Looking for Racing Games

[openroadracer]

I'm going to start this off by saying that I would have tried to make an account on and post this thread at the Rolling Start arcade racing game forum; but, if you read the link, it sadly turns out that the site is closing down. Hence why I'm instead asking this on a DooM forum...

So, I'm looking for racing games to play. But I'm looking for something specific. I don't want kart racing, I don't want "nuts & bolts" simulation, I don't want to worry about crew management or parts repair. But I DO want a system to tune my car for the track; but I want it to be simplified, as close to the likes of DiRT 2 or the old Rallisport Challenge as possible. In fact, speaking of DiRT 2, that's basically the kind of physics I want: riding the line between simulator and arcade, focused more towards excitement than realism, but requiring precise control and disciplined driving if you want to win.

As far as the setting and style, I'd really like to avoid any kind of inner city urban hip-hop import tuner games. I'd much rather race as far out into the wild as possible; rally games would certainly be appreciated. But I'd also like to see at least some on-road racers as well, especially if they feature both licensed cars and licensed tracks.

As far as event types, I'm all about speed. I played GRID 2 on X360, and I HATED the Haruna Kyojin events. I'd really like a game that simply doesn't have "Drift"/"Gymkhana"/"Stunt" events, and instead just focuses on being the fastest.

And lastly would be the soundtrack. I'll be blunt about it: The kind of racing game soundtrack I like is basically F-Zero X or the first two Jet Moto games. Blazing electric guitars, thundering drums; THAT is the kind of music that makes me want to stomp the accelerator.

So, does anyone have ideas? Preferably Steam games, too, if we can.

[leileilol]

Blur was the first game I thought of, but it's probably not it. It's also highly unobtainable

[openroadracer]

Blur was the first game I thought of, but it's probably not it. It's also highly unobtainable

Blur is definitely not it. I tried it in the past, and was very put off by it. Sorry.

[wildweasel]

For seemingly everything but the music, you might be into Forza Horizon 4, which is on Steam these days. And even then, it's trivial to mute the in game stuff and play your own.

[openroadracer]

For seemingly everything but the music, you might be into Forza Horizon 4, which is on Steam these days. And even then, it's trivial to mute the in game stuff and play your own.

I tried the first Forza Horizon on X360, and I found that it had the full suite of tuning settings as per the regular Forza Motorsport: ten million settings adjustable in nanometer increments.

If FH4 pares it down to DiRT 2's level(condense everything down into a simple handful of items with roughly five choices for each), I might be willing to test it.

[Reactor]

The game OutRun 2006 kinda fits the description. Although cars cannot be tuned, you can grab better and newer cars as you collect "miles". Its in-game songs are pretty nice, most of them are remixes of the classic OutRun games. Levels are very varied, and you can unlock 10 different endings, depending on your preferred route. It also has tons of mini-games and challenges. During the course, you can unlock new challenges, if you scored perfect on the previous ones (this is exceptionally difficult to do). Also, if you don't like the songs, you can replace'em with your own, if you have an OGG converter.
The only thing which is not OK wit' this game is the 15-stage continuous drive in OutRun mode. You don't get enough time restored at the checkpoints, so they're impossible to finish.

[Kappes Buur]

Many, many fullmoons ago I used to enjoy racing cars in Grand Prix Legends.
Tweak the cars to your hearts content, or leave them set to default.
Watkins Glen, Silverstone and, of course, the full Nürburg Ring were my favorite tracks.

I see that it was revived over the years.

[openroadracer]

The game OutRun 2006 kinda fits the description. Although cars cannot be tuned, you can grab better and newer cars as you collect "miles". Its in-game songs are pretty nice, most of them are remixes of the classic OutRun games. Levels are very varied, and you can unlock 10 different endings, depending on your preferred route. It also has tons of mini-games and challenges. During the course, you can unlock new challenges, if you scored perfect on the previous ones (this is exceptionally difficult to do). Also, if you don't like the songs, you can replace'em with your own, if you have an OGG converter.
The only thing which is not OK wit' this game is the 15-stage continuous drive in OutRun mode. You don't get enough time restored at the checkpoints, so they're impossible to finish.

Ah, OutRun 2006: Coast2Coast. I actually played that on the PPSSPP emulator. Should probably get that again.

Many, many fullmoons ago I used to enjoy racing cars in Grand Prix Legends.
Tweak the cars to your hearts content, or leave them set to default.
Watkins Glen, Silverstone and, of course, the full Nürburg Ring were my favorite tracks.

I see that it was revived over the years.

Again, please be aware that I'm not asking for something with a full "tune to your heart's content" level of tuning; just a DiRT 2-style system that has a single selection that covers the entire suspension system, a single selection that covers all of the gear ratios, a single selection that covers all of the vehicle's aerodynamics, etc. etc., and these options have a distinct lack of granularity, instead favoring simplicity.

[Kappes Buur]

Again, please be aware that I'm not asking for something with a full "tune to your heart's content" level of tuning;

For that very reason did I mention

...., or leave them set to default.

But I guess you missed that.

Left at default everything runs out of the box, no tweaking required.

[openroadracer]

Again, please be aware that I'm not asking for something with a full "tune to your heart's content" level of tuning;

For that very reason did I mention

...., or leave them set to default.

But I guess you missed that.

Left at default everything runs out of the box, no tweaking required.

See this post about why I've been so put off with the idea of getting into Forza Horizon.

I can't help myself. I must know what everything does, and that's more likely than not going to get my cars all FUBAR'd and undrivable. I'd rather stay clear of that...