The last decade was the time game developers really understood the real potential of such consoles as well as computer hardware, and started experimenting with frame rates, photorealism and overall graphics. However, the early 2000s was when the computer gaming industry grew exponentially.
During this time, gaming consoles and computers were really new in the industry but started becoming common in every household. One of the gaming genres that gained immense popularity during this time was the racing arcade. Further mentioned here are the top 8 racing games that came out at least 20 years back, which for many are the best racing games of all time.
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A lot of gamers will agree that this game is not the best when it comes to graphics or even gameplay, for that matter. Nevertheless, there are only a few games that have affected the youth car culture like this has. The need for speed franchise has been one of the most influential releases in this community. With a myriad of choices when it comes to supercars and beautifully designed race tracks, this is one of the games you can try in today's time and still enjoy.
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For gamers who are loyal to The Real Driving Simulator, which was the best game in the franchise, Gran Turismo 4 is still one of their top picks. After almost seven years of the franchise's original release, the creator's need for extreme detail and depth in this game rose to a dimension that has still remained unrivalled. With some of the best graphics in the community, car physics, gameplay, car list and everything else that makes a good racing game, this is one of the top picks in the list.
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Colin McRae Rally 2.0, the second attempt of the legend that piloted it, is another racing game that has to be mentioned in this list. This game title matured in the second rendition, with multiplayer options, cleaner menus, revolutionary graphics for the time and varied options of cars from that year's rally seasons and even before. This game set the groundwork for the five subsequent games in the series that were yet to come. This game would surely make you go back down memory lane.
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If you have heard of Grand Theft Auto, you must have once come across Midnight Club. This game is an attempt by Rockstar games in the field of racing games, and quite a good one at that! Some gamers even consider this to be better than its next release, Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition. Basically an exploration of the streetcar culture, much like NFS, this game has been successful in adding its own twist and turns to the gameplay.
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When open-world games were just a thought in this industry, Midtown Madness achieved it. Arguably the first open-world racing game, this was released in the year 1999. There was a multiplayer mode in this game as well.
