5 Racing Games with Unique Features You Probably Forgot About. (Or if you're like me you miss them dearly.) #BlogPost

Split/Second : The Power Play Function

Split/Second was a racing game developed by Black Rock Studios (Sumo Digital for PSP), and published by Disney Interactive. The plot of the game pits you against a plethora of other drivers on a live action T.V show, as the game title implies, Split/Second. There are 12 “Episodes” to complete with a ton of races, variety including;

Race
Detonator
Elimination
Survival
Helicopter Attack
Helicopter Revenge

In addition to the variety of event types, there’s a huge selection of cars, wildly diverse tracks, and the Power Play Function. In the lower center of the players screen lies a power play meter. The meter is filled up by drifting, drafting, and overtaking the other racers around you. Once the meter has been filled……well I’ll let you look at this, I think it’ll explain it for me.

Unpredictable.

Blur : Power-Up Racing and the Fans feature.

Released in the same year as Split/Second, Blur was developed by Bizarre Creations, and published by Activision Blizzard. Blur took what was so fun about Mario Kart games, and converted a similar gameplay mechanic into a realistic racing game…..well as close to realistic as this gets. Power-Ups were the make or break of winning or losing a race, which was the unpredictability factor I loved about it, similar to the former mention on the list. The list of these mischievous game changers are;

Shunt
Shock
Mine
Nitro
Barge
Shield
Bolt
Repair

The fans. You accumulated fans by reckless driving, completing obscure on-track challenges, and complete a race in a certain position. The video down below shows you both elements, and man is it a nostalgia trip.

Ridger Racer Series : Drift Racing Aesthetic

NAMCO won over many of our hearts with the thrilling Ridge Racer franchise. The unique physics engine for this series of games was of unparalleled likeness, and could never be properly replicated by games latter. Drift racing always hit home for me, and I’m sure many others as well. 200+ miles per hour screaming down a straightaway at blistering speed. and flicking the machine in over a 90 degree angle, and STILL hold your speed had solidified my loving for the game. Lost sense of reality let me relax. With this game there really isn’t much to say, as the drift racing aesthetic is the only thing that has it differ from the rest of the masses.

Burnout Paradise : Collectibles and Shutting down cars.

This one is quite the controverisal one, not being a “true Burnout game”, but I beg to differ there. The only real thing they butchered was the crash mode, or Showtime if you will. Besides that, you still get the insane jumps, a plethora of cars, and the spine-tingling feeling everytime you ram traffic head on, and hear nothing but the compacting and crunching of steel on full volume.

I have a lot to say about this game, reason being I play this game to date almost a decade after release. It’s timeless. But I wont for the sake of making this post bearable. To revert back to topic, the introduction of an open world was already a huge step for Criterion, and adding the collectibles of Gate Smashes, Super Jumps, Billboards. and Road Rules was implemented correctly. If you collected every single one of each, you were gifted a special Carbon variant of an already existing car for all your determination. Pretty fair trade in my opinion.

We move on to something pretty fun in my eyes. Shutting down drivers. If you win a certain number of races, a driver will appear in Paradise City, and if you want that car for your ever-expanding junkyard collection, you had to wreck his ass and voila, his car is yours. Most Waned 2012 was a Criterion made game and utilized the same feature, if anyone is/was confused.

SpyHunter : Combat-based Racing.

Ok, before you yell at me, hear out my technicality. This game gives you a time limit for each mission, ultimately making it a race against time, thus categorizing it as a racing game. The platform and plot is based off of James Bond esc movies, and is a direct sequel to the arcade game release in the late 80’s.

SpyHunter being released in 2001 by Midway games was an all-time favorite of mine because of the fact it integrates high-octane stunts and chases, all while giving you an arsenal of firepower to defend and offend with. Strategy was the name of the game. You could turn this car into a hovercraft and glide over the water, you had mini mission collectibles, and the raw thrill of being pursued by baddies is cemented in your mind as you scurry away to the mission end.

Let’s not forget the breathtaking and visually stunning environments for this being a GTA 3 era game.

There’s 5 games to fill your head with nostalgia. If this post gets a decent amount of support, I’ll make a part 2, since there are so many games out that with their own unique quirks.

Also I did this on 4 cans of Red Bull at 4 in the morning. Go easy on me.