Ten Brilliant Racing Circuits

[nakamura]

Just for a bit of a laugh, I thought I would list ten of my favourite racing circuits in gaming. Some are real, most are not. Be interested to see what tracks others enjoy the most.
I thought about it when playing Ridge Racer DS and lapping the classic Ridge City track for what must of been well over 1000 laps worth.

Greenfield/Bayside Line.
Classic track from Ridge Racer and the alternate version in Ridge V. Easily my favourite racing circuit of all time having raced it over and over since 1993 and still not bored of it.

Ghost House 1.
Super fast, super shiny and a magnificent circuit from Super Mario Kart.

Suzuka Circuit.
The legendard racing circuit is a track I always loved but on Ferrari F355 Challenge it just feels perfect.

Brands Hatch.
Another classic real life track that is sublime to race in Need for Speed Shift and Toca 3.

C1 Ring.
Another circuit I have raced over and over. So many curves and plenty of places to open out. Inner and Outer both present very different challenges too. Best version is Shutokou Battle 0.

Forest Stage.
Second stage of Sega Rally presents a great challenge and some magnificent turns to encourage you to slide the car to the max.

Port Town 2.
The music helps but the twists and turns make this course hard to master. On master level, this F-Zero classic is still gruelling 22 years after it came out.

Deep Forest.
Brilliant Gran Turismo original track but the GT3 version gets my specific vote. It just has the nicest scenery and the best use of colour.

Motorplex.
My favourite track from Destruction Derby 2. Fast, dangerous and varied to keep it interesting.

Korodera.
Wonderfu, long and difficult. Pity this Wipeout track has never been used in another version of the game.

Anyone else care to list?

[charlesr]

Donnington Park in the original Touring Cars - amazing blind corners
Laguna Seca in Indycar Racing - the corkscrew
Every track in Rallisport Challenge 2
The hillclimbs in Forza - so good and the chance to drive down them too. Why on earth weren't these in the following Forza games? Tools.
Fatal Racing had some amazing tracks. One of them had a giant flipper that sent you into the game ceiling. Lovely loops and twists and physics defying fun.

[Fader209]

A few that spring to mind:

Big Blue Ordeal - F Zero GX - Hard to choose just one track from this game but this one mixes lots of the best elements of F Zero together.

Laguna Seca - GT3/Forza - Has always been a favourite of mine thanks to the corkscrew that will screw you over if you cork it up.

P Mar Project - Wip3out - Sweeping bends and an awesome drop off after a hill climb.

[redstar_dan]

One track that has always stuck in my head is from the old Need for speed game, back on the ps1. It featured a barn that you pass through. Also another track from the same game, where it had a steep downward S bend in the forest. Fantastic stuff.

Rainbow road had always stuck in my head from Mario Kart. As well as the classic battle stages from Mario Kart, such as the battle arena with water that you could bounce into between the barriers.

Diddy Kong racing had some crackers as well.

There was a superb loop the loop stage on Extreem G on the N64 and an awesome tunnel stage on rollcage generations I think.

There was a desert track on Starwars Lego racers that was great fun.

Unfortunately I don't know the names of most race tracks from games. I need to play more racing games.

[eastyy]

dont remember the name of the course but in stunt race fx for the snes had a impressive course where you drove through a underwater tunnel and saw dolphins i believe that was good

[shiffy]

In no particular order ...

Dinosaur Canyon (Daytona USA) -- one of my favourite "fantasy" racing tracks of all time.

Rainbow Road (Snes Mario Kart) -- Alwaysseeing just how much of those corners you could cut out by jumping & drifting.

Long Beach (Ferrari F355 Challenege) -- Arcade version, 3 screens, full 6 speed manual box with clutch & no assists. Trying to thread your car between the opponents & the walls was always great fun. Probably one of the most "claustrophobic" circuits in any racing game, second only to Monaco I guess (I'm sure someone will mention that as a "favourite" sooner or later). Only one experience beats Long Beach .. .(see next entry)

Suzuka (Ferrari F355 Chalenge) -- Arcade version played as above. One of the best racing experiences without going on a "track day"

Sebring Full Circuit (Forza) --- The almost perfect balance of long fast straights with a tight & twisty technical infield.

Maple Valley (Forza) -- I love the layout of this circuit. This track was made to push your car to limit. Good straights, long sweeping corners, bumpy, changes in elevation. This circuit has it all. Add that to the beautiful autumnal backdrop ... one of the best circuits in any racing game in my humble opinion.

Thruxton (Toca Touring Cars 1 PS1) --- Really like this track, easy to drive. But extremely difficult to get a perfect lap. Make the tiniest of mistakes and this track will really punish you. Fast & bumpy. I could spend hours trying to shave 100's of second off my best lap times on this

Fire Field (F Zero SNES) -- I still have nightmares about this track when played on the hardest difficulty setting!

Grand Valley Speedway (Gran Turismo) -- Really enjoyed the endurance races on this track.

Mugello (Forza) -- Another one of those tracks that just hits the sweet spot in terms of straights, hairpins & sweeping corners.

(I'm sure there are others, but that's all I can think of right now!)

[nakamura]

dont remember the name of the course but in stunt race fx for the snes had a impressive course where you drove through a underwater tunnel and saw dolphins i believe that was good

Aqua Tunnel!

[Sam The Man]

Great Thread Mart. Here are mine:

Dinosaur Canyon - (Daytona USA) - All the right bends, inclines & declines with nice scenery and the track length is just about perfect. Oh and did i mention Daaaaaaaaaaytooooooooonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa lets go away!

Aeropolis: Multiplex - (F-Zero GX) - An absolutely mental course in a good way. Banked straights, Vertical squared hairpin turns, jumps & a long upside down half oval straight. And to top it all off you have to avoid ice and gravel too!

Lightning: Thunder Road - (F-Zero GX) - Not as mental as Multiplex but still very cool. Some great 90 degree turns and some fantastic lightning track sections. The bumpy section after the jump is original and can cause problems for you if you try to boost. Also the long snake like boost section is situated on a wavy section of the track that if you go mad with the boost can send you airborne fairly easily.

Tahiti Maze - (Gran Turismo 2,3,4) - A great combination of tarmac and dirt but mostly dirt that features constant hairpin turns and nice slightly elevated and descending sections.

Mountain - (Sega Rally) some real challenging turns including a hairpin right that's difficult to take fast. Lovely winding twisting turns through the village afterward.

Cote D' Azur - (Various) Amazing course. Great climb after the first right hand turn and nice sweeping left that follows. I also love the slight descent before the tight right hander and then tricky hairpin left. The sweeping right hand turn through the tunnel is great, although i don't like the fact that they have narrowed it in real life. I like the scenery that follows exiting the tunnel and also some nice sharp turns later on in the course. It is in quite a few racing games nowdays but based on the one iv experienced i will go with GT4.

Suzuka Long Configuration - (Various) - Another iconic real life circuit. I love the snake like left, right, left, right after the 2nd bend and nice view of the wheel in the distance. Nice right hander before going under the bridge and a nice u bend left before getting on the throttle. And finally the right, left turns near the end of the track i love mainly because i have mastered taking them on pretty much every game that iv played Suzuka on.

Boulder Canyon - (Diddy Kong Racing) - Lovely location with some tricky tight bends as well as floating spinnig logs in the water that can block your advance. Love the short trip through the caves where it splits into two routes.

Seattle Circuit - (Gran Turismo 2,3,4) - Although not the most challenging circuit it features some Lovely angled bends as well as a rising straight where the real danger is getting airborne which can leave you in trouble when trying to take the right hander at the top.

Oceania - (Extreme G3) Another brilliant, creative and Mental course from possibly Acclaims finest game. And speaking of Aqua tunnels in racing games, this featured quite a few! The straight vertical climb into the big loop followed by the vertical drop into the tunnel beneath the ocean is brilliant and on higher speed classes will force you to break the sound barrier. I also love the exit from the tunnel under the water the 2nd time followed by the long arching straight and dive back down to just above the ocean surface as you can really pick up some speed. After watching the game on youtube i am reminded how good it was.

sos but i have to put an 11th in

Seaside Street Galaxy - (Daytona USA) A very long but enjoyable course that features two trips over the suspension bridge and a nice right hander after the underpass section that leads to a nice descent and right hander. The tight left hander at the end through the small harbor where the boat is tops the level off nicely.

It pisses me off that i couldn't get these courses in the top 10 which deserve honorable mentions: Siris Canyon (XG3), Pikes Peak Hill Climb (GT2), Grand Valley Speedway (GT1,2,3,4), Odessa Keys (Wipeout 2097), Chalk Canyon (Destruction Derby 2) and loads from Mario Kart Super Circuit and DS.

Also if SSX Tricky's courses can be counted as racing courses then a quite a few would be in my top 10. Definitely Mercury City and probably Alaska & Elysium Alps too.

[leem0184]

Three Seven Speedway: You can gamble, stare out Damon Hill and gaze lovingly at pre-crap Sonic etched into the mountain side. (Oh, it's a tidy racer too )

[Neon Ignition]

Aqua Tunnel in Stunt Race was immense, the first time I drove through the water on in-car view and droplets sprayed onto the screen was mind blowing. Such a tiny detail but years before its time.