Titos and titas, time to stretch those backs and relive the racing games that started it all.
Before we had licenses, loans, and taxes to pay —- we had controllers and imaginations.
We didn’t just play — we lived these games. Every drift, every crash, every turbo boost burned into our childhoods. These were the titles that fueled our need for speed long before we ever touched a steering wheel.
So grab your memory cards, plug in that old console, and let’s take a ride down nostalgia lane.
Need for Speed: Underground (2003)
This was peak street racing culture. Custom rides, NOS bursts, and that “Get Low” soundtrack that defined an era.
GTA 2 (1999)
It wasn’t exactly a racing game, but admit it — half of us played GTA 2 just to hijack cars (most especially that white-striped Banshee) and see how long we could outrun the cops.
Crash Team Racing “CTR” (1999)
The chaotic joy of zipping around as Crash or Coco, launching missiles at friends, and hearing that final laugh when you crossed the line first (or got blasted off the track) — pure, unfiltered fun that no online lobby can replicate.
Back then, this was peak multi-pad multiplayer madness — when you and your friends huddled around the TV, controllers tangled, and every race ended with cheers, trash talk, and instant rematches.
Gran Turismo (1997)
This wasn’t just a racing game — it was a simulator that made us care about horsepower, tire wear, and braking points.
And after every race, you and your friends would actually sit through the full replay — just to admire the camera angles, the cinematic shots, and that one perfect overtake. The first time we bought a Skyline here? Magic.
Burnout (2001)
No other game made destruction this satisfying. From takedowns to slow-motion smashes, Burnout gave us permission to drive like maniacs — guilt-free.
Twisted Metal (1995)
A mix of racing and pure destruction, Twisted Metal was every kid’s battle fantasy come to life. Explosions, ice cream trucks with missiles, and dark humor — it was madness we gladly embraced.
You almost felt like you knew Paris by heart after so many chaotic rounds on that map — weaving through the streets, launching rockets under the Eiffel Tower, and still wondering how the heck a minion managed to climb it.
These weren’t just games — they were rites of passage.
Long before open-world graphics and hyperreal engines, these titles gave us our first real taste of speed, competition, and freedom.
The kind that still makes us hit the gas — even just a little — when “Get Low” plays in traffic.