50 Best Racing Video Game Tracks
From Gran Turismo to Mario Kart, these are the virtual circuits that've kept us coming back over the years.
Image via Complex Original
our favorite video game race tracks
Psychedelic Experience
Once you got the to the Joker Cup in the 64-bit remake of popular futuristic racer F-Zero, you found yourself gliding along a track with an awesome straightaway, a swooping right- and left-hander, and a crazy soundtrack bumping in the background. Seemed like vintage F-Zero...until we realized we'd played this same exact course in Mario Kart 64! The course was so nice, Nintendo had to code it twice. ArigatÅ!
Jungle
This track may seem super-simple, mostly because it is. Ain't nothing wrong with simplicity, ask Strunk and White. This low-stress circle track with some convenient power-ups along the way was the perfect respite for we tired kiddie gamers to rest our brains before we geared back up for Goldeneye.
Fuji
As soon as we saw the Speed Racer movie, we thought to ourselves, "God, please don't let them make a sequel." Then we thought, "But, yo, let them make a video game!" Thankfully, the game was way better than the movie, although most of what made the movie suck—cartoonish car stunts, wild tracks, stiff, silly, video-game dialogue—makes the game awesome. This track was one of those wild tracks. To say it's F-Zero-like should go without saying. We like futuristic racers. Sue us.
Rocky Pass
Compared to the first two installments, Need for Speed III showed a crazy improvement in car design, car control, and graphical detail. It showed that a PC car game could compete with the console racers that were emerging—and Rocky Pass was a memorable reason why, thanks in large part to random jumps and that little run-off that caused you to go straight Sonny Bono if you spun off the track and wound up in the grass.
Harborline 765
After Namco hopped on the drift wagon, they designed a bunch of the tracks in Ridge Racer 6 to allow for drivers to easily slide their cars around the corners—and nowhere was that easier to do than Harborline 765. And it didn't begin and end with the maneuverable corners; the track had plenty to offer for those who were too young to experience all that NoCal has to offer IRL. We speak, of course, of driving over bridges and through dark tunnels. What did you think we meant?
Shuto Expressway
One of Dreamcast's best launch titles, this game attempted to put racers directly in the world of illegal Japanese street racing. Piloting modified street cars, you got to compete against other unsavory dudes in souped up racers along different parts of the Shuto Expressway. Pretty fast and pretty damn furious.
Gridlock USA
Burnout didn't feature any real cars—or cars that even resembled real cars—but at least all its tracks were based on real-world locations. The Gridlock USA, loosely based on New York City, plotted a tricky and challenging course through the Big Apple. We're still waiting for a racing game to take us over the Brooklyn Bridge and let us race in Bed-Stuy. Nostrand Ave. straightaway FTW!
City
Ain't nothing like the original, right? Even though the courses were pretty simple and cars were basically blocks on top of blocks, the first NFS wowed us when it hit the scene. Our favorite track had to be the ever-so-imaginatively titled "City." Something about driving an exotic car through a locale that kinda resembled a highway that was kinda near where we lived made us smile.
Downtown
Admission: We love this game more than this track, but when Tokyo Highway Battle came out, we thought it was amazing. Between the soundtrack and the easy-as-shit-to-drift cars, it took up a majority of our days.
Super Speedway
We know what you're thinking: "Super Speedway?! That was just a big NASCAR oval!" Yeah, it was. But it was also the first time we could remember being able to drive all of our favorite cars on a NASCAR oval. Insanely quick straightaways and crazy banked turns? Count us, and our S-Class Benz, in.
Hyper Speedway
Hyper Speedway from Crash Nitro Kart was the perfect mix of crazy, spaced-out graphics, deadly turns, and fun loops and power-ups. It was so perfect, in fact, that it made you forget for a second that this game was a blatant, money-baiting, bite of Mario Kart. It's cool, though, we didn't know what the word "derivative" meant in ’03.
Airport 3
Burnout 2 brought more complex tracks to the franchise, but kept the signature naming system. Seriously, "Airport"? Nomenclature aside, the level let you run loose through a museum. Kidding! It was an AIRPORT. It was an awesome track that allowed those who learned all the turns and straights to hit crazy high speeds. Of course, nowadays, making it through a TSA checkpoint in less than an hour feels like "crazy high speeds." We love you, Homeland Security!
Maple Valley Raceway
Set in England's autumn, the Maple Valley Raceway is a beautiful 3-mile course with both 15 turns (to allow for some nice overtaking) and dope long straights (to allow for some nice top speeds). If only this was real—we'd love to see a GT 1 race on this course. Except it couldn't still be called Maple Valley Raceway, because that sounds like a colonial-New-England-themed amusement park. "Come to Maple Valley and ride the Lose Your Children to Famine and Cholera Express!"
Japan
DiRT 2 upped the ante in every possible way over the first installment: more cars, cooler drivers, and better detailed tracks. Tracks like "Japan"—a mix between dirt, gravel, and pavement that resembled a touring car track x MotoGT course. In other words, everything the X-Games rally event should be.
Entire World (Free Roam!)
Codemasters boasted that Fuel had the world's largest racing environment—which has to be right, since "the world itself" is prety much as big as you can get. Using an open-world style, you can take your ATV, motorbike, or car to the finish line using whatever way you think is fastest. Think hopping over a running stream would be better? Well, give it a shot. It's not like you're paying for gas.
Bay Bridge
Virtua Racer gave us one of our first real tastes of virtual racing. There were three levels—Beginner, Intermediate, and Pro—the most fun of which, of course, was intermediate. The happy medium gave you long straights, turns you could drift around without accidentally off-roading, and optional routes one certain stages of the course. That's next-level for a game made in 1994, people.
LA River
How many movies have you seen with cars driving through the LA River? And how many times have you thought, "Damn, that'd be dope!" The dudes behind Blur, Bizarre Creations,thought the same thing—so they built a faithful recreation of the famous landmark. You won't see any homeless vagrants, but you can attempt to fly off the sidewalls. We'll take it.
Mushroom City
Oncoming traffic, multiple road options, changing colors—this track has everything we look for in a kart track. We were going to give it the top spot...and then we played the game sober (apparently you can do that! Who knew?), and realized that it's juuuuuust fine right here at #33.
Smokey Mountain
Another great GT track. Want to get comfortable with a car you've been tuning? Work it out on this short mountain course. Sweeping turns, great elevation changes, and unforgiving stages (no run-off = veer and you crash) made it a Gran Turismo favorite.
Grand Valley Speedway
This Gran Turismo staple appeared in damn near every installment of the series because it's just that dope. And we're not just talking about the challenging right-hand hairpin that greets at you at the fifth corner. Turns six through 11 prove perfectly challenging, while the rest of the course allows you to hit some good speeds. Pretty much all you need in a racetrack.
Las Vegas
We usually see Las Vegas while drunk in the back of taxicabs, or through the lens of various horrible TV shows. Project Gotham Racing made us see it in a different light by molding an incredible street course through Sin City. Fly past all your favorite hotels and casinos, but don't lose focus on the glitzy straights: the nearly 90-degree turns are vicious as a Vegas lap dance.(And can get just as messy.)
Royal Raceway
A pretty challenging course for a Mario Kart game, Royal Raceway gives you some hairpins and S-turns, and maybe a few rivers for you to fall into for good measure. Don't think of them as water hazards, though, think of them as cheats necessary components of a speed run. This is why you can't beat people online.
Rainbow Road
The original Rainbow Road! We gave props for the F-Zero X rip-off, so you know we had to respect the architect. Basically the same track ripped off by its futuristic competitor, Rainbow Road is one of the greatest video game tracks ever. Very easy to get lost in the colors and find yourself falling in a black hole. Drive slow, homie.
London
Commercializing the illegal street racing genre, Midnight Club gave you an outlaw's world of freedom in each world/city you raced through. Our favorite was the London race, which directs you through what would otherwise be an open-world track. Think you can get to the finish line faster than the directions? Go 'head.
Nissan Speedway
When we wanted to see our newly modified Toyota Supra hit 227 mph, we went straight to the Nissan Speedway oval. OK, so maybe it wasn't the best for actual racing—but for some late-night, hung-over fun, it was awesome.
Peach Beach
By this point, we've all but mastered the surf & turn track that is Peach Beach. We know where the monsters will be, where to place our car so we hit the power-up ramp, and when to use the shell if we're not in first place (right after the turn onto the last pavement straightaway). How do we know all that? Because 13 years ago, that's ALL WE EVER DID.
Alcatraz
Don't remember Rush or Rush 2? Don't feel too bad, they were run-of-the-mill arcade racers. But Rush 2 came with a dope track called Alcatraz that had multiple levels, tight turns, and some crazy ramps. Was it enough to save a place for the game in our memory? Nah. But it was enough to earn it a spot on this list!
Track 5
Oh, man. Excitebike. Can it be that it was all so simple then? Yeah, it was. Considered stupid tough back in the day, Track 5 was all about rhythm. Find the right groove and you'd be good through all the jumps and bumps. Trust.
Mayapan Beach
We didn't think you could have a good racing game on the iPhone. We thought the games would either be too simple and kart-like, or in their attempt to be sim-accurate they'd be too hard to control with the accelerometer. Firemint found a nice balance with their Real Racing series on tracks like Mayapan Beach that—while challenging—still let you have fun on the subway. Finally, a good subsitute for rush-hour frottage.
Trial Mountain Circuit
The original Gran Turismo's Trial Mountain Circuit did just what its name implies—it tried out talents. The track made us realize that Gran Turismo wasn't like all the other racing sims of the time. Not too long, with corners that allow for precise overtaking and tighter turns that would punish those looking for a quick cut. Many a dream was dashed on that circuit.
Twilight City
If you haven't noticed by now, we like colorful tracks and nocturnal environments in future-based racers. What can we say? We're children of the night. People like to hate on Wave Race 64, saying that the game lost its identity and tried to copy F-Zero;they may be right, but it was still great fun. To wit: Twilight City. Color, night, and future. Trifecta!
Blue Mountains Raceway
One of the most popular Forza tracks has you racing through a verdant countryside on a forgiving track that allows you to get a good feel for the dynamics of the game. More of a free cruiser than an actual racetrack, Blue Mountain Raceway is where everyone returned whenever they needed a confidence boost.
Florion Height
We had to throw a Wipeout track on here just for the fact that they somehow made everything look like you were traveling 3,000 mph.
New York City
Living in New York City, we always dream of ripping around the city without consequence. The best recreation of NYC has to be Forza's New York City course. It takes you all throughout NYC—from Battery Park to Times Square. We're pretty sure this is what Bernie Ecclestone had in mind for the NYC Formula 1 race circuit. We can only dream.
Shanghai
One of the narrowest tracks on this list, this track modeled on the city of Shanghai really gives you the impression of driving through the megalopolis' cramped conditions. Floor it on straights, then hop back on your brakes for the true 90-degree turns and sweeping lefts. And, yeah, it's a nighttime course.
Opera Paris
While we waited for fifth Gran Turismo, we were treated to a PSP port that promised the same level of gameplay as the console versions. We can't say that it delivered, but it did offer some interesting new tracks like Opera Paris, which put you smack-dab in the City of Love on a challenging road course. Hopefully its faithful recreation is one of the reasons GT5 has taken so long to see the light of day.
Olympic Square
If we made a track based in Las Vegas, this is exactly what it would look like. Young, fly and flashy, Olympic Square is perhaps one of the most entertaining courses to race based solely on aesthetics. Yeah, we can be a bunch of shallow motorshifters sometimes.
Motorland
Isn't that nice, Gran Turismo gave you the perfect place to practice your car control. Thanks, Kazunori Yamauchi!
DK Summit
This is the course that took us the longest to master in Mario Kart Wii , but once we learned how to dodge the snow traps on the ramp, we were golden. The key to this snowy course is to, ironically, stay out of the snow. It proved both challenging and fun. Can't ask for more than that.
Apricot Hill Raceway
At 2.4 miles, the Apricot Raceway is the perfect length. And with 83.7 feet of elevation change, it gives you enough change-ups to keep you on your toes. Classic Gran Turismo.
High Level
Was there anything more fun to drive than the High Level of the original Ridge Racer? Not in our eyes. It's the course that set the pace for all future RR installments. RRRRRRRIIIIIIDGE RACER!
Deep Forest Raceway
Imagine taking a SuperGT spec race car for a spin through the redwood forests in the hilly part of Northern California. Yeah, that's what this course is. Effin' epic. Yet another reason to love the Emerald Triangle. And this one's non-combustible!
Port Town
F-Zero changed our view of what a racing game could be. The game, based on Formula 1 racers from the way, way in the future, had high-powered hover racers and wide, flowing tracks (like our favorite, Port Town) that let them (and us) go nuts.
Chicago
We have a confession. We spent most of our time playing in the Cruise mode of Midtown Madness. Instead of racing against others, we just cruised around the seemingly endless expanse of cityscape, acting like we had a driver's license. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: can we please, please get a high-def version for Xbox360? Hello, Redmond?
Airport Terminal
Split Second (as we insist on calling Split/Second: Velocity here) attempted to show you what it's like to be a stunt driver, and for the most part, mission accomplished. Drive through the Airport Terminal and try to make it to the finish line as shit falls and explodes all around you. We don't know why we enjoy driving through airports so much. Maybe it's because JFK and LAX are always so damn congested.
Rome Circuit
Polyphony outdid themselves with this circuit. Tricky when it needs to be (watch as the road tightens up after certain turns), but still easy to cruise, Rome Circuit carved out a track in the Italian city that looked as good as it was to drive. You know what they say: when in Rome, try not to drive into the Trevi Fountain.
LA Freeway
This is the one video game track we're sure everyone—and maybe even their fathers and mothers—has played. If you lost your composure on the many straightaways, you could be sure to have the front of your car kiss a palm tree (thankfully, there was no damage feature). If you haven't played this course, take your ass down to your local Dave & Buster's and get on it. 16 years later, it's like a hot tub time machine!
Banshee Boardwalk
Dark, gloomy, dangerous—it's everything Mario Kart isn't. And that's why we love it. Yeah, the turns are hard to maneuver, and sure, some of the roadways are too narrow for the whole field. You know what? Life is unfair sometimes. Deal with it.
Ice Arena
Wait—we can take our cars and race... on ICE? OH HELL YES. Want to perform some real hoonery? Take your 600hp racer out on this track and watch the back kick out before you crash into a wall.
Bowser's Castle
Yep, this is it. Bowser's Castle. The most sinister-looking track on this list. The spot where you could fall and burn to death if you handled an apex wrong. Yeah, it's only Super Mario Kart, and it's not as intricate or as detailed as other tracks and games, but this track struck more fear into our widdle hearts than any other we can think of. That's what racing's about: pushing through the fear. LOLZ! Nah, seriously, we can't think of a more fun game than SMK, and this was—and is—our favorite track from the game. Bong.