8 Racing Games We Can’t Believe Are Over 15 Years Old

After running through some racing games which are - incredibly - now 15 years old, you guys suggested a load more titles which are older than you might expect...
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Who can forget Burnout? The game kicked off a whole series of high-speed, crashy driving games when it was released back in 2001 for PlayStation 2. It’s difficult to really believe the original Burnout can be that old and ancient.

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Ah, those were the days. Playing Midtown Madness on your Windows PC. How can this game be that old? When it was released in 1999, there weren’t many open world games on the market, which set Midtown Madness apart. It gave people freedom they didn’t know they could have and there was even a multiplayer mode too.

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The game was just as violent as you’d expect from the cover design. This was the second instalment of the Carmageddon series and was released in 1998 for PC and (one year later) Mac. It came under criticism for the amount of violence in the game, mixing racing, combat and destruction. The damage model was unlike other games at the time too.

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Going back to when Need for Speed was picking up pace, the second game in the series was released on PlayStation and PC. The 1997 title included all of the usual features of the original, with exotic cars and different race modes, but also brought in car paint customisation and separate car components. It took good strides forward for NFS in many ways, although some felt it was easier than its predecessor to play.

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Driver set up a good foundation for the video game series, but 2000’s Driver 2 took things up a few notches with improved graphics, handling, a new character to play and big changes like the ability to get out of the car, explore the open world map (which featured four real-life cities) and even steal cars.

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Another original game in a successful racing title franchise, Project Gotham Racing hit our consoles in 2001 when it was released for Xbox. It was a little different compared to other racing games, because it wasn’t just about winning – the ‘Kudos’ points were also important and were picked up through fun drifts, power slides and overtakes.

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V-Rally was released way back in 1997 (and 1998, for some locations and consoles) for the original PlayStation and mixed things up by allowing two players to compete directly against each other in split screen mode, unlike in Colin McRae Rally. There were 10 locations and 11 official World Rally cars. It proved to be a big hit and spawned two follow-up games.

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This is one I remember well. I think anyone who played Crazy Taxi will struggle to forget it. It was originally released as an arcade game in 1999 but was ported to other consoles over the next few years. Who’d have thought a game revolving around being a taxi driver could be so fun.

Check out the original post right here.

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Comments

Anonymous

I’ve wasted hours and hours from my childhood in Driver 2…..worth it.

11/13/2016 - 11:11 |
6 | 0
Anonymous

What do you mean by over 15 years these games just came out

11/13/2016 - 11:19 |
80 | 2
I don't even know.

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

did you hear that president Kennedy was assassinated yesterday

11/13/2016 - 22:09 |
12 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

When you are internet explorer and by the time you load up, 15 years have past.

11/13/2016 - 23:30 |
2 | 0
Poke

Burnout was fun,Xbox needs to have Paradise on BC soon to commemorate it…

11/13/2016 - 11:31 |
6 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Poke

YES!

11/13/2016 - 16:28 |
2 | 0
GTR

This list is awesome I miss these days :)

11/13/2016 - 11:55 |
0 | 0
Toni Sukles

PGR went me go down memory lane.

11/13/2016 - 12:47 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

I’m so old :’(

11/13/2016 - 13:04 |
2 | 0
all4spinning

Crazy taxi was lit bro

11/13/2016 - 13:33 |
2 | 0
Stubaru

I feel really old now since I used to play V Rally and Crazy Taxi as a little kid

11/13/2016 - 13:53 |
4 | 0
Garrett Jones

I played Midtown Madness every day for probably 2 years

11/13/2016 - 15:16 |
2 | 0
Mark Stanton

Surprised that Grand Prix Legends didn’t make the list. Still considered to be one the best (And hardest) racing sim ever made, and is the ancestor of iRacing

11/13/2016 - 15:28 |
2 | 0