Racing games are all aboutcrossing the finish line firstby any means necessary. After all, as they said in the Fast and Furious movies before they turned into superhero flicks, “Winning is winning.”
8 Best Racing Games With Drift Mechanics
Pfft, who even slows down around corners?
If you want to share that victory with a friend, your options are pretty limited unless you want to settle for first and second place. However,“limited” does not mean unavailable.
If you’re looking for a great co-op racing game, you may have to dig a little deeper than usual, but here’s a selection of bangers, including sometitles you may never have considered.
8Team Sonic Racing
The Blue Bolt Is Faster Behind The Wheel
Team Sonic Racing
Team Sonic Racingmay not have the same notoriety thatMario Kartdoes, but it’s asuperb fantasy racing gamewith plenty of nods to the classic Sonic platformers.
You can participate in Grand Prix with teammates, which areshort tournamentsfeaturing multiple tracks. You and your squad have to place pretty well to win, but it’s a great way to inject a team element into the game, and you can evenplay as a 3-stack. There’s a strong emphasis on drifting around corners, but the game feels different to other established kart racers.
Even the “Team Adventure” mode is playable locally as a group. Several mechanics are specificallydesigned for team playas well. You have Slingshotting, which is a fancy name for drafting. There’s also “Skimboosting” where you can blast past a slow teammate to give them a boost.
7Trackmania Turbo
Where Friendships Go To Die
TrackMania Turbo
Games likeOvercookedare famous forruining friendships, and you’re able to addTrackmania Turboto that list.
This odd design choice makesTrackmania Turboideal for playing with a lesser-skilled teammate, and the game has so many courses that you could play for days andnever play a duplicate track.
A Unique Co-Op Experience
Rally racing may be the last place you’d expect to find co-op gaming, butWRC 10 boastsone of the mostremarkable takes on team playI’ve seen in the genre.
Rally drivers are blind without their co-driversbarking directions and corner angles in their ears, and that’s precisely what you can do with a buddy if you play together.
One of you drives the car whilethe other relays headings and hazardsfrom the passenger seat. The co-driver must keep up with button prompts to keep the information flowing, and it isn’t easy to time your instructions with your friend’s racing skills.
5Need for Speed Unbound
The Latest In The Series
Need for Speed Unbound
Need for Speed Unboundis apolarizing entryin thestreet racing seriesthanks to its distinctive graphical choices andcel-shaded flares. I enjoy the aesthetics, but I totally understand why they aren’t for everyone.
If you’re after co-op racing, I hope you can tolerate them, asUnboundhas ateam-based system with its “Linkups.“When a Linkup event starts, a portion of the map is highlighted in green. Head there, and you can participate in team-based objectives where you work toward a common goal.
Some of the objectives are pretty fun, like drafting other racers, and Linkups are intense, as thepolice will not leave you alone.
The major caveat to Linkups is that you must wait for them to appear in the open world, which meansyou cannot choose when to participate. With this in mind,Unboundoffers a decent co-op mode, but not one you can reliably tackle with friends.
10 Best Open-World Racing Games
Sometimes it’s all about cruising in the city.
4Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The Kart Racing King
Mario Kart 8
Mario Kart 8is arguably thebest Kart racer on the marketand is even better with the premium Booster Course Pass.
Best of all,Mario Kart 8’s stacked offeringcan be enjoyed with friends, even if you don’t want to race head-to-head. The “Teams Mode” allows you to group up with a friend and pool your scores. It’s a great way to enjoyMario Kartwith lower-skilled friends, and withalmost 100 tracks, including the Booster, it’ll take days to race on them all.
There’s also a decent battle mode you can enjoy co-op if you want a break from traditional racing.
Beware,friendly fire is enabled, so spare a thought for your buddies before you start launching a barrage of Koopa shells down the tarmac.
3Horizon Chase Turbo
A Glorious Retro Throwback
Horizon Chase Turbo
If you’re a fan of classics likeOutrunor even old-school games likeLotus Turbo Challenge, you’ll adoreHorizon Chase Turbo.
Thisracing hidden gemwears itsretro inspirations on its sleevebut also has enough modern features that new audiences will enjoy it.Horizon Chase Turbomakes the list because it boasts aco-op split-screen campaign. It’s similar to the single-player World Tour mode, where you race in striking locales across the globe as races get progressively more difficult.
Scoring is changed to reflect multiple players, and you can even tackle Endurance mode together. The only limitation withHorizon Chase Turbois that co-op isrestricted to a local split-screen setup.
2Forza Horizon 5
The AAA choice
Forza Horizon 5
Forza Horizon 5is astunning racing gamethat appears on many of our lists as it does many things right.
Forza Horizon 5offers so manyfleshed-out racing disciplines and modes. Best of all, you can enjoy huge swathes of the game co-op,including the story mode. “Solo” missions can be beaten with up to 5 other players simultaneously, andeveryone is rewarded, regardless of where they place.
Playground Games manages to make co-op seamless inForza Horizon 5, and any progress you make transfers to your solo game and vice versa. If you want jaw-dropping graphics, licensed cars, and near-infinite modes, thanks toEvent Lab 2.0, this game cannot be beaten.
1CarX Drift Racing Online
A Different Kind Of Skill
CarX Drift Racing Online
I have a soft spot forCarX Drift Racing Online, as it’s a brilliantdrift racing simulatorwith unique game modesyou won’t find in other titles.
One of those is tailor-made for co-op and ismuch better with a friendinstead of randoms.CarXlets players partake in “Tandem Races” where the objective is to drive with a friend and keep your vehicles asclose together as possible.
You’re rewarded for precision driving, including bold drifts around corners, and the highest scores are reserved for teams that canglide around coursesmere inches from each other. CarX Tandem Racing can be pretty punishing, as you get nothing if you actually collide, but the mode boasts an impressively high skill ceiling that’s fun to master.
10 Best Racing Games With Story Modes
What’s a racer without any good story?
