Memorable racing titles are built on four pillars: a satisfying sense of speed; graphics that construct an enjoyable game world; tight controls; and excellent sound effects and cruising music. It doesn’t matter if the genre is arcade, sim, or kart; if a racing game masters those elements, it’ll go down in the annals as one of the greats. The question is, which PC games qualify? Our list sorts the few winner’s-circle games from the many runners-up.
There is a full field of games in the race. At the time of this writing, Steam alone has a ridiculous number of pages devoted to competitive driving (that’s not factoring in racing games from other game stores). Granted, some of the listed titles most certainly are not racing games. For example, Rocket League features wheeled vehicles speeding toward a goal, but it is unquestionably a sports game. Likewise, EmergeNYC, a simulation game in which you jump into the shoes of the EMS, FDNY, or NYPD and attempt to save lives, is not a racing game.
A racing game is a title that puts you in control of a vehicle as you attempt to outrun the competition to place first at the finish line. That’s our definition, and we think it’s pretty reasonable.
Recommended by Our Editors
If you’re reading this article, you’re probably got the need for speed. Fortunately, we do, too. The PCMag pit crew loves a good racing game, so you should try our recommended titles. Admittedly, our tastes lean deep into the arcade and kart side of things. Still, you should check out our favorite racing games on PC. Happy driving.
Burnout Paradise, originally released in 2008 for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, is one of Criterion’s best games, so it only makes sense that Burnout Paradise Remastered is even better.
On top of some welcome graphics enhancements, PC players get to experience the previously console-only Big Surf Island and all its potential for stunts and havoc. Paradise City’s map is as enjoyable as ever, too, whether you are just driving around or completing the many available events.
Although some of the original game’s pain points remain (an annoying crash cam, some menu quirks), none are severe enough to seriously detract from the title’s satisfying vehicle handling, expansive map, and many unlockables.
The Codemasters-developed Dirt 5 hearkens back to the 1990s, a time when Colin McRae Rally and Sega Rally Championship elevated “extreme” racing games. Like those games, Dirt 5 isn’t concerned with realism or deep customization options; instead, the rally racer wants you to barrel your way to victory on winding, mud-covered tracks.
While Dirt 5 isn’t wholly original, it succeeds at delivering a loud, colorful racing experience for folks looking for a PC game packed with high-speed escapism.
In 2018, Forza Horizon 4 appeared on PC just two years after its excellent predecessor, which made some people question the necessity of the series every-other-year schedule. Yet, Developer Playground Games touted that the open-world racer’s new features would make the purchase worthwhile. The company was 100 percent correct.
With Forza Horizon 4, the thrilling racing-and-music festival formula expands with new vehicles, fresh and addictive solo and multiplayer modes, and seasonal effects. The changing weather patterns are easily the game’s best aspect, as they alter how you approach driving. For example, the scenic lake that you whiz by during the spring, summer, and fall may freeze over in the winter, allowing you to drive over it as an alternate route. Likewise, spring’s rain muddies courses, making cornering a chore. The seasons shift every week, so you aren’t stuck in one for too long.
Factor in the new performance-enhancing Skills, gorgeous UK-based environments, returning Barn Finds, well-curated soundtrack, and Forza Horizon 4 stands as one of the best racing games to appear on PC in recent years.
Each sequel in Xbox Game Studios’ popular racing series uses the previous title as a foundation, and Forza Horizon 5 continues the tradition. The fifth title in the racing-and-music festival has the numerous modes, fun atmosphere, hip music, and wild stunts you’d expect, but this time the additions and changes are more evolutionary than revolutionary.
Longtime series fans will appreciate Forza Horizon 5’s varied Mexico setting, ridiculously packed modes, and new features (the create-a-track EventLab, in particular). Newcomers will be wowed by the racer’s many, creative riches. In short, Forza Horizon remains the best racing game series, and Forza Horizon 5 is yet another example of why it’s so beloved.
These days, it’s easy to adopt a cynical stance toward anything laced with nostalgia, because there are so many pop culture properties mining the past for a quick buck. Somehow, someway, Horizon Chase Turbo, despite its throwback aesthetic, has charm enough to prevent it from being lumped into that hack class.
Horizon Chase Turbo is a simple game that focuses on boosting, weaving between rivals’ vehicles, and a unique gameplay angle: collecting gas canisters so that you don’t run out of fuel. That said, the Aquiris Game Studio-published racing game’s main hook is its visuals.
Horizon Chase Turbo is a gorgeous game, though, admittedly, one that may not be instantly recognized as such due to a flat, polygon-heavy art style that recalls 1990’s racing games (but without jaggies, clipping, and other era-specific visual flaws). The graphics dance between pastel colors and cool, neon highlights depending on if you’re driving at daytime or nighttime, respectively.
Insanely cool to look at and just as fun to play, Horizon Chase Turbo is a PC racing game that belongs in your library.
Hotshot Racing replicates 1990s-era, arcade-style driving competitions, with its pick-up-and-play control scheme and angular, low-polygon visual aesthetic. In many ways, the title, developed by Lucky Mountain Games (with an assist from the racing masters at Sumo Digital), captures the retro-racing vibe. Mostly.
Although the brightly colored Hotshot Racing looks like a game from the Outrun era, it lacks the thrilling level design that makes many retro racers so memorable. That’s not to say that Hotshot Racing isn’t a good time; it most certainly is! Drift lovers will dig the powersliding-focused gameplay.
If you want a racing game that completely ditches realism in favor of pure imagination, pick up Lego 2K Drive. After all, it’s literally about toy cars.
Although not a totally open-world game, this arcade racer sets you free in a variety of large open zones. As you drive around these beautifully blocky worlds, you’ll compete in races and other wacky events. Your Lego contraption can seamlessly transform between a car, an offroad vehicle, and a boat. Between the boosting, power-ups, and chaotic sense of speed, you’ll feel out of control in the most fun way possible.
As a Lego game, Lego 2K Drive also gives you robust tools for customizing your car down to the brick. Granted, this also ties into the game’s bothersome microtransactions. Still, if a full-on Lego version of Forza Horizon sounds appealing, Lego 2K Drive is worth a purchase.
Need for Speed: Heat is a thrilling racing game that mostly nails the elements that made previous NFS entries so successful: solid racing mechanics, excellent car customization options, and over-the-top cop chases.
The game has a cool day-and-night mechanic that lets you embrace brighter, daytime racing scenes, as well as high-stakes, underground racing at night. Palm City looks great in either light, and gives the game visual variety.
The character customization and improved narrative also make the game more enjoyable than the last few entries, despite the lackluster multiplayer mode and some unclear controls. Series fans should not hesitate to pick up this one.
The Ridge Racer series may not carry Gran Turismo or Forza’s swagger in the contemporary video game market, but the long-running franchise has a dedicated fan base that loves the drift-centric racing action.
This entry, crafted by Bugbear Entertainment, brings a chaotic element to the familiar gameplay by adding environmental and vehicular destruction as you race for street cred in the fictional Shatter Bay. It’s Ridge Racer gone full Burnout.
Shatter Bay’s many districts are high-detailed and destructible locations that entice you to race one more match. When you fire up Ridge Racer Unbounded, you can only select one car and race district, but others are unlocked as you accumulate collateral damage points. These points are gathered by plowing through anything other than a solid brick wall.
The story is something you can flat out ignore—it’s a racing game, after all—but the driving action is interesting and varied. Just play against human opponents if you wish to maintain your sanity.
Kart racing is a genre defined by wild, arcade-style driving, wacky power-ups designed to take out rival racers (or shield you from their attacks), twisty tracks, and cutesy characters. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Collection is no different, except that you battle on land, and in the air and water. Oh, and it features an incredible cast of Sega characters.
The wacky racer features the Sonic character family (Sonic, Amy Rose, Eggman, Knuckles, Tails), plus many others plucked from Sega’s rich arcade and console history. For example, you can rev engines using Alex Kidd (Alex Kidd in Miracle World), Amigo (Samba de Amigo), B.D. Joe (Crazy Taxi), and Beat (Jet Set Radio), among others. The game includes non-Sega characters, too, such as Wreck-It Ralph (the Disney animated star), flesh-and-blood human being Danica Patrick (the retired NASCAR star), and characters exclusive to the Steam version: Pyro, Spy, and Heavy from Valve’s Team Fortress 2.
If you like kart racers with a charismatic cast, fun weapons, and well-designed tracks, give Transformed Collection a spin. Who knows, you just may find that it feels better than the Nintendo Switch’s beloved Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Collection (for PC) Review
The Black Rock Studio-developed Split/Second has one of the best premises in racing game history. Framed around a fictional reality television program where the in-game racers compete for fame and big bucks, Split/Second sees the contestants triggering environmental chaos using super moves known as PowerPlays as they zip towards the finishing line.
You earn PowerPlay points by skillfully drafting, drifting, and jumping. When at least one tier of the PowerPlay meter is filled, you can detonate particular pieces of the environment when a rival racer drives near them—you’ll know what you can destroy and when by the appearance of a blue icon near a particular object in the environment. It’s immensely satisfying to discover that the helicopter that’s been hovering overhead drops bombs on your opponents when you uncork a PowerPlay attack.
Split/Second’s merger of arcade-style racing and huge, environment-wrecking explosions form a thrilling racer that will keep you hugging corners, jockeying for position, and downing jumbo jets well into the night. Unfortunately, Split/Second’s servers are kaput, so you must race others in local play.
With WRC 10, developer KT Racing celebrates 50 years of the World Rally Championship. In addition to new tracks and challenges, WRC 10 features classic races and cars from the event’s storied history, tight controls, and photorealistic vehicles and environments. This series entry isn’t radically different from WRC 8 and WRC 9, but its minor improvements create a better overall title.
WRC 10 is stuffed with features that simulation racing fans want. Its career mode and various solo and multiplayer options provide hours upon hours of playtime. Overall, this is another impressive effort from KT Racing that honors the World Rally Championship’s legacy, despite a few notable bugs.
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