Underappreciated PS1 racing games

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tristan H
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I never bought TOCA World Tour, which is odd, as 1&2 were my absolute favourites on PS1. The variety of racing models alone has always appealed, though.

It wasn't great by any stretch, and I actually played it on Dreamcast, but Vanishing Point was a good game, IMO.

Not sure how the PS version held up, but the car variety was good for the time and the challenges added something different to the saturated genre of the time.
 
VXR
I never bought TOCA World Tour, which is odd, as 1&2 were my absolute favourites on PS1. The variety of racing models alone has always appealed, though.

It wasn't great by any stretch, and I actually played it on Dreamcast, but Vanishing Point was a good game, IMO.

Not sure how the PS version held up, but the car variety was good for the time and the challenges added something different to the saturated genre of the time.
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Once you got your head around the control/physics, (twitchy), Vanishing Point on the Dreamcast was absolutely amazing, I played it so much, I still love it.
 
Released roughly 6 months after Gran Turismo’s Japan debut, Advan Racing addressed most of that games shortcomings by featuring real tracks, in-car view, pit stops, real-time weather changes, fuel consumption, tire wear, night racing, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini (albeit unlicensed)...the list of features was amazing for 1998, and in many ways it was decades ahead of its time. The system of building your own season calendar of races and being forced to choose between simultaneous championship rounds has really never been replicated.
The game was not released outside of Japan and remains obscure.
 
The entire time this thread has been up I've been thinking of Advan Racing. Anyone interested in it should find a way to play it, it's good fun for how old it is.
 
Im trying to find a racing game i borrowed from a mate in late 90s for ps1.
It was a hiddem gem and i have not seen it about.
I have an emulator for my psp and being in my 30s still enjoying it.
I would love to add the game to my list.
It was a off road realistic buggy game pretty much like dakar but i have honestly been through the whole list and usual suspects of i.e test drives etc... And come up short.... Anyone have any ideas?

Im in uk so would of at least been a pal version.

Kind regards,

Joe.
 
Not necessarily a racing game but I have this mediocre driving game called World’s Scariest Police Chases. It was basically a clone of the classic Driver recipe except you controlled the police car. It was pretty fun and arguably slipped under the mainstream radar. A few months later GTA transitioned to 3D on PS2, and then people couldn’t care less about crime-themed open world driving games on PS1.
 
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Nielsen
Not necessarily a racing game but I have this mediocre driving game called World’s Scariest Police Chases. It was basically a clone of the classic Driver recipe except you controlled the police car. It was pretty fun and arguably slipped under the mainstream radar. A few months later GTA transitioned to 3D on PS2, and then people couldn’t care less about crime-themed open world driving games on PS1.
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I used to play this game with my sister as coop. I would be driving and she would be shooting. We would yell at each other because we couldn't keep the baddie's car on target :lol: I don't think I ever got past the 3rd level, but when you're a kid you can just keep replaying the same level over and over and not get bored. Also it's nice being able to drive around without the fear of being chased, unlike Driver 1/2.
 
Got in this thread to say that finally there is a fan made translation completed for Racing Lagoon. Will not be hard to find the translation pack or the game already translated itself.

Also, some underrated PS1 games that might be interesting for some reason:

- Touge Max 2 and Touge Max G. Some people prefer the second (like me), some others prefers the G. It has really nice graphics, even with car interiors where you could see the driver turning the wheel and shifting, and the car models also are beautiful. The handling is kinda hard to learn if you dont understand what youre doing with brakes, shifting, ebrakes, and so on. Sometimes the car will behaves unexpectfully.

- Meisha Retsuden - Greatest 70´s. Its oriented to the vintage JDM racing scene. Also kinda hard to understand, cose its all in japanese, and the tunning system really needs it, or else sometimes the car engine dont even start.

- Kattobi Tune. Made by Genki (Tokyo Xtreme Racer Series), it was maybe the first attempt of bring aftermarket of JDM tunning into a game. Also, it have a very unusual "life menagement sim" inside the story mode, most commonly seen in date sims and SMT Personas, where besides attend to events, visit tunning shops, you also have to work, sleep, excercise, date, get drunk and so on. Also, since its all in japanese, its not friendly unless youre fluent in japanese or have google lens next to you. Gameplay wise, the handling model kinda reminds Ridge Racer due the slip induction techniques on drifting, but still somehow enjoyable.
 
Lazy Liquid
Got in this thread to say that finally there is a fan made translation completed for Racing Lagoon. Will not be hard to find the translation pack or the game already translated itself.
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Thanks for this! I was reminded recently to play that game, but the lack of a completed translation would be why it hasn't happened yet. 🐺
 
PletdeKoe
I remember reading a magazine over and over again about Motorhead. Never got the chance to play it tough.
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I remember Motorhead. I played it through to completion, very enjoyable at the time and great graphics and music.
 
This one is the one i'ved heard about it the game is called burning road made by toka but this one is somehow an good arcade racer like Daytona USA, Ridge Racer, and Cruis'n series has some cool cars the red fox car was my favorite than the others but overall it might the wackiest.
s-l1200.webp
 
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Newman Haas racing was also a nice racing game. Hit detection was frustratingly bad, but is had so many great tracks.
 
I loved Toca 2.

I thought the Primera was great, and the Jaguar XJ220 too.

And the great thing about that game was that if you really wanted to go crazy, you could use cheats you'd earned.

Ah, "fastboy" I miss you.

By the way, the sequel, Toca World Touring Cars, was also really good. My first and, unfortunately, so far, last game where your tires would blow out if you pushed it too far.

And speaking of total drivin:

Who among you found the bonus world mid-race?
 
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MagpieRacer
Total Drivin' was amazing. Loads of different types of racing as well from rallying to GT racing.

For me it these:
Hardcore 4x4


Mobil 1 Rally Championship


Rage Racer


OK I know Rage Racer can be considered as part of the Ridge racer series. But a lot of people didnt know that and missed out on an amazing game. I preferred this to any of the Ridge Racer games.
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There are plenty more underappreciated PS1 Racing games as well. Like Test Drive off road 3, Motor Toon GP, Worlds Scariest Police Chases and Sports Car GT.
 
GTvsForza
View attachment 1500408

I think this was my first racing game before GT. The OST is still a banger!
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The OST on Test Drive off road 3 as well.

05XR8
I remember having that TOCA World. The Chrysler 300M was an oddity. The TI Aida circuit was also cool to see in the game.
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Yep. TOCA World Touring Cars also had Bentley Hunaudieres, Cerbera Speed 12 and FWD Mitsubishi Lancer Touring Car.
 
Silver_Wolf
Not sure if this one falls under this category but Porsche Challenge is a game I remember fondly from PS1 and is still very playable and fun
but the graphics from back then to now make it very difficult to play for long periods.

View attachment 966169 View attachment 966170
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Rallye de Europe, Rallye de Africa and GTC Africa as well.

Lunard
Hey, and how about Advan Racing?
View attachment 1500728View attachment 1500729View attachment 1500730View attachment 1500731
A true competior of Gran Turismo released in 1998 by Atlus.
Despite the cars model quality being very lower than GT, this game has real circuits located in Japan, cockpit cam, different track conditions and some cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.
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Yep. I recently played it on my PS3 console and its as amazing as Option Tuning Spec R, original Gran Turismo, and another underrated racing game, Rollcage Stage II.

Lazy Liquid
Got in this thread to say that finally there is a fan made translation completed for Racing Lagoon. Will not be hard to find the translation pack or the game already translated itself.

Also, some underrated PS1 games that might be interesting for some reason:

- Touge Max 2 and Touge Max G. Some people prefer the second (like me), some others prefers the G. It has really nice graphics, even with car interiors where you could see the driver turning the wheel and shifting, and the car models also are beautiful. The handling is kinda hard to learn if you dont understand what youre doing with brakes, shifting, ebrakes, and so on. Sometimes the car will behaves unexpectfully.

- Meisha Retsuden - Greatest 70´s. Its oriented to the vintage JDM racing scene. Also kinda hard to understand, cose its all in japanese, and the tunning system really needs it, or else sometimes the car engine dont even start.

- Kattobi Tune. Made by Genki (Tokyo Xtreme Racer Series), it was maybe the first attempt of bring aftermarket of JDM tunning into a game. Also, it have a very unusual "life menagement sim" inside the story mode, most commonly seen in date sims and SMT Personas, where besides attend to events, visit tunning shops, you also have to work, sleep, excercise, date, get drunk and so on. Also, since its all in japanese, its not friendly unless youre fluent in japanese or have google lens next to you. Gameplay wise, the handling model kinda reminds Ridge Racer due the slip induction techniques on drifting, but still somehow enjoyable.
Click to expand...
Very interesting choice.
 

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