Best Racing Game of 2024 - Article
by Craig S , posted on 09 January 2025 / 2,080 Views
An even mix of established IPs and experimental new releases made our shortlist for Best Racing Game this year. The former is represented firstly by Codemasters' long-running series that shadows the F1 season, and secondly by Milestone's slightly more niche MotoGP that does the same thing for motorcycle racing. The latter are represented by slightly more zany titles that take inspiration from two incredibly popular games from other developers: Turbo Golf Racing, which combines elements from Rocket League and golf; and Nightmare Kart, which is a fan-made love letter to Bloodborne and retro karting games. But which will come out on top: a meme dream team or a sturdy workhorse?
The Shortlist:
MotoGP 24
F1 24
Nightmare Kart
Turbo Golf Racing
The Runner-Up:
Nightmare Kart
Whether it's for the memes, eternal desperation for a Bloodborne remaster/remake/sequel, or just because the game is good old-fashioned fun, Nightmare Kart is our runner-up for Best Racing Game of 2024. The Bloodborne-inspired fan game Nightmare Kart treads a fine line between homage and copyright infringement, as players race through a PS1 style Gothic world in kart genre style, but with a few added gameplay twists to make it much bloodier and a little bit more intricate. Sadly, for the time being at least, this free-to-play kart racer remains the closest thing to Bloodborne on PC.
The Winner:
F1 24
Solid reliability won out in the end. F1 2024 marks the 16th yearly release in a row for Codemasters' F1 series, buttressed by the real-life sport's growing popularity in that same timeframe. Despite largely being limited in terms of tracks and cars by the F1 season, Codemasters has nonetheless managed to deliver a great racing experience year after year, making continual refinements to the visuals, gameplay, and features, as well as introducing brand new modes & scenarios, all of which keep fans coming back for more.
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Am I allowed to be sad that there are only 4 on the list and 2 are licenced properties? Good or not. The genre feels like it needs something. What is on the horizon (pun intended)? Could do with a good new arcade racer.
honestly one of the worst years in gaming for me.
2025 is currently looking poor for racing games, though 2026 could be good if things release as expected.
MarioKart 9...can't think of anything else. Wasn't there a new Sonic racer shown at TGA a few weeks ago?
For 2026 there's likely to be Wreckfest 2, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, possibly a new Mario Kart like you say, and probably the new Crazy Taxi. We'd be due a new Forza of some sort by then too, unless there's a 2025 release.
Bloodborne Kart is the best lol it ain't even a real game
The F1 games have gotten progressively worse since 2021.
What an embarrassing year for racing games it must've been for F1 24 to win...
i watch almost every F1 race, sad this is the so-called best racing game of 2024
They're good games - the main problem is not enough changes from one year to the next to justify annual releases, especially in terms of tracks. The story modes felt like an attempt to combat that but who the hell wants a story mode in a racing sim game?
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