Best racing games - the top racing titles that'll rev your engine

Forza Horizon 5
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studio)

The best racing games you can buy in 2023 are found across all major consoles and PC. Even beyond our list of highly recommended titles below, there's plenty to love about the racing genre at present. The sim racing scene is massive, and we're seeing tons of quality arcade-style racers from indie developers.

What’s more, racing games are great to play on your own and improve your speed and performance, but they’re also a fantastic way to have fun with friends – whether you’re in the same room or playing together online.

Although in the early days a blob of 8-bit pixels that vaguely resembled a Ferrari counted as realism, fast-forward to the present day and we’re spoiled for choice in how we get our high-speed kicks. 

With more detailed physics than ever, hyper-realistic graphics, and higher levels of immersion (thanks, in part, to the rise of VR). These are all features you’ll find when you play the top titles right now. But don’t worry, if you prefer your racing to be more arcadey and over-the-top, there's plenty out there for you too.

Best racing games in 2023

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Gran Turismo 7

(Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The best PS5 racing game

Reasons to buy

+
Super-fast load times
+
Brilliant adaptive trigger feedback
+
Runs like a dream

Reasons to avoid

-
Some underwhelming modes
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Online Sport mode quite restrictive
-
Daily rewards are rarely worthwhile

Gran Turismo 7 is an excellent upgrade over the PS4's Gran Turismo Sport, packing loads of content, cars and modes for sim racing fans to dig their driving mitts into. The game offers a sublime driving experience offline, with hundreds of cars and tons of tracks and layouts both real and fictional. Gran Turismo 7's solo experience makes it a contender for one of the best single player games out there, but also one of the best PS5 games full stop.

It isn't quite a perfect package, however. The online ranked mode is incredibly restrictive, offering just three races per week. The game's daily reward system rarely feels fair, landing you the least valuable prize nine times out of ten. We've also spoken about how its penalty system feels broken, often punishing players unfairly when other offending drivers should be at fault.

Overall, though, it's easy to pour tens, if not hundreds, of hours into Gran Turismo 7 thanks to its moreish progression. A recent update also greatly improved the game's physics model, meaning cars feel better to drive than ever.

Forza Horizon 5

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studio)
The best Xbox Series X|S racing game

Reasons to buy

+
Gorgeous, massive open world
+
A metric ton of cars to unlock
+
Tons of events and solo content

Reasons to avoid

-
Multiplayer features are unwieldy
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Wheelspins are a little too generous
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A bit too iterative

The fifth entry in Playground Games' open-world racing series, Forza Horizon 5 takes its festival to Mexico's plains, deserts, jungles and vibrant towns. It's an inspired and varied setting, carving an identity for itself next to the Australian beaches and outback of Forza Horizon 3 and the rolling British countryside and historical towns featured in Forza Horizon 4.

Forza Horizon 5 is one of the best Xbox Game Pass games available to download, offering buckets of compelling single player content, and a rewards system that practically showers you with all kinds of vehicles. While much more generous than the rewards of Gran Turismo 7, it's a bit of a double-edged sword. The game's Wheelspin system rewards cars at such a high frequency that you'll never get around to racing in all of them.

The fifth entry unfortunately cuts some amazing features from the previous game. Chiefly, the awesome seasons of Forza Horizon 4 that would change the map's appearance and traversal options are gone. This does make Forza Horizon 5's map feel a bit static in comparison.

Best Nintendo Switch racing game: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

The best Nintendo Switch racing game

Reasons to buy

+
Visually stunning
+
Tons of characters and tracks
+
Awesome soundtrack

Reasons to avoid

-
Occasionally lengthy load times
-
DLC tracks inconsistent in quality

The Nintendo Switch is relatively lacking in great racing games, with most being average-to-decent ports of games from other consoles or even Android systems. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doesn't have much competition, then, but even if it did it'll still come out on top.

In itself a port of Mario Kart 8 on the previous-generation Wii U, this game doesn't just stick a new name on an old game and knock off for lunch. New characters, tweaked graphics enabling 1080p/60fps output while the Switch is docked, and a reworked Battle Mode all contribute to this being a massive critical and commercial success, and one of the very best Nintendo Switch games you can buy.

A whopping six years on from release, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still receiving new content via the Booster Course Pass. The pass adds eight DLC tracks and new characters every few months, and will do so until the end of 2023. By the end of its run, 48 new and remixed tracks will be added, effectively doubling the amount of circuits in the game.

Best PC racing game: iRacing

iRacing

The best simulation racing game on PC

For PC-exclusive sim racing games, there's still no real competition to iRacing's goliath. 

The monthly subscription and additional content costs means its far from the cheapest racing game on the market, but in this case you absolutely pay for what you get.

There's excellent online play with solid matchmaking, laser-scanned real-world racetracks and the most realistic handling model possible – so much so that real race drivers use this sim to learn tracks, practice new cars and handling setups, or just to unwind between races. 

The game has been supported with consistent updates and new content, and despite being ten years old this year, there's still nothing that comes close for the most true-to-life sim racing experience in gaming.

Lego 2K Drive

(Image credit: 2K)
The best racing game for kids

Reasons to buy

+
So much content
+
Builder is fun and intuitive
+
Great racing model

Reasons to avoid

-
Microtransactions
-
Some repetitive progression

Lego 2K Drive is one of 2023's surprise hits. Coming almost out of nowhere, this spiritual successor to the Lego Racers series hits all the right notes. With an open world format clearly inspired by Forza Horizon (which in turn has had Lego-themed DLC campaigns), it's easy to get lost for hours exploring each hub and ticking off side objectives.

Of course, it wouldn't really be a Lego game without a degree of customizability. Lego 2K Drive delivers with one of the most robust vehicle builders we've ever seen. Players are able to build intricate vehicles from scratch, or follow preset instructions for a helping hand while building street cars, offroad monsters and speedy boats.

F1 23

(Image credit: EA Sports)
The best F1 racing sim

Reasons to buy

+
Braking Point campaign is brilliant
+
Accessible and customizable
+
F1 World progression is moreish
+
Highly accurate tracks

Reasons to avoid

-
No real visual upgrades
-
Terrible commentary
-
Buggy damage model

F1 23 is a strong return to form for Codemasters' long-running official racing sim franchise. The Braking Point campaign returns after a year off, and provides newcomers with an excellent hands-on tutorial while also serving a decently compelling narrative.

While Career mode options remain largely the same, it's added the all-new Las Vegas and Qatar tracks, as well as updates for all racing teams and their drivers. It's the most up-to-date F1 experience you can get on console and PC right now.

F1 23 is slightly let down by some issues carried over from previous years. Commentary is still incredibly stilted, the damage model can bug out occasionally and there's no real visual upgrades from F1 22. Overall, though, it's well worth any F1 fans time and money.

The best racing games - FAQs

What's the best racing game out now?

At present, the best racing game available on current-gen machines can be split three ways. And on each console, there's something for everyone. Gran Turismo 7 presents sim racing excellence on PS5. Forza Horizon 5 blends a nice mix of arcade-style racing and exploration on Xbox Series X|S. Lastly, the ever-popular Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is perfect for endless multiplayer fun on Nintendo Switch.

What upcoming racing games are the ones to watch?

Forza Motorsport is certainly the one to keep an eye on. Turn 10's return to the sim racing genre launches on October 10, 2023, for Xbox Series X|S and PC. It'll also release day one on Xbox Game Pass, so subscribers can download and play the game at no extra cost.

If you're looking for a little more action, we have a guide to the best fighting games. But, if you want something a little more general, we've got a list of the best Xbox Series X games, alongside the best PS5 games too. 

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