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Racing as a contact sport: shunt a rival into the wall, watch the wreck in slow motion, then steer your own flaming chassis into the next car for another Takedown. Criterion's September 2004 racer and its hundred-junction Crash mode took Game of the Year from both the official PlayStation and Xbox magazines, ahead of San Andreas and Halo 2.
A big green arrow, a yellow convertible, a fare who wants KFC, and The Offspring's "All I Want" blasting as you launch off a San Francisco-style hill. Sega's 1999 arcade hit became the Dreamcast's must-own port in early 2000 and one of the console's best sellers.
Arcade racing cabinet that promised a coast-to-coast road trip—San Francisco to Washington, D.C.—and actually delivered. You shifted and swerved your way through America's most iconic backdrops, and later the entire globe, one quarter at a time.
The black No. 3, the Man in Black, and a driving style that earned him the name "the Intimidator." Every crew in the garage lined up to shake his hand when he finally won the Daytona 500 in 1998, and the sport he carried was about to have its biggest decade.
The twin-seat cabinets, the No. 41 Hornet, and a Sega composer belting "DAYTONAAAA" himself because it was the fastest way to get vocals into the game. The arcade racer that defined the mid-90s arcade.
Racing, but with machine guns. DeathTrack put you on a futuristic circuit where winning meant crossing the line first — or being the only car left that could. Prize money went straight into bigger weapons, and the next city's grid found out.
Rare's 1997 Nintendo 64 kart racer, where you could race in a car, a hovercraft or a plane, and a full adventure mode was built around the racing. Some reviewers said it beat Mario Kart 64.
The Real Driving Simulator — and it meant it. Gran Turismo made PS1 owners grind license tests, obsess over gear ratios, and fall in love with a used Nissan they tuned into a monster. Suddenly a racing game wasn't about power-ups; it was about the cars.
The first 3D Mario Kart brought four-player split-screen racing to the Nintendo 64, turning every sleepover and dorm room into a competitive battleground. Shells flew, friendships were tested, and players argued eternally about which character had a hidden advantage.
Nintendo's mad-genius take on kart racing: two drivers per kart, split duties, and the ability to hand off control mid-race. Double Dash!! turned couch multiplayer into pure chaos and became the GameCube's second-best-selling game.
The first Mario Kart you could play against strangers: Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, friend codes and all, in November 2005. Sixteen new tracks, sixteen retro ones, eight-player races off a single cartridge, and a drifting trick called snaking that split every online lobby.
The reboot that ditched exotic supercars for neon-lit tuner street racing — body kits, underglow, and a spoiler you could see from space. Every 2003 sleepover had a souped-up Civic saved on the memory card.
Motorcycle racing on California two-lanes where you could punch the rider next to you off his bike, club him, or get arrested for crashing in front of a cop. EA's 1991 Genesis hit, its two sequels, and the fake bike brands Panda, Shuriken, Kamikaze and Diablo.
Mario Kart on snow, basically — and that was the whole charm. Big-headed cartoon kids raced down the mountain pelting each other with weapons and items, then rode the ski lift back up mid-race while rivals took potshots at the line. Atlus's goofy N64 racer was the loud, chaotic flip side of 1080° Snowboarding.
The podracing dream from The Phantom Menace, but actually fun. LucasArts captured the absurd speed and alien canyons of Tatooine that made you forget Jar Jar ever existed — at least until you beat it in an afternoon.
Nintendo's Jet Ski racer, where the water was the real star. Slalom the buoys off Sunny Beach, read the swells like a surfer, soak in the funky Kazumi Totaka synth soundtrack. In 1996 nothing else had ever made video game water look and move like this — kids sat on the title screen just to watch it.