Best Xbox Racing Games — 11 high-octane racing games for the X|S Series

Whether you prefer speeding down a mountainside in Forza Horizon 5 or holding a steady racing line in Assetto Corsa Competizione, there’s a racing game out there for everyone. To help you narrow down your search, we’ve compiled this list of the best Xbox racing games using a combination of our own experiences with these games and site ratings from TrueAchievements.

11. Debris Festival

Wreckfest blends track racing together with a healthy mix of demolition derby gameplay and is often underrated as far as racing games go. Races in Wreckfest can vary from taking a regular car for a metal-grinding spin to racing on a high-powered engine couch (yes, you read that right), where if you crash, your driver moves comically halfway across the track. It’s all very silly and a lot of fun, especially with friends.

10. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered

The first of Criterion and Stellar’s two entries on our list is the classic arcade racing game of cops versus illegal street racers, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered. In all honesty, the remaster doesn’t bring much new to the table other than improved visuals, but why mess with something so beloved? Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered centers around supercar chases where competitors can summon things like spiraling streaks, EMP strikes, and road blocks to try and stop other racers in their tracks. Naturally, when this happens, it usually results in a stunning, metal-smashing collision that feels extremely satisfying, especially when playing online or against a younger sibling.

9. F1 24

With the latest entry in the F1 series, F1 24, Codemasters has overhauled the game’s career mode for the first time since 2016. Now, you can race as one of 20 current F1 drivers or build on the legacy of an F1 icon by navigating the status of greats like Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher. On top of this revamped career mode, a change to driving physics now provides more authentic handling and more control over how your driving style affects your car’s performance. Overall, F1 24 provides the ultimate Formula 1 racing experience for fans of the sport.

8. Trackmania

If you’re looking for a game that’s all about having a good time, Tackmania has you covered. Trackmania doesn’t care about realism – it simply wants you to enjoy its completely ridiculous tracks featuring huge jumps, gravity-defying loops and moving obstacles. The racing is solid, and it’s a lot of fun with friends, but where Trackmania really shines is the creation tools, which allow players to dream up and create their own crazy tracks. This means there is always something new to explore from the community.

Although Trackmania is a free-to-play game, some of the best content it offers is hidden behind subscriptions, which is a bit of a shame.

7. Forza Motorsport

When it came to choosing between Forza Motorsport or Forza Motorsport 7, it was actually a very difficult choice. Currently, Forza Motorsport has a fair amount of issues with players losing career progression and frequent crashes, and compared to Forza Motorsport 7, it definitely lacks track variety. However, the newer Turn 10 is still an excellent game, and is available through Xbox Game Pass and on the Microsoft Store, unlike Forza Motorsport 7. As we noted on our website Forza Motorsport reviewWe really enjoyed the new “Car-PG” progression system, the feel and physics of the cars, and the online racing with the new safety rating system.

6. Al-Qarif Cars Festival

If you’re looking for something very similar to Forza Horizon 5, The Crew Motorfest has your back. Set on the sunny open-world island of Oahu in Hawaii, you’ll be competing in high-speed street races one minute before hurtling down the side of a volcano in an off-road machine the next. The Crew Motorfest offers plenty of activities and a variety of races, and with over 600 different vehicles to choose from, you’ll never get bored trying to master and collect them all.

5. Aceto Corsa Competizione

Let’s talk about pure goodness, shall we? Assetto Corsa Competizione makes the list thanks to its excellent GT endurance experience which should probably only be undertaken by those with a steering wheel and pedals and an understanding that you need to brake before colliding with another car online. It’s a serious place to be, but it’s also a lot of fun if you’re looking for something at the highest end of the sim racing spectrum. Simulated tire grip, aerodynamics, suspension models, car balance, and engine parameters all play a role in Assetto Corsa Competizione, making it one of the most realistic racing simulation games available. Unfortunately, there is one broken achievement in Assetto Corsa Competizione, so keep that in mind before starting if this is an issue.

4. Dirt Rally 2.0

Although there are newer entries in the Dirt series, Dirt Rally 2.0 is still one of the best and most serious rally racing games out there. This gives you a proper muddy and dirty path through the great outdoors. This game is tough, and although you can tone down the AI ​​to make things easier, it’s really on you to hit every corner with speed and precision as you try to keep your car on the track. Dirt Rally 2.0 offers a good selection of hand-crafted tracks, some interesting cars, and features like track surface degradation, meaning it still holds up today.

3. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

With a massive graphical overhaul, track updates, and some much-needed control tweaks, Activision not only has one of the best remasters on its hands with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled but also perhaps the best kart racer outside of Mario Kart. Aside from the rich multiplayer and robust slide mechanic, what we really like about CTR: Nitro-Fueled is its difficulty – you have to be good, especially if you want to play online; Otherwise you will be left in the dust. However, if you can master its intricacies and memorize its routes, you will be able to reach the podium and record personal best lap times with no problem at all.

2. Burning Paradise Remastered

Criterion’s excellent Burnout Paradise was remastered in 2018, bringing one of the best open-world driving games to the modern console era. Paradise City provides the perfect driving arena, giving you plenty of opportunities to steady and speed through city streets, dodge oncoming traffic, soar over huge jumps, and then ruin it all by crashing your car so hard that it collapses into a car bomb. A rough ball of metal and auto parts. Burnout Paradise Remastered is an absolute classic and a true celebration of arcade racing – and it also has a great soundtrack.

1. Forza Horizon 5

With a vast and colorful open world, hundreds of cars, and a wide range of races and activities – Forza Horizon 5’s got it all. Although Playground hasn’t deviated too much from the winning formula it found with Forza Horizon 4, there’s still enough new things here to keep players satisfied. Aside from the gorgeous, lovingly crafted open world of Mexico that begs to be explored, the new rewards system will keep racers going for hundreds of hours, as well as a good variety of stories, PR stunts and racing. Playground has also released two interesting DLC ​​expansions – Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure – that bring more diverse gameplay options to the mix.Forza Horizon 5 achievements