I love arcade racing games. I often play them as palette cleansers between bigger games, when I only have a short amount of time to play, or when I want to play something quick at the start/end of a longer session. I consider arcade racers the gaming equivalent of fast food - quick, enjoyable but generally less and less satisfying if you consume too much of it. And like with fast food, some meals are better than others.
Here is my ranking of the 6 arcade racing games I've played, single player mode only. I consider all of them to be at least good, and would recommend any of them if you are a fan of the genre. It's only my number 1 which I would recommend to anyone though. If there any other arcade racers you can recommend, I would love to hear about them!
Quick disclaimer: I'm not including Mario Kart or F-Zero 99 on this list (both of which I have played a lot) - while they could be considered arcade racers, I consider them to sit in slightly different genres.
6. Cruis'n Blast (2021)
Had to double check the spelling of this one. But this lives up to its name as being an absolute blast. The game throws any sort of realism out of the window - you can race as a dinosaur or a unicorn - and your vehicle can do wheelies.
There are plenty of things to unlock and it is almost impossible to play this game and not have a good time. Simply hold down the accelerate button and do your best to avoid the chaos which unfolds around you.
But despite it claiming to have 30ish tracks, a lot of the tracks are simply variations of the same 5-6 core tracks. Further, a lot of the tracks are very short - less than 1 minute short.
This is the embodiment of arcade racing fast food. Tasty while it lasts, but not providing any nourishment in the long run. I haven't felt compelled to go back to it.
5. Hotshot Racing (2020)
Obviously inspired by Virtua Racing, this game looks delightful with its deliberately blocky graphical style. There are 8 different racers you can choose from, each of whom has a garage of 4 different cars you can choose from. The racers are suitably wacky and fit the feel of the game perfectly.
You can unlock different skins for the characters and vehicles based on prizemoney earned, however this seems unnecessary to me and I would have preferred if the additional skins unlocked automatically as rewards for beating certain races/cups/challenges with the different characters.
This is a fun game but three things hold this game back for me. First, the central mechanic of the game is a drift mechanic which, when you get the hang of, works very well, but it is quite tricky to get the hang of, and it is frustrating to lose a race based on a drift gone wrong. Secondly, similarly frustrating is when the aggressive AI hits your car and puts you in a wall, placing you in what is basically an unwinnable position. This probably happened once per session for me and while I don't mind the aggressive AI, I felt it slightly too aggressive here. Thirdly, and most importantly, I didn't really find the track design that interesting; most tracks are generally oval in shape with a few twists and turns here and there (I guess to take advantage of the central drift mechanic). Despite playing this a lot recently, I can't recall any particular track layout. As a result, I just don't find this game interesting to play outside of short bursts.
A potentially big asterisk on this one: I have only played the core arcade racing mode, there are 3 other modes I have not tried.
4. Virtua Racing (2019)
Speaking of Virtua Racing, this is the SEGA Ages re-release of an arcade classic and it looks stunning. Race around the track for a defined number of laps and beat the time limit. That's it.
The game is easy to pick up but difficult to master. I also love racing as an F1 car. This is not a game where you simply press the accelerator and cruise to the finishing line. To even finish the race in the time limit (well, on normal difficulty at least), you need to be familiar with each track, brake at the right time to make turns without spinning out, and overtake opponents without colliding with them. It is immensely satisfying to execute a perfect lap.
Having said that, the game is severely lacking in content - there are only 3 tracks included (although you can choose different options for the length of the race), and there is no choice of picking a different vehicle with different stats (you can change its color though). Because of that, this is one I enjoy coming back to for a short while, but after a few sessions I am often content to forget about it for a while.
3. Outrun (2019)
It felt right to put the two arcade classics next to each other. This is the SEGA Ages re-release of the grandaddy or arcade racers and there is still almost nothing else quite like it.
You race against the clock (only) across 5 stages, although at the end of each stage there is a branching path and there are 15 stages in total to play. Each stage has its own distinctive feel, weaving in and out of traffic feels really nice and the soundtrack for the game is an absolute vibe.
The SEGA Ages release allows you to upgrade your car for each different ending (which also changes the color of your car), and after unlocking all the endings you unlock the original arcade mode.
The whole game can be beaten in less than 10 minutes, and it will probably take you at least 1-2 hours to learn the tracks sufficiently to be able to beat the game once. But it speaks volumes to the quality of this game that I often feel compelled to go back and play it again and again. This is a surprisingly cozy game.
2. Fast RMX (2017)
Some may not consider this to be an arcade racer (there is no time limit / fuel gauge to fight against) and that's fine. In any event, at the time of release it was the closest thing we have had to a new F-Zero game for a long time. It certainly scratches that futuristic racing itch.
And it does a pretty good job of it too! It certainly does feel like you are going fast while playing this game. The racing experience revolves around a boost mechanic where you need to match the color of your engine (either blue or orange) to the track underneath for parts of the track. If the colors match, you go faster. If they don't match, you slow down. The announcer is great (I think it's the same announcer from F-Zero GX). Your car can explode. And you can make other cars explode with a well timed nudge. There's a bunch of tracks, lots of cars to unlock and a few different game modes too.
What holds this back for me is the difficulty. There is a lot of rubber banding going on and it is tricky, even at novice difficulty level, to regularly win races. Like with Hotshot Racing, I feel one mistake away from being placed in an unwinnable position at any time. But in this game, it usually feels like I am responsible for the mistake, not things outside of my control. This is a good one.
1. Horizon Chase Turbo (2018)
Really this game is the reason why I made this post and is clearly, in my opinion, the best arcade racing game available at the moment (more on that below). This is a love letter to the arcade racing games of yesteryear. It plays as good as you remembered fast food tasting as a kid.
The races vary in length (usually 3 laps) and in each race you generally have to go a little but out of your way to collect fuel tokens to ensure that you don't run out of gas. There are many, many cars to unlock and each car feels different to drive - some cars let you hold down the accelerate button from start to finish, while others give you a lot more speed but require you to take the turns a bit more carefully. Plus there is a boost mechanic too (equivalent to a mushroom boost in Mario Kart), and each car has different boost strength.
The core game includes a 100+ race campaign across the continents of the world. Finishing (and preferably winning) races is the main way to progress the campaign, however there are also coins to collect in each track. Collecting every coin and winning a race will give you a "super trophy", which gives you the most points towards unlocking the next set of races. It is a surprisingly compellable campaign to complete (even if it gets a little bit easy towards the end if you play with an upgraded car), and getting those super trophies can be really tough. But there is also a regular grand prix mode, and a challenge mode (called adventure mode) for each car you unlock. Plus multiplayer. Unlike most other games on this list, there is a ton of content.
The synthwave/electronic soundtrack is incredible too. It was composed by Barry Leitch (who did the OST for Top Gear on the SNES) and I enjoy listening to it even outside of playing the game. I wish there were a few more tunes, because they do get a little bit repetitive.
Graphically, the game does look a little bit basic with its simple, blocky visuals. However, they have a certain charm to them, and the basic graphics allow the game to run consistently at 60 fps (and I think even higher on other platforms). It feels like you are driving fast when playing this game.
A minor annoyance for me is that I picked up this game on physical cart, and learned that the DLCs available on the eShop are incompatible with the physical cart for some reason. And although I really like the game, I don't like it enough to buy it twice just so I can play the DLCs.
Tragically, however, this game will be delisted from all digital storefronts from 1 June 2026 this year (I think it has something to do with the developer being acquired by Epic Games). So if you don't already have it, get this game while you can.