Best Arcade Racing Games of All Time

A lot of racing game fans would probably tell you that as you get older, simulation-type entries in the genre become more and more interesting. I get it. As my thirties march onward, and I get more into things like Formula One in real life, I now totally understand the appeal and excitement of getting good at a realistic driving game.

And yet, we all likely started out with the arcade racer; games that were easier to pick up and play, compete against with our friends and families, and led to many a chaotic moment as you watched a blue shell rapidly approaching right before you're about to cross the finish line.

Despite my personal shifting interests over the years, I'll always love racing games that are just plain fun and don't expect me to internalize my shifting, driving lines, and braking zones. These are the fifteen best examples of arcade racers that kept all of us all on the edges of our seats, and yelling out "One more race" thousands of times on end.

15 Micro Machines 64 Turbo

Mega Fun

I'll admit, Micro Machines 64 Turbo is a specifically nostalgic inclusion on this list. Heck, it was also the very first video game that I can remember purchasing with my own Christmas money. All of that aside, it's also a blast to play from the moment you pick up that wonky N64 controller.

Shrunk down to the size of an insect, you'll race on kitchen and billiards tables, in gardens, through sandcastles, and many other wacky and whimsical racetracks with a wide range of vehicles. It also functions from a top-down perspective, forcing you to wrap your mind around the steering controls in a fun way that few other racers demand.

It's a bit of a deep cut, but I swear this one is really worth going back for, and the hundreds of hours I've probably spent with it across my lifetime can vouch for this.

14 MotorStorm

Welcome to the PS3

If you were around at the time, MotorStorm kind of felt like the tech demo for the PlayStation 3. You also probably now have spine problems from craning your neck to play it on one of those display units at your local Walmart, Target, or K-Mart that oh-so-conveniently thought it was a good idea to place their monitors at the very top of the game cases.

Either way, the original MotorStorm was a spectacle at the time, and a darn fun one. With its mind-blowing graphics of the time, it also felt like an off-road racer that was absolutely chaotic, thrilling, and downright dangerous.

MotorStorm would go on to have a couple of solid sequels, but there's little denying that the one that felt the most magical and exciting was the OG.

A Love Letter to the Grid

As previously mentioned, I'm a huge F1 fan. While I do have a consistently good time with the simulation-type F1 games from EA, my actual favorite title that captures this brand of racing is probably Formula Legends. This game was quite obviously lovingly crafted by true Formula One nerds, and this passion for the sport shines through in every aspect of the experience.

It's not officially licensed, so it's taken some hilarious liberties with names of drivers, constructors, and tracks alike. Those in the know will crack up at names like Charlie LaCreme and Osvald Pastry standing in for real-world counterparts Charles LeClerc and Oscar Piastri.

It's an arcade racer through and through as you zip around in Chibi-like versions of F1 cars, but it also still employs easy to understand but interestingly implemented mechanics like DRS, BRS, and actual pit/tire strategies, all while also offering things like purple/green/yellow sector tracking for the extra nerdy.

12 F-Zero X

The Real Blue Blur

The F-Zero fandom can make cases for several games in this sci-fi arcade racer series as being the best in the franchise, but I'll give the award to F-Zero X on the N64. For those of us that grew up on this console, we all know full-well that despite the system's limited catalog overall, the racing games of this generation were lit.

F-Zero X brought Captain Falcon and friends to the world of 3D design for the first time, and it translated tremendously. It kept the same perspective and feel of previous titles, but "modernized" them in a way that felt fresh and exciting nonetheless.

I have a soft-spot for F-Zero 99 if I had to pick a runner-up, but X is still the easy choice overall.

11 Star Wars Episode One: Racer

Now THIS is Podracing

There are few things like the amount of absolutely insane hype that surrounded the premiere of Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace. Say what you want to about the quality of the movie in retrospect (though I'm a defender), but it's undeniable that we all got completely swept up in the Star Wars fever back then.

While podracing in general wasn't a beloved feature of the movie for many, others of us found it incredibly cool, which made Star Wars Episode One: Racer an incredible experience to behold. And Star Wars hype aside, it also wound up being a very fun game in its own right.

Racing as Anakin Skywalker or the villianous Sebulba around sci-fi track layouts at a frankly terrifying, breakneck pace is one of the best times you can have with an arcade racer.

10 Hydro Thunder

I'm On a Boat

Also one of the best arcade cabinet racers of all-time, Hydro Thunder was a game that put us in the cockpits of a collection of wild-looking, boost-fueled boats to speed through several "real"-world locations. As a Midway title, it felt like it shared plenty of DNA with more traditional arcade racers like Cruis'n USA, but Hydro Thunder was simply more fun in just about every possible regard.

And sure, it did lose something in translation from the arcade to the home console without the manual boost lever, but the game was still a ton of fun no matter where you played it.

This was a tough game to master and actually win races during, but also one that simply felt different and cool, still standing tall as one of the best water-based arcade racers ever.

9 Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Driving Around at the Speed of Sound

Another example of an arcade racing series with some differing opinions on the actual best entry in the franchise, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the newest example of our favorite blue hedgehog and company taking it to the streets.

No matter where you end up in your personal Sonic Racing megalist, it's still nearly objective that CrossWorlds is an awesome time, and a fine choice for when you need to scratch that kart racer-type of itch.

We'll get to other kart racers that I think are stronger overall examples in the arcade racing subgenre, but let it also be known that Sonic Racing is back, and it's arguably better than ever.

8 Need for Speed: Most Wanted

The Peak of an Iconic Franchise

As such a long-running franchise with a wild number of entries at this point, there's also room for debate on the best Need for Speed game. For my money, however, the original Most Wanted from 2005 takes the cake.

This game is also a sort of time capsule for the mid-2000s when The Fast and The Furious was still just getting started, and the vibe of underground street racing was all the rage.

Add in a moody and zany story mode that was exciting to rise through the ranks of, and Most Wanted is still easily one of the most beloved NFS titles out there.

7 Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Catch My Drift?

There are many people out there that will tell you Crash Team Racing (and its more polished remake Nitro-Fueled) is actually the best kart racer ever created. It's not my personal pick, but I also completely understand the sentiment.

Even if the cast of characters and locations in CTR will never, ever be as iconic as in Mario Kart, the racing on display here is taken to another level that demands more skill overall compared to the average kart racing.

Specifically, drifts and boosts are a more precise, dynamic affair, which can often times make CTR a bit more skill-based compared to some of its contemporaries.

6 Wave Race 64

Maximum Power

Standing firm as the second best N64-era arcade racer on this list, Wave Race 64 is a genuine classic that doesn't get nearly the love it deserves. Slaloming around floating buoys on jet skis is a joy to control, and Wave Race 64 also went the extra mile to factor in a trick system complete with backflips, barrel rolls, and backwards riding to make everything even more exciting lap after lap.

It might seem like a simple arcade racer premise on paper, but the courses here get demanding by the end, you have a deep level of fine-tuning your PWCs for optimal performance, and figuring out shortcuts while coming to grips with the physics of waves approaching you from all angles is truly great.

And let's not forget the soundtrack, which is seriously in the Top 5 best OSTs on the entire NIntendo 64.