Summary
The street racing genre has piqued the interest of gamers for many years, as speeding through brightly lit streets at night while avoiding crashes by the narrowest of margins can give players a rush of adrenaline from the comfort and safety of their homes. Street racing games have gone through many changes over the years, most notably with how prominent online multiplayer is in recent releases, but the genre’s high-speed action and beautiful city locations remain in place.
For those looking to revisit some of the street racing genre’s greatest-ever releases, there’s no shortage of thebest street racing gamesever made. Achieving high speeds and overtaking opponents is exhilarating no matter how many times players experience this gameplay loop.
Updated on July 31, 2025 by Ritwik Mitra:The allure of street racing is something that can’t be put into words. Racing across busy streets and making high-speed overtakes without wrecking a car is a gameplay loop that never ceases to be engaging. Players will love acquiring the best cars possible to tackle tougher races and check out different competitions that reward skill, speed, and control in some form or another. Street racing games are pretty abundant, and as such, there are plenty more worthy of being added to this list.
Need for Speed Heat’s72 Metascore may strike some people as being surprisingly low, as many consider it to be one of the better titles in the rebootedNFSseries. There may be a fair bit of grind involved, but racing in both the day and night in a detailed open world never ceases to be entertaining.
Even with the release ofNFS Unboundattracting a ton of eyes toward the series,Heatstill holds a special place in the hearts of many. There really aren’t a lot of negatives to focus on once players get over the somewhat unjustifiable grinding.
The Crew Motorfestis a step in the right direction for Ubisoft’s racing series that more people need to check out. WhileThe Crew 2was fun in its own right, the long wait for a new game after its release made most people think that Ubisoft wasn’t prioritizing this series anymore.
So, the release of a new game that was a marked improvement in every way is something that many fans celebrated.The Crew Motorfestlets players explore a tropical landscape based on the islands of Hawaii, a great setting for some fun street racing shenanigans.
11Burnout Dominator
Metascore: 76
Burnout Dominatoris the first - but certainly not the last -Burnoutgame on this list. It’s also the only game in theBurnoutseries that was not developed by Criterion Games, as they were busy working onBurnout Paradise(more on that game later).
Development duties forBurnout Dominatorwere handed to EA UK, who didn’t shake things up too much, keeping the core gameplay very similar to previous entries in the series. EA UK did delight fans by bringing back an old feature, though, as “Burnouts” made a grand return.
The latestNeed for Speedgame may feature a grind that has angered many, but most people will get over it once they experience the fun racing action and cel-shaded visuals of what is easily the most visually creative racing game to have come out in a long time. Fans of the genre are so used to witnessing state-of-the-art carbon-copy visuals in their racing games that they didn’t know how to feel aboutNFS Unbound’sexperiments in this department.
Need for Speed Unboundmay have its faults, but fans of fun street racing action will have a blast with this game. The grind is the only negative in an experience that is perfect for fans of fun racing games that aren’t afraid to prioritize fun over realism.
Fans of tough racing games will love whatNeed For Speed Carbonhas to offer. It’s a shame thatgetting one’s hands on this title has become more challenging than ever before, but players who fork over the cash to get this title will love the racing goodness on offer here.
Racing at night is always a blast, andCarbondoesn’t disappoint in this regard. The act of hunting down rivals and beating them in cinematic canyon races never fails to be entertaining, makingCarbonone of the more underrated titles in theNFSseries that more people need to check out.
Due to the success of its predecessor,Need For Speed: Underground 2was a highly anticipated release. Thankfully, the game didn’t disappoint, offering a tremendous amount of race variations, such as Drag racing, Sprint race, and the newly included Street X mode. The game also featured great depth in its customization features, which let players spend hours adjusting and fine-tuning their vehicles.
Like its predecessor,Need For Speed: Underground 2also stands out with its memorable soundtrack, which features great songs from a wide range of genres.
Need For Speed: Most Wantedis an open-world racing game that takes place in a fictional city named Rockport and features a fleshed-out career mode where players compete against the city’s top 15 street racers. The game also significantly enhanced the fan-favorite police pursuits in Free Roam mode, making the chases far more complex and ultimately enjoyable than before.
Need For Speed: Most Wantedwas remade in 2012.Need For Speed: Most Wanted(2012) is also well worth playing and only narrowly missed out on this list.
Midnight Club 3: DUB Editionwas released in 2005 byGrand Theft Autocreator Rockstar Games. As would be expected from the iconic studio,Midnight Club 3: DUB Editionoffers players the chance to explore aUS-inspired open world.
DUB Edition Remixwas released just under one year after the originalMidnight Club 3: Dub Editionhit stores but implemented numerous new features, including new vehicles, new races, and the welcome return of Tokyo as a city to compete in.
5Burnout 2: Point Of Impact
Metascore: 86
The second entry into theBurnoutfranchise was released in 2002 and greatly improved upon its lackluster predecessor by not only fine-tuning the core driving mechanics but also by significantly fleshing out the amount of content available.
Among the most notable changes inBurnout 2: Point of Impactwas the addition of the “Crash” mode, which is now synonymous with theBurnoutseries. Although the mode may initially seem like nonsensical arcade fun, it actually offers fairlyin-depth puzzle gameplaythat requires both great driving skills and a well-thought-out strategy.
The penultimate release into the critically acclaimedBurnoutseries,Burnout Paradiseoffered anenormous open worldfor its time. The game’s open world is today recognized as being hugely influential in the prominent rise of open-world games, largely due todata revealing that players were favoring participating in the game’s social aspectsand simply exploring the game’s world rather than competing in events.
Along with an impressive Xbox 360 Metascore of 88,Burnout Paradisewas awarded Best Driving Game at the Spike TV Video Game Awards. The game received the remaster treatment in 2018, givingBurnout Paradisesome of the best visuals in street racing history.
