The top 50 best ever driving games: 40-31

Ah, how times have changed. While modern releases have us pilfering cars from old ladies and launching them off bridges into helicopters full of kittens, back in the ‘80s games came complete with a sense of social responsibility. None more so than this arcade classic, which saw you assume the role of officer Tony Gibson, a noble cop in a Porsche 928 who loves nothing more than pursuing nefarious characters through 16-bit metropolitan landscapes and ramming into them until their vehicles burst into flames. Truly wholesome stuff.

That’s right - not even the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time was immune to the lure of a tasty endorsement deal, but at least Senna chose a strong game to attach himself to. While nobody can realistically expect a faithful F1 sim from a 16-bit cartridge, ASSMGP2 stuffed in plenty of realistic features that put it ahead of the pack, like slipstreaming and speed variations on hills. You could also, if you fancied, celebrate your victory by running over the chap with the chequered flag, who would be launched into the lower stratosphere still valiantly waving the thing. That's commitment to your profession right there.

What the hell happened to all the British touring car games? This particular series grew up to become Race Driver: Grid, so we’ll let it off, but it’s a gap that really ought to have been filled by now. Most likely it’s down to the sport’s lack of international appeal, which is fair enough, although quite why gamers in France, for example, wouldn’t relish the unique opportunity to sling a Vauxhall Vectra around Thruxton or Donington Park, we really don’t know. That said, we’d probably never play a game based on racing hollowed-out baguettes around the Eiffel Tower, either.

From the moment Grand Theft Auto 3 introduced the world to the hitherto unexperienced joy of launching a family saloon off the top of a multi-storey car park, ‘open-world’ became the new primary objective of just about every game developer in the land. TDU made more of the free-roaming concept than most, dropping you on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu with loads and loads of expensive sports cars. The single-player game was fun enough, but it was the always-connected multiplayer mode (in which you could challenge any passing chump to a race) that made this a bona fide weekend waster.

If you vaguely remember a small-scale riot taking place at your local arcade sometime in 1989, chances are it was something to do with the release of this preposterously ambitious stunt sim. One of the first games ever to feature a polygon-based 3D environment, Hard Drivin’ also boasted a number of pioneering touches for the racer genre, including action replays, a clutch gearbox (yep, this was an arcade game that you could actually stall) airborne physics and off-road shortcuts.

It also featured a box-body truck performing a full loop-the-loop. A dramatic feat you would usually discover, to your fiery dismay, as you were already half way around said loop-the-loop. All this in a game released the year before the internet was invented.

The next time you’re shooting a horror movie and you need a character to weep realistic tears of blood, just sit them down for a half-hour session with this dazzlingly fast-paced racer. Unquestionably the best-looking of the PlayStation’s launch titles, this retina-troubling treat shunned wheels altogether, plonking you instead in the driver’s seat of anti-gravity hovercraft thingy in the year 2052. We can only hope the game represents an accurate projection of the future of motorsport - floating F1 cars that fire rockets would be sweet.

Not a TV talent show for aspiring pirates (Arr Factor? Like The X Factor? Never mind), but in fact one of the most painstakingly crafted (and tragically overlooked) racing simulations of all time. A PC-only release didn’t do much for the game’s image, but the fact that the developers had previously produced both official F1 games and simulators for the military meant that its technical detail was unprecedented, lending an instinctive feel to car physics and handling. Despite the transferrable skills, though, good luck trying to pass off an eight-hour session as ‘productive’.

The stroke of genius, though, was creating the game as a platform for fans to introduce their own cars and circuits. Cue a zillion gloriously unofficial recreations of every racing series from contemporary Formula One to 1980s rallycross. It was (and remains) a simulation all-you-can-eat buffet where the plate's your PC hard drive.

While it could never hope to dethrone Mario Kart 64 in the multiplayer stakes, DKR’s brilliantly innovative single-player adventure mode was a friendless gamer’s dream come true. There were hovercraft and planes to master as well as karts, and boss battles to break up the rounds of rocket-flinging, powersliding chaos.

And if you were lucky enough to have three mates and enough of those bafflingly claw-shaped N64 controllers, the variety of vehicles made a refreshing multiplayer change from flinging friendship-ruining red shells at each other around Luigi Circuit.

Born in an age when racing games were becoming steadily more sophisticated, Destruction Derby offset a wave of sensible simulations with a welcome blast of vehicular anarchy straight out of Wimbledon dog track.

Sure, all the circuits were entirely flat and there were only two game modes to get stuck into (we don’t believe anyone actually bothered with the solo time trial, therefore refuse to acknowledge it) but from the moment we felt that first massive crunch of metal in the arena-based derby and watched black smoke billowing out of a hobbled rival, we were hooked. If only they’d put some caravans in it.

Spend too long thinking about how they ever managed to get a game this good-looking into a device the size of a KitKat and you’re liable to turn your head inside out, so our advice is to simply download, kick back and enjoy the best handheld racing game ever made. Built on the Gran Turismo/Forza model of buying cars and entering events (enabling you to buy even more cars), the latest version features a ton of real-world tracks including Silverstone and Brands Hatch, which are best navigated using accelerometer-based steering. Prepare for some odd looks when playing on public transport as you lean into Paddock Hill Bend and also directly into the neighbouring passenger's personal space.