If you’re actually adhering to the BDS movement’s call to boycott Xbox, you’ll be skipping over Forza Horizon 6. But what do you play instead if the urge to race gets too intense? Well I’ve picked some random racing games you can try, or return to if you’ve played these before. I can’t promise that they’re good but I can guarantee that they aren’t by or for Microsoft/Xbox.
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Lotus Turbo Challenge (Sega Mega Drive)
Also known as Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 on other consoles, it’s the sequel to Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge and it sees you racing on eight different tracks through all kinds of terrain and weather but now you’re racing against the clock.
Cruis’n World (N64)
Not the best by any means but I had a lot of fun playing this as a kid. The soundtrack is great and it has all the hallmarks of a N64 arcade racer port: jank and checkpoints. And you get to meet Bill Clinton if you get to the end. On the moon. Because why not? Overall, a fun game.
Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Zero (PS2)
What if cars had health bars? Well, this game kinda answers that question with SP or “Spirit Points“ which go down when you hit cars or things in your way. When your SP is zero, that’s it… hence the name!
Super R.C. Pro-Am (Game Boy)
I loved this game as a kid because you could upgrade your cars and collect the letters of NINTENDO on each track but I recently 100%’d it for the first time and it was the bane of my existence. With you driving remote controlled cars (hence the name, again!), the accompanying mechanics can get annoying alongside some tracks having dead ends that can kill your run if you miss a turn. But if you can look past it, you’ll enjoy it.
Racing Lagoon (PS1)
Square’s racing RPG sees you joining a street racing team in Japan like some kind of drifter who is both fast and furious (except it’s set in Yokohama). It’s a unique experience and might not be for everyone but those RPG elements should be enough to intrigue and give it a go. And the soundtrack is S-tier. If you don’t care for the gameplay, at least stay for the jams.
Night Driver (Arcade)
I’m going out on a limb here by saying you won’t have access to an original Night Driver unit to play this so if you can find “other means” of playing it, give it a try. It was one of the first games to have real-time first-person graphics so it’s pioneering if nothing else. You get a monochrome display and you drive around a track from a first-person perspective with white rectangles (or pylons) around the edge to outline the road. It’s not gonna change the way you see racing games unless you thank god they’re better now and appreciate even the worst ones but it’s a piece of history and playing it doesn’t benefit genocide.