a lot to go back in time and relive the 90's one more time. It was the best time of my life

[@zeph5252]

I used to spend a lot of time playing GT1 and 2 and Colin McRae Rally 1 and 2. Crash Team Racing and Rally Cross 2 which was great because you could make crazy custom tracks to play with friends. Also, Max Power!

[@josephkarl2061]

I can't begin to estimate how many hours my friends and I played V Rally 2 on PS1. I'm not a fan of Rally games, but this one kept drawing me back. Fantastic 👍

[@jimkrom]

True, that was an amazing game. The only other rally game ever to catch my attention was Microsoft's Rallisport Challenge 2 on the og Xbox, which was in every way a vastly superior game

[@SuperSZ]

There was a DOS game called Screamer. It was pretty much the most impresive racing game for PC at that time (I think it was the year 95)

[@jonatesrides]

A Goodwood video game would be so great, its the closest most people will get to the festival and being able to drive all of the rare and historic cars.

[@myavatargotsnowedon9156]

Midway released Hydro Thunder in 1999, one of the first games to use water tessellation with realtime collision

[@jeffreypostma6832]

Nice video. I miss Indycar Racing, which was the first racing similator for PC I got.

[@SpatialDragon]

1998 had a game called "Gran Prix Legends" for PS1, but it was the modern F1 cars. It was incredibly hard to drive, but was probably the best F1 game of the era. It was the "iRacing" level game of the time.

[@StaceJohnson]

My favorite was the Dirt Track Racing series (1 & 2) by Ratbag games. I loved the physics, the car setups, and the career progression.

[@tomaszuzanik7486]

gran turismo 1 and 2 and In the Rally I played every day as a little boy on ps

[@jareknowak8712]

I miss the times of the firsts GT and NFS. Playstation was like a 3rd parent for me.

[@thomaslistermartin]

Glad to see my favourite franchises (NFS, Gran Turismo) here. Including V-Rally 2 was a great decision, because Colin McRae Rally and some other rally games had huge soap effect, which always pisses me off, and V-Rally 2 didn't have much of that effect. 4th NFS game (High Stakes, PS1) is the best, physics had optimal balnce between arcade and simulation. The only game in whole NFS franchise that could give you same amount of excitement is NFS: Porsche Unleashed for PC. Also, in my opinion, Gran Turismo 2 should be included in this video instead of the first one: it has more content, looks better, has hp limits in some races, which makes it bit more challenging, and tbh first Gran Turismo has a problem with too much oversteering vehicles, and the second one got rid of that problem and has better physics in general.

[@s0m3cunt91]

Daytona dominated all the arcades in the 90's.

[@SIMRACINGTRUCKER]

I started off with Lotus Turbo Challenge, Super Mario Kart, and Gran Turismo but had I known about GC's Grand Prix I would've been on it. I did get to play the PS1 Formula 1 game though.

[@jameznash]

Need for speed was my first console game. Gran Turismo 1 and 2 probably my fav. Lotus game was great fun. TOCA Touring cars and TOCA World touring cars also great Super Cars was always great on Amiga. Destruction derby 1 and 2, also Driver came out in 1999 and although not a racing game - one of the best driving games of its time

[@martinb555]

Super Monaco gp in the arcades , loved it and pumped way too many pound coins into it ✌🏼😎

[@potkan]

I just wanted to click thru the list , but so well done I watched to the end. Content at its best!

[@Reaperman4711]

Well, I guess we agree on Gran Turismo at least. ;) I'd include Micro Machines, Papyrus' Indy Car Racing, Sega's Virtua Racing, and San Francisco Rush 2049.

[@ZX3000GT1]

Replace SFRush 2049 with SCUD Race and you got my list.

[@ZimmerZirwes]

Grand Prix Legends was a milestone for todays sim racing games. I was about 12 years old, when i played it - and it felt different (in a positive way) on so many levels. But at the age of 12, I could not handle the difficulty - but I could unterstand, why people loved it.

[@xAciasx]

For me it was Indycar Racing 2 and Nascar Racing by Papyrus that heavily influenced my love for racing video games.

[@ccarboncini]

Nice video guys! I played almost all the games you mentioned! Loved GP1 (mastered at "Ace" difficulty) and Lotus Esprit Challenge too. But I would add: - Grand Prix 2 (maybe the Best Ever!! also this mastered at "Ace" difficulty) - NASCAR Racing 1-2 - Nigel Mansell's World Championship (Arcade game yes, but with car setups choices, weather conditions, pit stop/strategies and tyres decisions)

[@markeastwood74]

I don't know if it's just me, but thinking back to Lotus Turbo 2, I'm convinced they had The Prodigy doing the music. Oh, and the cattle prod in RR3 cracks me up 🤣🤣🤣

[@paanchotsgt6393]

vrally 2 is a masterpiece, that intro....

[@AnthonyFlack]

F-Zero X on the N64 is still a favourite. Isn't it about time Nintendo considered giving us a new F-Zero, and how about another Wave Race too while they're at it?

[@ScionTC2003]

I was just a baby and ridge racer was released. My favorite game is Ridge Racer and Need For Speed is my favorite game 🙂🙂

[@Alex-rq8pg]

INTERNATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 1997. Back when I was a kid this game ruled for me.

[@JonnyOpinionated]

Arcade: Hard Drivin' and Stunt Drivin' PC: Carmageddon, Stunts (These are still emulated to this day) F-Zero was an AMAZING Super Nintendo racing game.

[@keeswijnja1207]

My parents and I have a Nintendo 64 and when I was younger I always played V-Rally ( the 99 Edition ). Every morning, when I was around 8-10 years old, I went to my parents' room just to play V-Rally or Mario Kart. Sometimes my parents and I are crazy enough to bring the N64 downstairs just to have some nostalgia.

[@mattsword41]

Lotus Turbo Challenge 2- Loved it!! Remember seeing ridge racer for the first time on ps1 pack in from disc -blew my tiny mind:)

[@Driftuner]

Omg Sega Rally...i spent way too much time on arcades at those

[@danielwitchcraft]

Great list!

[@ashleyhamman]

I'm not very familiar with Ridge Racer, but that takes me back to the nostaliga of arcade machines for Daytona USA, which I think is an absolute classic on this side of the Atlantic, and I saw around as late as about 2014.

[@DuckAlertBeats]

Not familiar with RR?? 🥲

[@Mr.Midnight06]

The fact you put the first Need for Speed but not III: Hot Pursuit or High Stakes is ridiculous

[@jonelson1983]

On PlayStation Formula 1 '95 has to be there, along with TOCA. I remember playing Race Racer for ages as well. And WipeOut 2097!

[@kingmanyi]

Grand Prix Legends is a real masterpiece

[@monomyrrh]

TOCA Touring Cars, Colin McRae Rally, F1 97, Destruction Derby. My go to games after school.

[@megasaturndreams6634]

You should change the title of this video to “My favourite racing games from the 90s” I never thought I’d see the day where OutRun, Virtua Racung or Daytona USA wouldn’t make the cut.

[@Pilkie101]

Great video, do the 2000s next!

[@denismarecik7451]

1999 Mobil 1 Rally Championship was a fantastic game too. GT #1 CMR #2

[@Nekudza]

Kudos for Geoff Crammonds game on the list, GP series were amazing games for the time

[@victorvance2573]

Very nice list! A few games that i´d like to add are "Screamer" which brought arcade like gaming to (DOS) PC´s. "Stunts" ( or "4D Sports Driving" or "4D Driving" in some countries) which was loaded with content and just amazing to play. It still has a very active community to this day. And "Have a N.I.C.E. day!" (was also known under other names in different countries) a not very known game from a German developer team. It is focused on racing with weaponized cars and can be seen as a hommage to the 1989 DOS game "Deathtrack". BTW very nice that you included the Lotus series.

[@1000sofusernames]

No TOCA is criminal. I know the 90s were stacked for driving games but still....

[@francescoruggeri518]

Great video

[@nbttl1975]

Virtua Racing was my first mind blowing experience in racing.

[@whiterabbit1632]

Gran Turismo, Ridge Racer and Sega Rally for me!

[@oficialretrog]

Excelente vídeo 👏

[@Headbangerr-en2cc]

Never played Grand Prix and original Mario Kart. All the others gave me one of the best memories.

[@urgentkestrel7990]

Even though I was born in the year 2000 I seem to prefer things from the 90’s

[@andrecarvalho8679]

Some missed, Daytona USA, Test Drive Le Mans, TOCA series

[@miroku888]

....Where is Daytona USA, one of if not THE greatest arcade racing game ever made? It blew Sega Rally out of the water, and FAR more people played it.