In case you missed it, recent reports suggest that Microsoft/Xbox has likely cancelled future Forza Motorsport titles (effectively ending the series), following massive layoffs that affected around half of Turn 10’s staff.

Its not a series I played, like most I think I opted for the Horizon series, but its still more sad news in a line of layoffs recently.

So, I decided I might just make a tiny list of a few games which haven’t sold massive amounts, aren’t AAA, and have few reviews.

Fair warning though, as ever I love to include a ton of pictures and GIFs in my posts. This one is no exception. One issue is if you’re using the Boost for Lemmy app. My posts tend to slow scrolling to a glitchy mess, so if you’re interested enough…maybe opt for your browser to read through instead? Or another app, I guess.

I know it’s not what I typically post here, but…it’s an easy write up…even if its a niche problem (finding car games to play!). If you know of any, or have enjoyed some and want to recommend, please comment them!

Anyway, let’s start with the first one:

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Art of Rally:

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To start with I’ll have to mention Art of Rally. I’ve ranted about this for so long now, you’ll no doubt have already read through me trying to convince you to play. But, let’s do it all over again. It’s so good.

Set in the ‘golden era’ of racing: from the 60’s to the 80’s in a kind of alternate universe – if the infamous and incredibly dangerous ‘Group B’ never ceased.

Group B itself was a class in the World Rally Championship (WRC) that existed from 1982 to 1986, and was infamous for being both the most spectacular and the most dangerous era in rally history. They’d find literal fingers, hair, blood splatters in their vent grates and stuck in their cars when the races were finished…because no rules were in place for the spectators. None.

Group B allowed the car manufacturers to use just stupid barely tested technology and push performance limits with minimal regulation. The cars just had the most lightweight materials, turbochargers, superchargers, and four-wheel drive, producing up to 600 horsepower (more than many modern supercars). Their own rules required only 200 road-going models, making it easy for manufacturers to develop near-prototype race cars.

In the end they were extremely fast, but safety measures couldn’t keep up. Tracks were narrow and lined with crowds of unprotected spectators, and co-drivers had to rely on pace notes at breakneck speeds. Crashes were frequent and often fatal.

This YouTube video is amazing and really should be watched, just so you get a snapshot of how dangerous and unsupervised this all was.

Anyway, that’s the history behind the setting. Now to the game.

Race in the golden era of rally. Drive iconic cars from the 60s to Group B on challenging stages through stylized environments inspired by real worldwide locations. Will you master the art of rally?

It’s a minimalist game. Super stylized environments and landscapes, the art design is bright simple and colorful, with over fifty ‘iconic’ rally cars (their own takes on them though, not at all licensed), rally driving tricks (Scandinavian flick, counter steering, left foot braking, handbrake turns) and maps like Germany, Japan, Norway, Australia, Indonesia (some are DLC).

I love how its open for simple beginners all the way up to incredibly detailed technical expert racing. I love how has a top-down perspective, not the typical racing style.

The music is beautiful, and its such a complete independent game. If you regularly claim the Epic Games free PC games each week then you’ll have the base game in your library already. But it is on regular sales too, with -40% off on Steam currently!.

It’s a game that very much reacts to your touch and movement. Much like a real rally car, you’re going to be feeling that sensation of needing to react quickly, or trying your best to wrestle that steering to either direction, or quickly having to tap the break. And that handbrake is where you’ll be dialing in those hairpins and perfecting that Scandinavian ‘flick’.

To me its the atmosphere. The setting, the colors, the foliage and hills, sky and how cheerful it all is makes this game such a beautiful one. I’ve played so much of it, and if you’re looking for a racing/rally/automotive game you might have missed alongside the typical AAA offerings, then choose this one!

• The ProtonDB page for Art of Rally – where you can check Linux/Steam Deck performance ratings from community members

• Their website

• The link to the game on GOG

The developers also have another automotive-based game coming:

Explore the world in the golden age of offroading. Drive iconic vehicles from the 60s to 80s by yourself or with friends through challenging trails and beautiful scenery.

Here’s the link to that one, called ‘Over The Hill’

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Drive Rally:

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Drive Rally released their 1.0 after being in Early Access not so long ago. This was one of those games you’d be forgiven for actually buying in E.A. though, since it was so damned complete (much like Hades 2, or Selaco feel for example).

One Caveat, there’s a hashtag before ‘Drive’ in the game’s title…but that is used for formatting on Lemmy so I’m just leaving it off for this little one.

DRIVE Rally is an arcade-inspired rally-driving experience set in the golden racing era of the ‘90s. Grab your co-driver and burn some rubber on iconic race-winning cars across a variety of terrains in some of the most iconic rallying locations in the world!

Far less sim, or precision-based, and far more forgiving, this one’s just fun - and feels the most ‘arcadey’ of the ones I’ll cover here. It’s more of a retro-inspired look to it, kinda reminding you of the PS1/PS2 days but without that heavy pixel-ish look to everything.

You can dial down the ‘wackiness’ on the voices of your co-driver/navigator (I recommend you do this), if you’d prefer it to be a little more serious. By default they have a humor to them, and a distinct voice style. Or you can keep it all the way up, totally up to you!

I like how this game makes me feel like I’m not fighting my car, that I am in control and it’s not punishing me for mistakes. Some people don’t like this, but I just like to think of it as a fun arcade racer – keep my serious racers for other times.

The usual suspects are here: car customization, fun locales which have their own unique feeling, there’s a heap of fun easter eggs from the genre and the history of racing games.

There’s constant updates, and you can see the devs care about keeping their game feeling fresh. I do know from an early point they really did listen to the community in Early Access, and changed the game according to some issues raised. So that’s always nice to see.

It’s on sale as a part of both the GOG and Steam Summer Sales right now, too, with -30% off right now:

• Link to the GOG store page here

• Link to the Steam store page here

• Their official website for the game

• Trailer for the 1.0 release from 2 months back on YouTube

If you just want a fun, arcade rally game that rewards you for races (unlockables), and doesn’t make you stress on every turn and decision, this one is a perfect buy. I really recommend it!

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Old School Rally & Rush Rally 3:

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Both of these games are very similar, if not in the gameplay, in execution. They’re attempting to take you back to the PS1/arcade game era of rally racers, but with modern controls (and sensibilities, too). One is extra-heavily pixelated to make you think of the Colin McRae series of games.

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Old School Rally:

“Carefully crafted retro style visuals, reminiscent of the late '90s rally games full of nostalgia and charm”

“With a variety of rally tracks from around the globe, race across different surfaces such as dirt, tarmac and snow and challenge your driving skills.”

“Choose from a diverse lineup of rally cars inspired by the legends of the past, each with unique characteristics and features.”

“Challenge other drivers from around the world and climb to the top of the leaderboards. Ready for more? Try to get all the achievements over the course of the game.”

To me this one’s a great Steam Deck game. There’s a fun balance between pure arcade gameplay, but with more to it if you want to invest your time in it. I’ve noticed the reviews tend to mention the excellent music…and they’re very right on that one.

If you’ve nostalgia for the PS1 era racing games, obviously the McRae series, then this is a must have for you.

• Old School Rally official website

• Official trailer on YouTube

• Platinum Rating on ProtonDB with one review stating: “90 FPS, 7.5-8 W TDP with 7+ hours of gameplay easily with a full charge.”

• Steam Listing here with a ‘Very Positive’ rating from 1,186 reviews.

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Rush Rally 3:

Less pixelated and intentionally PS1-ish than Old School Rally is, this one still is in the same vein. Created by a single dev, it’s amazing how deep the game feels. To me the ‘rougher’ areas, are the tracks and lanscapes, but the vehicles seem to be far more polished for the player – even giving you a pretty comprehensive set of options to customize the cars to your liking:

There are online features (leaderboads and multiplayer), unique weekly live events, a dev who cares deeply about suggestions and is constantly making adjustments and changes to how things run and look based off player feedback. I love how dedicated the dev seems to this game, you can tell they love racing and rally.

“60 FPS racing (120+fps on supported devices) at night or day in the rain or snow! Over 100 new and unique stages each with different surface types including snow, gravel, tarmac and dirt! Race with one of the best car dynamics models to date, including real time vehicle deformation and damage, built from over 15 years of experience.”

“Race with your favourite controller, all fully configurable including full force feedback wheel support!”

• Again, platinum rating on ProtonDB, though this time there’s only one review left for it

• The dev mentioned on Steam that they’re done extensive Steam Deck testing to make sure it runs as well as can possibly be expected

• The Steam page for the game, with a -70% off price currently

• No official trailer is on YouTube, but a ton of great review videos are there, with everyone stunned by how great the game is

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Japanese Drift Master (JDM):

You might have seen this one, while it’s still kinda under the radar compared to most games (with only 2,457 total reviews on Steam), it turned some heads before release because of the setting and presentation.

Drifting in Japan. Story told through the pages of manga. Clearly very inspired by recognizable, real life locations. Licensed cars. Euro-beat. DRM-free?

It ticked so many boxes that racing fans have, but the main one is being set in Japan. Horizon fans have been clamoring for the game to be set in that country for many iterations now, so this kinda felt like…the next best thing?

JDM: Japanese Drift Master combines realistic, carefully-tuned physics in a simcade experience that’s as smooth on a controller as it is with sim racing hardware. Tackle hundreds of kilometers of open-world roads and uncover story-driven events and quests along the way. Hone your drifting skills, perfect grip races, take on challenges, and feel the thrill of authentic Japanese street racing.

This game is far more…‘sim’ than the others I’ve covered so far. While of course it’s still accessible to those who don’t want to take it super duper seriously, you can see this one’s aimed more at those who want to play the game as a drifting simulator.

Experience the automotive culture of Japan and discover the roads where drifting was born.

It’s very, very pretty. The detail in the environments and the cars is really impressive. The music is incredibly moreish and I did keep going back to this game. What gives me pause in the end is that I don’t feel much like their market. I’m less into sim-racing and more into fun arcade racing. Performance is not the best, more suited to higher end systems (which is why I played on desktop, rather than any of my handhelds, though it did perform and look nice on my Legion Go), with the usual Unreal Engine 5 hiccups.

The devs keep updating the game regularly, the map/roads are amazing, really I’d put it up there with any Gran Turismo title.

If you’ve any interest in a serious racer, with a less-serious story, beautiful locations and want to try something a little different, then this game is an easy recommendation.

• Here is the launch trailer, which is on YouTube

• Their official website, which has a lot of nice info on the game

• On sale on Steam right now, this is the link to the page. -25% off, but it does end soon!

• Also on sale on GOG, with the same -25% discount, but this sale will probably end by the time you read this, idk. This is the link to the GOG page!

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Emulation:

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Of course, if you just emulate, then you’re going to get the best of the best from every preceding era to play through.

• The old Colin McRae games (if you use something like DuckStation then you can even upscale to a crazy degree, add shaders and then use RetroAchievements to make it feel amazingly modern!)

• Gran Turismo games

• In particular you can add the Gran Turismo Spec II mod to GT4 and have a massively upgraded experience, [this YouTube video will explain what it is and what it does (sounds, tracks, cars, camera views, menus, UI, it’s massive)

• All the WipEout titles, including WipEout HD/Fury for PS3 (works beautifully on the Steam Deck!)

…the list is obviously so extensive, over so many consoles and systems that I won’t go into super detailed details. I will say however, that I use my friends’ creation: RetroDECK to play them on my Steam Deck, and it works beautifully for this. The YouTube channel, Retro Game Corps covers RetroDECK in-depth, showing what it can do, the features and step-by-step how to install and configure it. The link to that particular video on YouTube is here if you want to check it out.

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This post is just a small one, and a bit of fun. I love racing games, and maybe you’ll find something interesting in here if you do also!

And again, if you’ve got suggestions for similar games, please leave them below!