The new millennium came and we somehow managed to avoid catastrophic disaster from the Y2K Bug which is lucky.
- Need For Speed Underground
- Crash Team Racing
- The Burnout series
- The Simpsons Hit & Run
- Midtown Madness 3
- GTA Vice City
Gaming consoles became further cemented into our lives and large improvements in the graphics and technology meant gaming was better than ever. The 2000s saw the Sony PlayStation claim the throne of the most popular gaming console worldwide and the arrival of the Microsoft Xbox. The ‘00s brought with it technological changes, new ideas and a popular car movie (turned franchise) which potentially may have been the biggest influence to car games in this decade. Here are six of the most memorable car games from the new millennium.
Need For Speed Underground
The Need for Speed franchise could easily have had numerous entries on this list but Underground, which is the seventh instalment of the series certainly captured the imagination like very few car games before it. Taking a cue from the Fast and Furious movies, NFS Underground gave users the option of racing older (more attainable) cars that could then be completely customised and modified to increase the cars visual appeal and racing ability. This instalment of Need for Speed was so well liked because the game was never boring due to the choice of racing options from circuit, drag, drift and sprint. Everything about this game was an improvement on previous games and having the opportunity to use Nitrous Oxide (NOS) was so much fun!
Crash Team Racing
Although Crash Team Racing was released in October 1999, we are happy to make an exception for this absolute classic. The game was essentially the PlayStation version of Mario Kart but used the Crash Bandicoot characters, had a much more advanced storyline as well as some crazy weapons that the Mario Kart red shells, banana skins and ink blooper can’t match. The storyline concludes with an epic battle against the games antagonist and self-proclaimed fastest driver in the galaxy, Nitrous Oxide (Get it?!) amongst other bosses in their quest to save the galaxy. The ultimate compliment to any game is getting a remake 20 years after its original release, so get ready for June 21st 2019 as Crash and the rest of the crew are set to race again on PS4.
The Burnout series
Much like Need for Speed, discussing the best car games of the 2000’s without mentioning the Burnout series would be a crime. Most games in this list focus on the fastest car and finishing first, but Burnout is known for doing something completely different. By far the most interesting aspect of the game was its crash mode (showtime mode) which rewarded players for how reckless they could drive. Burnout steered away from driving norms by awarding points for acts such as driving towards oncoming traffic or deliberately making your opponents crash. Whilst the racing element of this game was impressive, it was certainly those slow-motion replays of crashes that made Burnout a must-play.
The Simpsons Hit & Run
The Simpsons ruled the 90s and 2000s in every aspect of merch and an episode played every night on TV (sometimes even two back to back) and in 2003, this cartoon world game only contributed to that domination. The game allowed players to drive around the well-known town of Springfield in a range of cars that were highly memorable to Simpsons’ fans. The fact you could drive and race to the Kwik-E-Mart, Barney’s Bowl-a-Rama and back to 742 Evergreen Terrace in classic cars like the Canyonero (HYAH!), the “Homer” and even finding the failed Springfield Monorail was unreal for gamers during that time. Hit & Run which is mission led and is open-world game play was heavily inspired by Grand Theft Auto III. Not to be confused with The Simpsons: Road Rage game which is more similar to the game Crazy Taxi where players need to pick up passengers and take them to their destination as quick as possible.
Midtown Madness 3
The reason Midtown Madness was a memorable game of the 2000’s era was because it allowed most people to fulfill their fantasy of driving like an absolute maniac in some of the world’s most popular cities (which you should not do in real life BTW). Originally released in 1999 on Windows PC, the game finally made it on to Xbox in 2003 for its third version players got to zoom around Paris and Washington in an everyday car like a VW Beetle, Opel Astra and MINI feeling and seeing the damage on the car was ahead of its time. The exhilaration of driving on the wrong side of the road, narrowly missing cars and pedestrians with cops hot on pursuit was unforgettable. The simplicity of picking a real world car and just driving around the (somewhat realistic) streets gave players a sense of freedom that real-life driving just doesn’t (and for very good reason) do.
GTA Vice City
The Grand Theft Auto franchise certainly stands out in this era of gaming and Vice City will certainly remain in the memory of 2000s gamers for a long time. This particular game takes a lot of inspiration from Miami in the early 1980s, so think Scarface and Miami Vice. GTA was so well loved because players could do absolutely anything in this open world that expanded across two islands. Creating absolute mayhem in the city and being able to drive around some pretty spectacular vehicles such as the Banshee (Chevrolet Corvette), Cheetah (Ferrari Testarossa), Comet (Porsche 911), Deluxo (DeLorean DMC-12) made this game an total classic. Aside from the cool 1980s car rip offs, the music tracks which were tuned from the car’s nine available radio stations is the highlight of the game! Hits like Atomic by Blondie, Out of Touch by Hall & Oates, Owner of a Lonely Heart by Yes and Gold by Spandau Ballet fulfil the Vice City experience.
Keyword: Old School: Six classic car games of the 2000s