The racing genre has always captured the attention of both hardcore gamers and casual fans alike. Of course, fighting games, shooters, and RPGs are constantly changing and evolving, and racing games have had to follow suit to mixed results.
Sometimes a gaming studio will take a risk that might not quite pay off. Nonetheless, the company has tried something new that may ultimately influence its future products down the line. Despite the long-term benefit of a misstep, some truly awful racing games haven't quite lived up to the name of the franchise or indeed matched its competition in the market.
Need For Speed: Payback (2017)
The Need For Speed franchise has certainly had its ups and downs. While it might not have thrived as a big-screen spectacle, for the most part, it has done a good job of entertaining audiences on consoles. That is until Payback.
It seemed that the developers just put far too much on their plate. Trying to adapt to a changing generation of consoles, linking this to open-world gameplay, and also trying to revolutionize the mechanics themselves, this failed to really deliver on any front, disappointing hardcore fans.
Test Drive Unlimited (2006)
The Test Drive series has gone through a great number of evolutions throughout its time. However, the ninth game in the series looked to try and reinvent the wheel a little by expanding its roster of cars and building out its free-roam- open-world gaming experience.
Unfortunately, despite the positive reviews at the time, the game really hasn't aged well. It all comes down to the mechanics and physics of the driving itself. At some points, it was almost maddening to get the vehicle under control and has certainly been surpassed by its sequel. However, since this franchise is making a comeback with Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, fans are hoping that it can be redeemed.
Ferrari: The Race Experience (2011)
Just because the name Ferrari is attached to something, it doesn't mean the end result will be as sleek as the cars they manufacture. As the Ford and Ferrari story continues to be a hit on-screen, it's certainly relevant to look at a flop from the car brand.
Supposedly glamourous and stylish, this game was flawed from the start thanks to its poor graphics. There was absolutely nothing smooth about this driving experience and what could have been a good game was ruined by its visuals.
Pac-Man World Rally (2006)
Pac-Man really is an iconic character in the gaming world, but the brand itself is relatively limited. Now and again, Namco tries to push the franchise in a new direction, reinventing what fans already know about Pac-Man's world.
World Rally was an example of this, but it didn't deliver in the way many would have expected. Acting like a Mario-Kart rip-off, originality wasn't exactly the name of the game here. What's more, the Pac-Man character just didn't work in the racing genre and produced a predictable, un-focused game.
Fast And The Furious: Showdown (2013)
It made a lot of sense to develop a racing game based on the well-known movie franchise. After all, the films are known for their expensive cars, fast-paced action, and gripping storylines. Surely the games could replicate this success?
Unfortunately, what it did succeed in doing instead was frustrating players, giving them an experience that was a far cry from what they had witnessed on screen. The game had some interesting features, including co-op battles against offline opponents, but the execution from the handling to the graphics just wasn't there.
M&M Kart Racing (2007)
Basing a game off of M&Ms isn't the best start really. Immediately, it becomes clear that this is less about the gaming experience and more about selling more chocolate. What's more, racing games don't have a great history on the Wii and this did not change that opinion.
There's little to no variety in the gameplay options, with few tracks to race on and the graphics alone were enough to deem this as seemingly unplayable. The one saving grace perhaps is that kids could easily interact with this game without too much difficulty.
Motorbike (2013)
Heavily advertised for PlayStation platforms, it's a surprise that Sony wanted to market this game at all. At the time, it had terrible reviews, and years on this racing game is still no better received. It did boast one unique feature though.
The concept was that players could actually design their own tracks to race on. The crazier the track, the more impossible it was to actually steer the motorbike through it. Indeed, what could have started as some kind of crazy Thunderdome-like experience from Mad Max featuring wacky vehicles, ended up as a forgettable flop.
Yaris (2007)
Where to begin with Yaris. It's hard to know what the plan was here, as Castaway Entertainment and Backbone Emeryville sought out the Toyota license to try and create a memorable gaming experience on the Xbox Live Marketplace; one that would ultimately help sell cars.
The end game for this was an experience that saw a static car get pushed through endless tunnels, fighting intergalactic threats. The series of choices made during the development of this game was so bizarre that the cars chosen came across as hilariously designed science fiction vehicles that were ill-equipped for their situation.
Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing (2003)
The era this was released will certainly help to explain why this racing game was as bad as it was. The technology just wasn't there at the time for the developers, (Stellar Stone) to really achieve what they were looking for. The result was a clunky mess that felt a lot more difficult to play than it would have been to learn how to drive a big rig.
The game of course had its fun moments and allowed for some truly wacky racing sequences and maneuvers, but it ultimately didn't deliver on what it promised, with critics absolutely panning it on release. It's still one of the worst-rated games on aggregate sites.