15 Best Racing Games of All Time [2024 Edition]

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Ask anyone what their favourite Need for Speed is, and they’ll likely say Most Wanted. They could mean the 2005 or 2012 reinterpretation, but we’ve opted for the 2012 version here. Whilst there were complaints Criterion didn’t provide us with the game we were all expecting, or indeed a meaty enough single player campaign, Most Wanted 2012 features some of the best wheel-to-wheel racing in the entire NFS canon, blending Burnout style mayhem with Hot Pursuit’s relentless cops in tow. Customisation of cars is kept to a minimum. Instead, key to its success is the design of its sprawling open world city Fairhaven, fostering white knuckle speed whether it’s on the looping interstate or downtown’s compact streets.