Justin Towell is a freelance contributor, having previously spent 10 years on GamesRadar+ including as Reviews Editor and Associate Editor. He is now self-employed and balances his love of racing sims with that of electric guitar. Harmoniously, of course.
I reviewed Codemasters’ Dirt 2 for GamesRadar back in 2008 and awarded it 8/10. Looking at it now, even if you dislike the ‘Dudebro’ presentation, it’s a harsh mark for a game that deserves a 9 or even a 10 compared to today’s racers. But in this article, rather than focus on why the genre…Continue reading “What modern racing games should learn from Sega’s past”»
The Switch has done so many things right in its life, but while platformers, RPGs and so many indie games keep their fans well served, there haven’t been so many options for having a great time racing cars on Nintendo’s hybrid machine. Sure, the lack of analogue shoulder buttons isn’t ideal, and there’s no support…Continue reading “Seven great racing games on Nintendo Switch”»
The grass is green and the girls are… well, there aren’t any. But by all means take me home again. They don’t make ’em like this any more. No, really, and it’s a damn shame. Burnout Paradise represents the pinnacle of 2000s-era game design, where ludicrous speed was king and damage modelling used bleeding-edge technology…Continue reading “Burnout Paradise for Nintendo Switch review”»
When you start out playing racing games, the ‘Manual Gears’ option looks pretty scary and frankly, you can’t imagine anyone deliberately choosing to make things so difficult for themselves. But truthfully the old Pirelli slogan is spot-on: Power is nothing without control. If the engine was just attached directly to the back wheels, the car…Continue reading “Why bother with manual gears?”»
Nobody wants to see anyone get hurt in real life motorsport crashes, but a nice explosion of carbon fibre, cascading sparks from a blowout or crumpled-in bodywork always looks awesome in a slow-motion replay. Video games know this, and for decades there was an arms race in crash tech as developers strove to deliver the…Continue reading “Damage Inc – the problem with crashes in racing games”»
Project Gotham Racing: Last seen 2007 on Xbox 360 This was a massive missed opportunity. Project Gotham Racing had four incarnations after first appearing as Metropolis Street Racer on Sega Dreamcast. The pitch is simple: Realistic, licensed cars, driving through photorealistic, real-world cities, with extra points awarded for stylish driving. Telephone boxes are in the…Continue reading “These racing games vanished and deserve far better”»
You seem to be crashing a lot, Grasshopper There are several moments where Absolute Drift looks and feels like an isometrically-viewed rally game, albeit without the snow, mud and “Samir, you’re breaking the car”. And sure enough, developer Funselektor did release Art of Rally on PC after this one, so maybe this really was a…Continue reading “Absolute Drift: Zen Edition Nintendo Switch review”»
Back once again with the barricade master When one of the best developers of action-packed racing games has a go at one of the biggest brands in gaming, something interesting is bound to come out of it. And so it was that Criterion took on the mighty Need For Speed and instantly dropped one of its all-time greatest offerings….Continue reading “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered review”»
