Unsurprisingly, racing games have always been in demand. Gamers can’t get enough of Mario Kart’s epic races, Gran Turismo is an iconic series, and there are some excellent Forza Horizon installments. However, as fans of Formula 1 and motorsport fanatics in general will tell you, there have also been some frankly terrible racing games over the years.
These awful racing games were filled with issues, be it horrific handling, annoying bugs, and dreadful graphics. As a result, they didn’t hang around for long either, especially given the array of alternative offerings out there. With competition being strong thanks to alluring options like Cash Cow Bounty Board and other DraftKings casino online games, plus options like Astro Bot through a PlayStation 5, a number of new and old racing releases have vanished quickly. In fact, for many avid racing gamers, they’re desperate to avoid these shoddy products. Let’s remember some of them below.
Test Drive Unlimited
Starting things off with a 2006 release many gamers will be keen to forget, Test Drive Unlimited comes nowhere near some of today’s products. Sure, it was decent enough at the time of its release, but Test Drive Unlimited has vanished into obscurity since. Controlling vehicles was a real annoyance, the graphics were poor, and Test Drive Unlimited’s open-world driving experience was pretty painful to navigate.
Pac-Man World Rally
An attempt to bring a beloved gaming character to the racing genre, Pac-Man World Rally really didn’t work. While the game initially drew players in given Pac-Man’s world-famous name, they were immediately turned off by a game that felt like a lazy version of Mario Kart. We’ve seen numerous examples of gaming-related rip-offs over the years, but Pac-Man World Rally wasn’t even subtle about it.
Fast And The Furious: Showdown
Similar in many respects to the movies, we’ve probably been exposed to more than enough Fast And The Furious video games. Fast And The Furious: Showdown was the final straw for many racing gamers, as players were left feeling infuriated by a title that offered nothing new. Sure, Fast And The Furious: Showdown’s co-op batting aspect was decent enough, but it was accompanied by painfully bad handling and poor graphics. Given the success of the movies, a lot more was expected of Fast And The Furious: Showdown. In the end, it was a definite disaster.
Need for Speed
The Need for Speed series is generally adored by the wider gaming community. However, not every installment has delivered pleasure. In fact, the 2015 Need for Speed game was horrible. The customization features were virtually non-existent, the game’s driving physics were abysmal, and a basic element of the game, like drifting, was almost impossible to get right. While more recent Need for Speed products have understandably done well, this shoddy option from over a decade ago was a massive letdown.
Yaris
Toyota’s foray into the gaming world didn’t exactly go to plan. While this marketing move was clearly aimed at future buyers, the company’s game, Yaris, probably resulted in more people buying vehicles from Toyota’s competitors. Released in 2007, all the game contained was tunnels to drive through, random intergalactic dangers, and an all-around strange offering. While Toyota has got a lot right in its time, this particular plan definitely failed. In fact, looking back, it really was a wild decision, especially given the game’s seriously strange premise.
Special mention must also go to Ferrari: The Race Experience, Need for Speed: The Run, Project Cars, Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing, M&M Kart Racing, Flatout 3: Chaos and Destruction, Bigfoot: Collision Course, and Crash Tag Team Racing.
