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Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

In the second part of our article series, "Racing Dreams", we check out the ten best party racing games of all time.

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10. Rock n 'Roll Racing (Mega Drive / Super Nintendo)

Today, of course, Blizzard is best known for World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Overwatch, but once upon a time, a bunch of years ago - they made a name for themselves with help of the party racing game Rock n 'Roll racing, where four Mad Max-inspired off-road vehicles ran around on small narrow tracks to the tunes of, among others, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. It wasn't super great and wasn't super fast, but the game mechanics were brilliant and the framing was just perfect.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

9. Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled (PS4 / Xbox One)

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Crash Team Racing was released on PlayStation in 1999 and was a very pleasant surprise and perhaps the best Mario Kart clone at that moment, well bar Diddy Kong Racing. Exactly 20 years later, Activision offered a lavishly created remake that stands out as one of the most successful party racing games in recent years. Crash Team Racing requires more skill than almost all family-focused kart titles, as it goes lightning fast and is brilliantly presented and therefore this ends up, in our ninth place.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

8. Wrecked (Xbox 360)

From the people behind the indie hit Mashed, and who once developed Micro Machines and Micro Machines II on behalf of Codemasters, Wrecked for the Xbox 360 was buggy and unstable, but at the same time it was absurdly addictive when played with three friends. A perfect mix between well-balanced track design, just the right racing pace in relation to the game mechanics and fun weapons made this a timeless party classic.

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Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

7. Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64)

How many people remember that white powder that filled the little cup around the analog joystick on the Nintendo 64 controller? For our part, most of that crap was produced when we played the absolutely brilliant party racing game Wave Race 64, which for its time was innovative and contained water physics that had never been seen before. Nintendo unashamedly succeeded in mixing speed, skill requirements and pure multiplayer madness in a cocktail that stands out as one of their best games in all categories. Too bad the sequel was relatively pale and that Wave Race was soon forgotten after that.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

6. Super Mario Kart (Super Nintendo)

Today, the original Mario Kart does not offer all that much entertainment, but at the peak of its existence it was absolutely incredible. It gave us plenty of new features and the battling part was of course such a unique idea that it is still a permanent part of the Mario Kart series.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

5. Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo 64)

Once upon a time, Rare was that studio that in many ways drew limitless amounts of inspiration from Nintendo's own games, and turned it into something fantastic. Donkey Kong Country, Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing were clear, obvious proofs of this and as a party kart game, it's hard to deny Diddy a place on this list. Top notch playability and timeless track design made this an instant favourite.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

4. Mashed: Fully Loaded (Xbox / PS2)

The small six-man team of Xplosiv Games took the success of 2004's party games and loaded it with twice as much content in what we consider to be the fourth best party racing game of all time, and a title we still miss today. That super-slippery ice rink, which basically only consisted of two eternally long straight stretches and two tight hairpin curves, stands out as the party racing track we at Gamereactor spent the most time on, and thus something we have tons of wonderful game memories about.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Wii U / Switch)

It is now just over eight (!) years since Mario Kart 8 was first released and despite this, it feels just as fresh today as it did in 2014, which says a lot about this masterpiece. The deluxe version on Switch is of course the best edition of Mario's eighth karting party and we here at Gamereactor play it regularly, still - always. The basic concept that a five-year-old can drive in the game without problems and have fun in the 50cc class while at the same time it can challenge fanatical sim racers with its ingeniously tricky focus on drifting, assembling corners and finding shortcuts, makes it our clear third here.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

2. Micro Machines II: Turbo Tournament (Mega Drive / Super Nintendo)

Codemaster's old Mega Drive classic (whose cassette housed two extra controller inputs, which made this game the 16-bit series' undoubtedly premier party game) still stands today as iconic. While hopelessly difficult and remarkably varied, this game offered fine-tuned game mechanics and brilliant track design, making it our easy number two.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games

1. Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)

Our top party racing game. Battling in Mario Kart 64 with three friends, stands out as one of the best party game experiences of all time. To zoom around the Battle Track "Block Fort", to try to get to the top of the different coloured towers to get a meaningful overview of where the other three players were, to then surprise attack them by leaping to the ground while firing a shell in the air, is something that no game of this type has since managed to top. It's undisputed.

Racing Dreams: The 10 best party racing games


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