15 Essential DOS Driving Games

Back with another look at some must-play DOS games from the 80s and 90s. This time it's driving/racing games.
Video sources:
Carmageddon, Street Rod, Wacky Wheels - Major Thriftwood
/ @thriftweeds
4D Sports Driving, Ignition - RetroGamer. biz
/ @retrogamerbiz
Micro Machines 2 - Antza
/ @retromaniacchannel
Screamer - einokeino303
/ @einokeino303
Hi-Octane - World of Longplays (played by SCHLAUCHI)
/ @worldoflongplays
Quarantine - xeelwarbeast
/ @xeelwarbeast
GTA - dada78641
/ @dada78641
Destruction Derby - RoksGames
/ @roksgames
Fatal Racing - Nostalgic Games
/ @nostalgicgames
Test Drive II: The Duel - Shortmandesigner
/ @shortmandesigner
Grand Prix 2 - Nap'n'Retrogaming
/ @napostriouf
Super Off Road - La Mazmorra Abandon
/ @guardianmisterioso

[@KailashNathan]

Death Rally and Death Track were two that I played during those DOS days. The Amiga 500 also had Supercars and Supercars II which consumed a lot of my time.

[@onaretrotip]

Amiga had some great ones.

[@mfr2]

Death Rally!!! Loved that game!

[@skraegorn7317]

I would have also included one of Papyrus’ brilliant NASCAR and Indycar racing games as well as Geoff Crammond’s Formula One Grand Prix. They’re definitely a bit dated but they have overall aged quite well and are still competent simulators to this day, chunky graphics aside.

[@onaretrotip]

👌

[@billybobs1705]

@@onaretrotip my goodness you are boring

[@ogxboxgamer3171]

Yeah I second nascar. It was ahead of the times and fun to this day.

[@billybobs1705]

@@ogxboxgamer3171 shush

[@ogxboxgamer3171]

@@billybobs1705 how does one exactly shush?

[@MetalJesusRocks]

I LOVED Screamer back in the day. Nice to see it included here.

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, such a cool game! Super impressive back in the day; I remember they would use it to show off PC hardware in shops.

[@Luuw]

Screamer was awesome ❤

[@caseycbenn]

Stunts! It amazes me that this idea hasn't been modernized. It would be ridiculously addicting.

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, me too actually. Would be great to have an online track editor where you could share your creations!

[@ghostridertom]

In todays age it would be so murderous and violent it would probably put people away :-) Now violence is too mainstream :D

[@microlinux]

I would make a remake with low poly spirit, that would be lovely.

[@nilz__]

Stunt Rally for Linux has been in development since forever

[@peoplethesedaysberetarded]

Loved that game.

[@victorlgcarvalho]

Thanks for including Stunts on this list!! I spent countless hours on it, love that game!! Let's not forget the first Need for Speed game, which was a DOS game! Nascar and IndyCar racing are gems too!

[@lmcgregoruk]

Well technically "The Need for Speed" was a 3DO game that later got ported to MS-DOS, PlayStation and Saturn, but yes.

[@victorlgcarvalho]

@@lmcgregoruk also it ran way better on a PC if you had a proper Pentium machine, in magic SVGA glory!

[@lmcgregoruk]

@@victorlgcarvalho 640x480 instead of 320x200, seemed a common thing in the mid/late 90's for shareware games to use 320x200 and advertise that the full game let you play in SVGA. Also a lot of games let you turn graphics options/quality up/down(including The Need for Speed) Window Size Full/Medium/Small, Image Quality High/Medium/Low/Interlaced/Auto Medium/Auto Low, View Distance Far/Medium/Close, Car Detail High/Low, Horizon On/Off. Also use some of the Function keys to toggle them on the fly.

[@victorlgcarvalho]

@@lmcgregoruk I know, I bought the game for my PC back then... I had a 486 DX2-66, that could barely run the game at 320x200, then upgraded for a Pentium 166 and had all its glory at 640x480!

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, I put so many hours/days into Stunts. So fun!

[@Highretrogamelord]

I love Need for Speed: Special Edition, that one is a really fun driving/racing game for DOS.

[@onaretrotip]

I never played the original! Seems to be a popular choice though.

[@CYON4D]

I totally agree. I think NFS SE is the best DOS racing game. I enjoyed Test Drive 3 too.

[@lmcgregoruk]

@@CYON4D For some reason I could only get Need for Speed:Special Edition to run under DOSBox, Need for Speed(non-special edition) I couldn't.

[@apreviousseagle836]

You missed: Accolade's Grand Prix Unlimited, which was a phenomenal game for its time, and Crazy Cars 3 (Also knows as Lambourghini American Challenge) which was also a great game, and for its time, had outstanding graphics.

[@onaretrotip]

👍

[@KrotowX]

Indeed it was cool with amazing graphics for the era. Still rememeber a manager in my part time job circa 1994 who was F1 fan and also totally crazy about this game :D

[@nicolashrv]

I would add to the list DEATH TRACK, which is one of the first racing cars with weapons involved, not only you can upgrade your car (as in Street Rod saga) but also add weapons like machine guns, missiles and laser, etc. Before each track, a mafia guy approaches you and offers you extra $$$ to eliminate one of the racers.........I still remember the intro music, with its semitone bass note!

[@onaretrotip]

😎👌

[@ming-tachang988]

DEATH TRACK is also one of my favorite racing games, I can still remembered playing the game with my brother (he did driving, I did shooting) using our 286pc, black & white monitor with no sound card.

[@nicolashrv]

@@ming-tachang988 Death Track got a sequel (thou it was made in russia, so it had low reception in America, still I managed to get a copy in EU, in a supermarket! Yes, it was in a big box of $1 offers!......It's called Death Track Resurrection)

[@KrotowX]

Death Race was my fav in begin of nineties when I was sort of 18-20. Must be here for sure. Had no sound card then so only beeping music. But it was cool anyway, spent a lot of evenings with it. Didn't liked 2009 remake much. it lacked something... intrigue, drive, age or both, dunno.

[@Gyrbae]

Carmageddon was originally going to be a licensed game of the 1975 movie Death Race 2000. They lost the license but kept the key aspects from the movie, such as getting scores from running over pedestrians. Infact, Max Damage's car Eagle is modeled to look very similar to the movies protagonist Frankensteins car, Alligator.

[@onaretrotip]

Indeed! They were actually making a sequel to Death Race, so it was going to be a tie-in with that, but the film was cancelled.

[@Predatorace]

Ignition by UDS is such a gem. So many fond memories of that one and I loved that you could just put the game CD in your sound system and play the music!

[@onaretrotip]

I loved that feature! Used to do the same with the Quarantine CD.

[@fleshworm]

I beat it on all difficulties back in the day, including mirror mode.

[@KrotowX]

@@onaretrotip It was cool then when you had ability to play game soundtracks outside computer on ordinary CD player. Though OST soundtracks in KZbin and audio system with Bluetooth kinda returned thsi possibility.

[@KrotowX]

Ignition was cool for all ages. Played it in my early 20s alone and some times with family friend who had 65 then in multiplayer mode :)

[@adriangutierrez463]

The games are very well explained and you can watch them for a long time. Other youtubers show the games in a few seconds and there is no time to see anything about how the game is. I loved your video!

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you!

[@Enakaji]

I just found your video in my recommended Feed and I would like to say this: Thank you soo much for this video! Seeing all of those games again after all these years was amazing and brought back some great memories. I always loved racing games and I indeed grew up playing all of those games and spend way too many hours playing all of them growing up.

[@onaretrotip]

Ah, thank you. Really glad you enjoyed it and it stirred up some fond memories for you.

[@devastator200]

Some absolute bangers here Pete! This vid really put me on spot with fantastic memories from back in the day!Fortunately a lot of these I’ve had the pleasure to play although I never seen ‘screamer’ so thank you for this recommendation bud!

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks mate! Yeah, some really fond memories for me too with this episode. Spent countless hours on these as a kid (especially 4D Sports Driving, Quarantine, and Carmageddon).

[@althejazzman]

Unpopular Opinion: Hi-Octane is better than Wipeout. You have more freedom as the track width varies and you can even explore off track. The constant weaponry makes for very exciting carnage. I thoroughly recommend finding the patched update as it adds more tracks and game modes.

[@onaretrotip]

Ooh, controversial!

[@chattingesque372]

Cyber Speedway on Sega Saturn is even better!

[@DoCKathos]

I played the hell out of the hi octane demo

[@singleproppilot]

I loved Hi-Octane and played the demo to death, but it ran horrible on my PC at the time. I agree it was far better than Wipeout.

[@rixmat8809]

OH MY... Dude... THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS UPLOAD. I have been looking for a game on this list for absolute DECADES. (fatal racing) I first played it from a PC Gamer Demo disk in the 90s, I always wanted to buy it but never got the chance to. The Image of the corkscrew jumps with yellow markings on the floor has been burned into my memory ever since, and when I described it to my friends an asked if they could remember the game when explaining it to them, they had no idea. I specifically clicked on this video for the very reason (and 100's of others) in the HOPE one day someone would show it...... And you just did. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I have had that image in my head from the day I played it as a child and thought id never find it again. Im laying here in bed typing you this message with a tear in my eye. Thank you.

[@onaretrotip]

Oh my god, this is brilliant!!! Love comments like this. Sooo glad I could remind you.

[@ftuT]

Nice one. I remember the Indy 500 game fondly (not on this list), it was like a rustic Grand Prix. I sucked at it, but enjoyed crashing early and then going in the wrong direction crashing other cars. The car destruction features were great for its time.

[@onaretrotip]

Yes, a lot of Indy 500 fans it seems.

[@Speculativedude]

True, and being able to customize the setup on the cars was a lot better than most games at the time.

[@mfr2]

Hahaha!!!! I did the same, the goal was to destroy all the opponents, recover lost laps and win the race! 😁 The same with Nascar Racing.

[@RetroBreak]

Great list! Will definitely check some of these out! Love the look of the two ridge racer inspired games! Ones I remember playing a lot as a Kid were Interstate 76 and Rally Championships X Miles.

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks, Nick! Yeah, the two arcade racers are great, and right up my street. Always preferred arcade racers over simulations.

[@PsychomachineryEBM]

Screamer was way ahead of its time, it's still looks great today

[@onaretrotip]

Absolutely!

[@shadowangel2235]

How was it "ahead of its time", when it was basically a straight up Ridge Racer knock off, which was originally released in 1993?

[@frankboogaard88]

Nope

[@yocapo32]

Guys, it's a fully textured, fully 3D game running at 30 FPS in _DOS._ Even the original Ridge Racer used basic, flat textures for it's cars to free up video memory.

[@shadowangel2235]

@@yocapo32 The original Ridge Racer in Arcade didn't, since it ran on more powerful hardware. Also 3D polygonys textured at the time weren't anything especial on PC anymore, especially since it was able to run at more than just 30 fps. Again: Screamer was nothing special. If you'd live back then or at least spend time to read old magazines from back then you'd know it. Everybody was more obsessed with Need for Speed anyway and Fatal Racing was more spectacular with its carnage, while F1GP2 remained the king of true racing simulation until it got replaced by GP3.

[@itsaPIXELthing]

This is right up my alley! Played them all back in the day and many are amongst my favorite of all time! Thanks for this! It was a great watch ;)

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it!

[@Valitzu777]

Genuinely, a great list of games that I played and enjoyed growing up... thank you

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you very much.

[@bearmatic]

I got my first pentium 100 pc in 1995 and one of the first racing game I tried was Screamer. I was blown away by the speed and depth. Coming from the Amiga, textured mapped 3D games left me gobsmacked.

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, PCs started to really kill the Amiga around that time, it was another huge jump!

[@volvo09]

Yes! I came here hoping to find it's name by watching some gameplay. I was a kid and downloaded the demo, never had a graphics card so this games graphics details and graphics speed blew me away. I remember laughing that you could hit the lines of traffic cones and they'd go flying over the car :)

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

You got the Bug Pentium 60 in 1995 only ! Guess you forgot what you did back then ....

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

@@onaretrotip We always did PC's at home, commodore games he needed ? Amiga was less good.

[@Myako]

Absolutely fantastic selection, particularly regarding "Screamer", "Street Rod" and "Wacky Wheels". 👏🏻👏🏻💪🏻💪🏻 I'd only add "Lotus III" to the list.

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks!

[@mmmmmmmmmmm10]

Lotus was the best. I used to put in nirvana unplugged cd every time I played it so I associate each song with a location

[@RTPJu]

A driving games list with Stunts, Screamer, Street Rod and Test Drive 2 can't fail. Cheers!

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks!

[@BucketsBayBay]

I played so many of these games as a kid and sank SO MUCH time in Street Rod. I'm going to have to revisit some of these classics soon.

[@onaretrotip]

Definitely!

[@mrvellu]

thanks for the great list! Lots of old favorites. I would mention Indianapolis 500 which had the replay option to see crashes and whatnot from different views. Very fun at the time

[@onaretrotip]

Indy 500 was really groundbreaking.

[@MBkaido0101]

When i got my Monster 3dfx video card, i downloaded the 3dfx dos driver for Carmageddon using a 56k modem. It was glorious to see.

[@onaretrotip]

Haha good times!

[@Itsmuchmore]

Great video! A lot of these games on the list we played on our P166 and we remember always having the shareware version of wacky wheels. Screamer 2 was also a good game but Streamer 1 looks quite impressive. We used to play Grand Prix 2 as an online multiplayer via TCP/IP Thanks for putting some other games on our radar which we know we will enjoy too

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks! Yeah, I had the shareware version of Wacky Wheels too. Glad I could recommend some new games for you too!

[@microlinux]

I played a clone of wacky.. skunny kart, very good clone with superb music

[@greedlike]

Never forget Street Rod 1989. Me and my brother had this game and played it for hours on end. Thank you of reminding me of this gem.

[@onaretrotip]

Such a weird game, but so 'DOS'.

[@manuelink64]

My favorite DOS racing games was: - Lotus III - Ultimate Challenge (Gremlin Graphics Software, 1992), the smooth gameplay, the wonderfull selectable 6-tracks FM-music, this game was awesome for a low budget computers (386SX) - F1 (Domark, 1993), this game has awesome graphics and nice sound FX, the sense of speed was really great. - Skunny Kart (Copysoft, 1994), the clone of Wacky Wheels, this game "made" by Copysoft, has an interesting story, the creator of Whacky Wheels showed this game in the Copysoft HQ, they didn't liked and flush the poor guy, he leave the HQ... without his demo disk and source code!

[@onaretrotip]

Lotus III is great, but I was never a huge fan of F1 games to be honest. Not tried Skunny Kart; will have to check it out! Thanks.

[@klarekante3363]

is the story about Skunny Kart true? But Wacky Wheels runs so much smoother and is quite different... Okay some elements are similar too...

[@iPlayGamespl]

You forgot about one very important game 😎 Road & Track present The Need for Speed. Great video as always 👍, I nearly play all games from your list apart of the last one 4x4🤔. Thanks to You I just reminded Fatal Racing 😁 what a great graphic shame my PC was to low spec 486😐.

[@onaretrotip]

Haha I knew you'd mention that game! Ah, I loved my old 486; great machine.

[@SanderPrinsen]

So many good memories in this list. I played nearly all of them, Stunts (4D Sports Driving) must be the first racing game I ever played on a PC. My favorites in this list are Carmageddon, Stunts, GTA and Fatal Racing. Some of them I had forgotten about, like Screamer, Quarantine, Wacky Wheels and Super Off Road. I guess I need to look into these games again and see which ones I can get running again to complete the trip down memory lane!

[@onaretrotip]

Some great memories for me too! Good times indeed. Most of them you can get running in emulation (DOSBox, etc), if you don't have an old PC on hand.

[@HaraldSeebus]

Nostalgic kick in the face with Super Offroad for me. Brilliant little game which kept me playing for hours!

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, so good. Whenever I see the arcade cab I have to have a go.

[@SaminPK]

I love retro arcade racers so this video was a treat!

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you!

[@L0wcash]

Street Rod desperately needs a remake! The game could get more story, different era's of cars, more options to customise your cars. You could make it a true celebration of car culture all over the world today. Something that just wasn't possible when it came out.

[@onaretrotip]

Yes, a modern reimagining would be great!

[@bruhbbawallace]

there probably wont ever be a remake, but a whole subgenre of racing games that follow a similar formula has appeared over the years, such as Street Legal Racing Redline and Revhead

[@NLRevZ]

@@onaretrotip There actually was a spiritual successor called Street Rod 3 which was developed by part-timers between something like 2004 and 2015, but it died because of its small reach and dreadful development turnaround times.. Sad indeed.

[@SmellsLikeRacing]

That game inspired many other games, including Gearhead Garage and Car Mechanic Simulator for the tuning part and countless drag racing games on smartphones.

[@cms1138]

Great list. Some fond memories of all of these games.. Plenty of people have mentioned the Nascar and Indycar games so I'll add one of my favourites...... APB or a classic top down cops N robbers game. Love it!

[@onaretrotip]

Ah, loved APB! They have the arcade cabinet at Arcade Club, so I play it whenever I'm there.

[@Varangian_af_Scaniae]

Quarantine, thank you. I have watched several Carmageddon reviews over the years and had a thought I used to play that game or something very similar. Carmageddon didn't look right but I couldn't remember.

[@onaretrotip]

Loved that game! Glad I could remind you.

[@tkullander]

Nice list, lots of nostalgia! For those who seek similar games to this, check out the following DOS driving games; - Big Red Racing (1995) - Slicks 'n Slide (1997)

[@onaretrotip]

👍

[@hjuuh]

Twisted Metal is also good in pc

[@KailashNathan]

BRR!

[@mmmmmmmmmmm10]

Big red racing was dope. Remember some wacky vehicles

[@Moscow805]

Loved Big Red Racing.

[@lustechsource5197]

Screamer was a game that floored me with it's graphics when I saw it in a magazine for the first time. Sadly I never played it.

[@onaretrotip]

Ah, you should check it out. Never too late!

[@MaidenHell1977]

Great great video as always Pete. I was never a PC gamer but I love watching videos exploring highlights such as these. Man, anyone who craps on GTA needs their head's examined. The game with out question still holds up very very well today. Also great learning about Quarantine, never heard about it before or it's Canadian roots.

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks, Kevin! I know, right. GTA still plays brilliantly as far as I'm concerned. Quarantine is the one I probably sank the most time into as a kid. Absolutely loved it.

[@jsalvatori]

great trip down memory lane. Especially Stunts - I spent countless hours playing that

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you! Oh, me too. So much time.

[@Larry]

I'd say Moto Racer was a great arcadey game for PC at the time too, only ever had the demo of it as a kid, but I played the absolute hell out of it.

[@onaretrotip]

Not played that one! Thanks for the recommendation, Larry.

[@Larry]

@@onaretrotip no worries, you can buy the whole series for £4 on Steam ATM

[@skaruts]

Motoracer was a total blast. I played it fair bit again, recently. Still a blast lol. :D Rollcage was a blast too. Not sure if it was a DOS game, though.

[@dustymauve]

Ignition was such a great game, AI balance was great and each car had its individual characteristics. Must've poured 50+ hours into it as a kid!

[@onaretrotip]

Brilliant game!

[@plasmaastronaut]

yes, and showe me the spirtual sucessor to ignition. As far as i know in over 23 years its not been bettered. Yet the potential is there a modern version with a hundred cars instead of 6 would be great.

[@Autotrope]

Staggering to observe the evolution on gaming graphics on those 6 years between 1989 to 1995

[@onaretrotip]

It really is!

[@retrobeats7320]

Pete great videos as always mate , def 1 of my favroute driving games was geoff crammonds stunt car racer what a game , used to be hooked on that as a kid

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks, Ian! Yeah that's another great one mate; so many good DOS driving games.

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

Happy to see _Screamer_ here. Didn't grow up with it, but it's arcadey good looks definitely caught my eye on GOG recently. Far as I can tell, it only uses keyboard which _is_ pretty disappointing, but beyond that it seems awesome. They really did do a bang-up job bringing the spirit of the arcade to PC with that one! Wish _Whiplash/Fatal Racing_ had a GOG release... There's so much interesting looking stuff on this list, though it kinda makes me wanna check out current iterations of some of these ideas instead of the originals. _Carmageddon Max Damage_ instead of revisiting the original game, for instance, or finally picking up something like _Wreckfest_ instead of dusting off my copy of _Destruction Derby 64,_ or _Trackmania Turbo_ instead of _Stunts/4D Sports Driving._ I know there's a current-gen _Micro Machines_ too (as well as the unlicensed _Toybox Turbos),_ but I just don't care for that. Really hate top-down camera racers; that's just not a practical angle when it comes to being playable. I assume that's why there's a vocal group of people who dislike the original _Grand Theft Auto_ too. Maybe I'll check out _Table Top Racing World Tour_ instead. Thanks for showing off so many cool things! Vids like this always get me thinking about a lot of games to hunt down, either proper retro or newer-but-obscure titles :)

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks! Yeah, I've played a few of the newer ones, but they've been hit and miss. I can';t remember if I liked Tabletop Racing, but I think I did. A lot of these games definitely influenced the genre going forward.

[@lmcgregoruk]

The original GTA zoomed out more the faster you went though, which made it a LOT more playable than it otherwise would have been.

[@TheSynrgy1987]

Network Q, Screamer Rally, Wipeout, Xcar, The Need for Speed, lots of good DOS Driving games

[@elbitxo5945]

didn't know Network Q, it looks great! thank you

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, so many great driving games on DOS!

[@PickleOoze]

Great Video! Alot of nostalgia since your List has the exact same games i used to play back in the day (except for Hi-Octane and Street Rod, never had those sadly) Screamer i liked too but Screamer 2 was so much better, loved the bit of Ralley twist they put on it. And Fatal Racing was my absolute Favourite. Winning the Championships on Impossible difficulty was so challenging, especially the Bonus Cup :)

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you! I recently bought Screamer 2 and Screamer rally for my DOS PC, so have been enjoying those :)

[@shenmeowzo]

Destruction Derby was so good. Great vid Pete. Never seen that doom clone style driver before, looks ace.

[@onaretrotip]

Oh, it was so much fun. Quarantine is probably the one I played the most! Amazing soundtrack too. Thanks, Ben!

[@dan44zzt231]

Some great memories (and some bad ones like Fatal Racing crashing my PC all the time!) A few of my other favourites are Super Karts, Indy Car 2 and Slipstream 2000.

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks for the recommendations!

[@sHevnoraak]

2nd slipstream. That's was an excellent one

[@Timic83tc]

Fatal racing crashed me too

[@monoslocosfive]

i love Carmageddon! me volaba la cabeza en su época, ver las dimensiones de los mapeados casi un mundo abierto diferente cada pista! :o! comparado con las cosas que hacían las consolas de la época, estaba años luz de distancia!

[@onaretrotip]

Yo tambien. ¡Un juego muy divertido!

[@Megastaw]

I always enjoy your content man, keep up the good work

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you! I'll certainly try.

[@ohmslobby]

you don't know how much this means to me. i was going crazy looking for the name of a game i played during my childhood. and it was Ignition. thank you a lot.

[@onaretrotip]

Awesome! Glad I could remind you 😃

[@ohmslobby]

@@onaretrotip now there is only one game left in my memory which i cant remember its a word puzzle game which has carrots, rabbit, frogs and an announcer who yells "50 POINTS" at the end of a round

[@onaretrotip]

@@ohmslobby Hmm, doesn't ring a bell I'm afraid.

[@Randomii666]

One quite obscure game i used to play a lot as a kid was Speed Haste. One that's not talked about nearly enough

[@sergeleon1163]

I was about to say this while I did see your comment here. I loved that game so much back in the day that when using nicknames in other games, I adopted Speedhaste.

[@onaretrotip]

I've not heard of that one!

[@RetroJack]

Really surprised the 1989 Papyrus game Indianapolis 500 wasn't included, although that one was more a highly accurate (for the time) simulator than an arcade racer.

[@onaretrotip]

I'm not sure what Papyrus games we actually got over here, but I don't remember playing any. NASCAR and Indy 500 were completely unknown sports here back then (and even now, although we're conceptually aware of them, nobody has any interest).

[@cms1138]

@@onaretrotip beg to differ. We use to play those games to death, I'm from UK. Great list non the less!

[@onaretrotip]

@cms1138 I was just saying I'm not sure which Papyrus games we got over here, wasn't saying we didn't get them. Guessing from your comment we got them all?

[@cms1138]

@@onaretrotip I don't recall which ones we got tbf... Just remember playing a few back in the day.

[@onaretrotip]

@@cms1138 Ah, gotcha. Shame I never came across them BITD. I know we got a lot of NASCAR games in the 2000s as well, despite the relative disinterest in the sport itself. I did play Days of Thunder on my Amiga (it came bundled with it), but that was shockingly bad .

[@psyhodelik]

Thanks for all this nostalgie

[@onaretrotip]

You're very welcome!

[@CYON4D]

Great list, played all these back in the day.

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks!

[@pirataga]

First game on the list: Carmageddon Yes!! Second game on the list: Stunts Yyyyeeeeesss! Spot on!! The two racing games I've played the crap out of it back in those days!! I paused the video just to comment this, gonna watch the rest of it now lol

[@onaretrotip]

You obviously have great taste! :)

[@Pupppeteer]

I never played any DOS games before so it looks like I missed out on a lot of great gaming experiences.

[@TheIndulged1]

You have plenty to look forward to, the 2D Duke nukem game's the IBM game Ally Cats to annoy anyone you know with the game play and especially the music.

[@Pupppeteer]

@@TheIndulged1 that sounds like a fun a game that annoys everyone else lol.

[@TheIndulged1]

@@Pupppeteer don't blame me when 34 year's later you can still remember that dam music...

[@Pupppeteer]

@@TheIndulged1 the DOS salesman was like *you have met with a terrible fate* lol

[@TheIndulged1]

@@Pupppeteer Well my dad did help make the game, he done it while bored with being stuck in a computer suite late at night, the old IBM Warwick building.

[@juanassenza8742]

Maaaaan, I spent years searching for the name of the game "Ignition". Thank you very much to make this video!!! I feel very nostalgic

[@onaretrotip]

Glad I could help you find it!

[@bemindful924]

I came for an old favourite 'Street Rod' and wasn't disappointed. Man, that game brings back memories. One other title that I loved was Top Gear 3000

[@onaretrotip]

The Top Gear series was good!

[@dariohc6898]

Ignition and wacky wheels were so good

[@onaretrotip]

Definitely!

[@BoloH.]

Never got full version of Ignition, just played the demo over and over again, but Wacky Wheels was epic with friends

[@dariohc6898]

@@BoloH. abandonwaregames.net/game/ignition

[@rob4222]

Did you mention any rally games? I think Screamer 2 was a nice one

[@onaretrotip]

Hmm, maybe I didn't! Should have included at least one in hindsight.

[@janpieternieman5295]

Whacky Wheels! Im 40 and this is some real nostalgia man!

[@onaretrotip]

Good times :)

[@tropixx_xlr1549]

I love the charm of these dos racing games

[@onaretrotip]

Me too :)

[@rebeccaschade3987]

Street Rod is endlessly much better on Amiga though. And The Need for Speed should really have been on the list :) But you never claim that it's the only 15 essential driving games though, so I'll let it slide ;)

[@yuvraj01]

Hell yes, the Need for Speed on the PC for me is an all-time classic, brilliant game..!! Its only in recent years did I find out there was a special edition released with more tracks and cars I think?

[@rebeccaschade3987]

@@yuvraj01 It also has a Windows 95 executable, which the original release didn't have.

[@onaretrotip]

Yes, as with many DOS games, they were better on Amiga, but it's much easier to play DOS games these days and inevitably some Amiga games will creep on to a DOS list. But yes, it is by no means a definitive list, just some recommendations, so thanks for making that distinction (few do).

[@danbrittain9530]

Carmageddon was available in the UK in it's uncensored form, I bought it on launch day. It's only after the initial run sold out that the censored version then appeared in its place. 🙂

[@onaretrotip]

Ah, I see.

[@tomast9034]

i have it on my mobile phone :D

[@filipporubsky7621]

Screamer And hi octane - i love those two games, as quarantine and superoffroad, thanks for those memories

[@onaretrotip]

Glad I could remind you! :)

[@danz107]

I've played probably about half of these at one point or another. Great games for their time, and some still hold up as playable for some fun today.

[@onaretrotip]

Agreed!

[@custardo]

Brilliant list. Well, except for wacky wheels, that game is shit ;) I would've put Team 17's World Rally Fever in that spot. Kudos for including Ignition, that's a game that didn't get the attention it deserved. The DOS era had so many great driving games and it's my favourite genre to boot! Other games I loved playing: Papyrus Software's Indianapolis 500 and Indycar Racing II; Domark's Big Red Racing; Spectrum Holobyte's Stunt Driver; Cryo's MegaRace; Gremlin's Lotus III - The Ultimate Challenge; Activision's Interstate '76 and Remedy's Death Rally.

[@onaretrotip]

Hahaha thanks, Erwin. Yes, there were so many great driving games on DOS. Thanks for the recommendations!

[@sbn025]

Thanks man! For the love of me i couldnt remember the name of the game i spent hours and hours. It was Big Red Racing!

[@virtualpunk448]

Im glad Carma is getting some love. I remember playing carma 1 and 2 for hours on end with my brother as a kid. There were heaps of other good games too, Vette, Nascar, etc. I cant remember them all

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, absolutely loved Carmageddon when it came out. Brilliant fun. But yes, so many great driving games from that era.

[@adrielksm]

So much nostalgia, thanks for that. I just miss megarace, amazing racing game

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks!

[@TheRugghead]

I absolutely loved Stunts! thanks for reminding me

[@onaretrotip]

You're welcome! Spent countless hours on that.

[@inphatmoi]

Car and driver is one that sticks out in my memory. It had some standard race tracks but also some great almost open-world ones where you could just go off-road and explore. I think it even had a car park level if I remember right

[@onaretrotip]

Not tried that one! I'll have to check it out.

[@Osprey850]

I really liked Car & Driver. It felt unique because some of the courses were point A to point B and could take something like 15 minutes to go from one to the other. It felt like driving in the real world, which really appealed to me before I got my driving license and could drive in the real real world.

[@jaethemanchild]

There are some brilliant classics here, I must play and (indeed replay) some of them. Carmageddon and it’s Fear Factory soundtrack. ♥️

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, so good that soundtrack. And Quarantine's was excellent too.

[@davidretrogamesplayedbadly3533]

I remember playing screamer on a mates PC, had forgotten all about it. Hot rod reminds me of Chevy chase on the zx spectrum. Quarantine looks ace. I love destruction derby Super off road racer is another of my all time favourites, I'm fairly sure there isn't a bad version. Great top fifteen, enjoyed this.

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks, David! Thoroughly recommend trying Quarantine if you can; it's the game I played the most on this list for sure.

[@1punch_man]

Street Rod 1 & 2. Great memories of both games.

[@onaretrotip]

I've never played 2 actually!

[@kevinmaguire3802]

Screamer was awesome, it also had a feature where you were able to access an “in car stereo” where you could pause the game and play your own cds whilst driving, oh the memories playing Bon jovi dead or alive, love it!

[@onaretrotip]

I loved games that let you do that. Driving games in particular seemed to have that feature, presumably to emulate a real car stereo.

[@MrGul]

Oh man, this is such a nostalgic trip for me! I was born '82 so many of these games hit right in my childhood. I played the hell out of Screamer, Carmageddon, Grand Theft Auto and Ignition. Tried Fatal Racing, Stunts and Super Off Road too (although the latter on SNES, not on PC) but never really got into them, altough I have a feeling I would have enjoyed Fatal Racing if I had just given it some more time. Another great driving game from that time that I played a lot was Death Rally, but I think that was a Windows game and not for DOS.

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, I was born in 1980, so these were all timed perfectly for me too. What an era!

[@MrGul]

@@onaretrotip Indeed! When it was more about the gameplay than the graphics (although "good" graphics still impressed us).

[@_Mordi_]

I played almost all! 😂 Thank xou for that nice list!

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you!

[@nobbynobbs8182]

Wow, I think I've played all of them. Great games back in the day

[@onaretrotip]

They were indeed!

[@jramjee100]

I grew up on DOS titles in the early 80s but I had NEVER seen Screamer. Wowsers! That looks as good as Out Run.

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, it's great. That was around the time that 3D graphics cards started to appear. Brilliant arcade racer.

[@larkprof]

I had no idea half of these games existed. A lot of them looked like they would have been really rad to experience back in the day.

[@onaretrotip]

Glad I could introduce you to some of them!

[@RockstarRunner7]

I might suggest Team17's World Rally Fever, super fun DOS racing game, with a Power Drift vibe to it. I also had Screamer, back in the day, so much fun, the rocket car was crazy.

[@onaretrotip]

ooh, not played that one, but I love Power Drift so will check it out. Thanks, Rob!

[@SiiliViin]

I played a lot and loved : Stunts, Street Rod, Test Drive

[@onaretrotip]

Good taste :)

[@villalazalejandro]

I was obsessed with Stunts, so much fun

[@onaretrotip]

Same!

[@TVRCreators]

Great Video and very interesting. Fun looking back. :)

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you! It is indeed.

[@TVRCreators]

@@onaretrotip :)

[@fatih.tavukcu]

I played every single one of them and some more (for me Indy 500 would've been worth a mention too!) and I have to say, that this is a great selection!

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks!

[@HordurSmariJohannesson]

wow, the first five on the list I played to death. flashback. and then street rod took me way back. it was on the computers at school when I was a kid. haven't played it since. super mega flashback.

[@onaretrotip]

Love that! Glad I could stir up some fond memories :)

[@PS-hv7on]

Death Rally and Ntework Q RAC Rally Championship were my favourites, particularly because it also gave some background on the cars like the Skoda and Proton themselves

[@onaretrotip]

Just downloaded Death Rally this morning. Need to try that one!

[@johova33]

I remember playing screamer, screamer 2 and screamer rally back in the day. Great games even by today's standards. I still play them on a occasion using dosbox. Pod was another good Dos racer

[@onaretrotip]

I've been playing them recently on my DOS PC. Great series.

[@stefanfolkerts2425]

I liked screamer and bought 1 and 2 but I absolutely loved street rod. The version I had would crash at some stage during play and I just restarted from the beginning, buying different cars and upgrades. I loved it.

[@onaretrotip]

Shame more games weren't made in that sort of style.

[@ski9k]

Played most of these back in the day, can confirm that "Screamer" was absolutely amazing to see on a pentium 100 back in 1995 - was literally just like having the arcade on your PC! The only omission I see in your list is the lack of mention for "Big Red Racing" . For 1996 the graphics were average but it had local area network play which made it so much fun.... strongly encourage you to check it out!

[@onaretrotip]

Yeah, Screamer was really impressive back then. They'd often use it to showcase the capabilities of PC hardware. Not played BRR, but many have recommended it, so I'll have to grab a copy.

[@Red_Rabbit]

I know I'm a bit late to the party, but thanks for the video! There were lots of very happy memories rekindled from watching this. I will throw one more game into the mix that you may or may not have played, however. Did you ever play Supercars (or was it Super Cars?) and Supercars 2 on the Amiga? They were massively popular and influential when they were released. Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was also a Supercars International released on DOS which I had been UTTERLY unaware of until I found a copy of it by chance in a bargain bin - and it turns out it was basically Supercars 2.5. I personally thought that this was one of the best overhead racing/combat games ever made. If you can get it running in an emulator without any lag, it handles beautifully.

[@onaretrotip]

Thank you! Glad it stirred up some fond memories. Yeah, played Supercars on my Amiga.

[@TheHighlander71]

Haha! Carmageddon. I can remember a colleague of mine telling me about that game. Think I was on a gaming hiatus. What a game. Think this was the only GTA I really ever looked at :) I spent ages on Grand Prix 2. My dad even more than I and he continued playing after I'd stopped. He was really ace at it. Driving full length races and everything. This game also allowed local networked gaming with (as I remember) a serial connection. Many good memories of that game.

[@onaretrotip]

Carmageddon is brilliant. Oh, the hours I sank into that game. Haha wow, sounds like your dad was hardcore!

[@TheHighlander71]

@@onaretrotip He was. Funny thing is he just stopped one day. Never touched a racing wheel again.

[@muttBunch]

Know what I loved doing when NASCAR was released in the early 90s…as soon as the race started, I would turn on invincibility but leave damage on for opponents, turn around and go backwards and wipe out all the cars then turn around the correct way and run all the laps for 1st place. It was so fun

[@onaretrotip]

Haha nice.

[@mr2spyderchronicles287]

played almost all of those, but some of the most epic ones by the end of the DOS reign, like the need for speed R/T and destruction derby

[@onaretrotip]

Nice.

[@Bangkokian1967]

Fantastic video Pete... I had every single one of these! I would have included Indy 500 by Papyrus too

[@onaretrotip]

Thanks, Ian! I've not played Indy 500, but have heard good things.

[@ChaosZero.]

Oh God Ignition, what a great game that was. There was another game I loved when I was a kid, which was called SB Pro Racing. Unfortunately, I was never able to source a link for it nor it seems to exists on the Internet. It was a top-down Nascar game and it was bloody great. Driving physics were "realistic", and it was actually an accurate simulator of Nascar with pitstops, strategy, cautions and whatnot.

[@onaretrotip]

Brilliant game! Hmm, not heard of SB Pro Racing. We had hardly any Nascar games over here.

[@lmcgregoruk]

@@onaretrotip SB Pro Racing was for Windows 95 though, rather than MS-DOS, or at least the version I could find of it was.

[@davidvosspoor4694]

You left the most fun for last!

[@onaretrotip]

😎👍

[@Tinkatuff]

Street Rod was my first game ever, I still have the floppy disk. Beating that 1963 black corvette was just awesome.

[@onaretrotip]

Nice!

[@mfr2]

Cool! 😉