What makes a better driving game? Realism or fantasy

 Better than fiction?

I'm holding off of stepping into the genuine question right off the bat here because I have to be clear and open: The racing/driving genre isn't exactly my forte. In fact, that's putting it lightly. I haven't been able to fully jump into or enjoy a single racing game to the fullest for a ludicrously long time, and even when I try to, I fail to latch onto that 'hook' which keeps the racing spirit alive for most of the driving game audience out there in the bustling community as it exists today. Maybe they just hail from a genre that fails to speak to me, that could very much be the case. But regardless I find myself fascinated by them and the developers who make them, because how could I not? They have the best peripheries, (those racing wheels and chairs always look so much fun) they have the most rapid fanbases, (You rarely here about new series entries underperforming) and their developers are typically some of the most detail-minded in the industry. (Either in technicals, visuals or sometimes even both) But there's always been one question that's bugged me, and that's what makes the better racing game; the one's that shoot for ultra realism, or those that embrace the silliness. I think both offer much to the player, so I'm going to have to break things down.

Mario Kart, or kart racers in general for that matter, certainly never try to hit you with the realism card at any point. And that's likely because they derive their very concept from the casual bumper karts attraction that you'd see in plenty of carnivals across the world but avoid because the lines were ridiculous. (seriously, I'd always seen them more packed than the roller coasters) So in hailing from an activity built for kids it makes sense that this genre of racer would be more kid oriented, but that doesn't mean they're not hugely competitive. In fact, Mario Kart's power-up weapons often makes it one of the most competitive racers you can play, because screwing up the opponent is an active decision on each player's part. There's a gladiatorial zeal from Mario Kart that speaks to the soul, deeply and personally, feeding upon our base desires of conquest. It's also an utterly bizarre and crazy game that uses it's source material to set stages upside down, in space and underwater. That's one thing that all Kart racers do well, utilise the world to make some of the interesting racing stages possible. No matter how much traditional racers take off, there may never be a racing track quite as iconic as the infamous Rainbow Road.

Speaking of traditional racers, how about I touch on Forza for the time being, as I've always considered their entries to be the pinnacle of such games. Of course, you could substitute this for any racing game out there that devotes insane amounts of resources to nailing the sounds, materials, tracks and everything else connected to the world of racing. Every new entry I'm blown away to see the miniscule details thrown in, adjustments to traction, distortion of engine noises, the impeccable gleam of the light off the hood, diffusion through the window pain, rain peppering the side mirror, it's as though the Forza developers are actively attempting to supplant reality with their attempts at recreating an unmatchable racing experience. Their dedication to accuracy is such, in fact, that during the height of the recent Pandemic, when no racing events could be held, Forza remained the one outlet through which Racers could continue their sport in exhibition matches. (It also allowed them to try out a newly constructed track which none of them had the chance to try out in real life yet.) If you want to feel like you're racing around in that car you've always seen from afar, Forza and it's ilk are the exact games for you, making them the ideal must-own for any and all car geeks out there.

But steering back towards the fantastical angle, (hah, unintended pun)who remembers the explosive 2010 action racing game Split/Second? (Known as 'Split/Second: Velocity' in Europe. likely to differentiate it from the 1992 movie that no one remembers. And which I know have to watch, it has Rutger Hauer in it.) Split/Second was an action movie distilled into a video game racing shell, complete with all the streaked out camera effects, overblown reaction cams and huge explosions. It aimed for realism in base presentation, but in gameplay it was all about wrecking you opponent in huge fireball incidents which, and lets be fair, probably kills them. You could lump this type of game in with Burnout and Flatout, for games where the sole purpose is carnage and destruction, with racing making for a fun afterthought. Damaging modelling and spectacle thrive in these types of racing games, and though none of it is realistic, do you really care when it's still blood pumping and adrenaline spiking all the same?

Bridging between those two sides of the issue we have Need for Speed, the racing game that looks impressively faithful to life at face value but has about as little interest in being 'realistic' as Mario Kart does. Typically focused around bringing big and powerful super cars to the hands of the sensibly-challenged, NFS has a tendency to air towards a style-over-substance approach to the overall package. Which is completely fine if all you want to do is feel cool for a little bit. Hitting top speeds and pulling of drifts allday, the purpose of Need for Speed is to serve as the racing genre's equivalent of a power trip, which it serves admirably making it a great entry point to racing games. In fact, the first racing game I ever played to completion was a Need for Speed. Although I wonder if their zeal might have faded off in the decades since the 90's, because that certainly does seem where their particular sense of 'presentation' was birthed from. Regardless, casual fans will always have time for a new NFS entry, as long as one get's made. (It's been a hot minute, hasn't it?) 

And then there's Driver. What is there to say about this game? Driver was a driving, crime drama game that, once upon a time, was looked on upon as a competitor to GTA. Perhaps its most lauded entry would be 'San Francisco' which abandoned any vague pretence to realism that the series might have flirted with through natural association of it's subject matter and celebrated bizarre surrealism instead. These developers took every opportunity they could think of to come up new and interesting situations for a car-themed racing title to go through, such to the extent that it remains one of the most unique games of it's type to this day. Jumping into the minds of other drivers in order to assist your main objective, or racing through a city of frozen pedestrians is just the tip of the iceberg. 'Driver: San Francisco' offered a glimpse at how truly diverse driving games could be if only they weren't so stringent, which would make it a must play if it was actually actively sold anymore. Which it isn't.

Finally there's the DiRT series, a collection of games themed around Rally racing across dirt roads and dedicated to nailing the feel of off-road racing as much as humanely possible. I actually remember the genesis of this series and way in which the big feature to blow as all away was the manner in which mud accumulated accurately on the rally cars chassis' as they roared over wet mud tracks. Since then they've really perfected those visuals and worked on bringing the physics and handling of various terrains to a degree of realistic replication. DiRT introduces a very atypical side of racing to gamers but with comparable levels of fidelity that you'd see from traditional racers, demonstrating how even when following the straight and narrow driving games can be different and distinct from one another.

Of course, my comparisons are slightly contrived as the genre of racing/driving games is big enough to satisfy all comers no matter what it is that they look for. And, naturally, the question of which approach yields the better game is subjective at best and asinine at worst; but what fun is it being part of a nerdy fandom if you can't host pointless and stupid death matches against oneself? Thus when I weigh up the benefits of the realistic approach against the fantasy approach, and taking into account this is my personal opinion, I have to say that more often than not realism equals a better end product. Perhaps that comes from a certain design ethos of the teams who make each respective game, put I just think it comes down to the fact that making a fantasy driving game epic requires unflinching creativity and dedication, whereas making a realistic racing game just requires dedication. It that an oversimplification? Undoubtedly. But it does look good under a summary, now doesn't it?