Five racing games that will destroy your friendships

Playing couch or online multiplayer with friends can be the ultimate bonding experience. From tandem drifting in Gran Turismo 7’s split-screen mode to bump drafting each other to victory in iRacing, racing games can bring friends together.

But where’s the fun in that?

How about the sweet, sweet feeling of ruining your friend’s march to victory with a red shell in Mario Kart, or driving the wrong way around the track in Wreckfest to literally destroy their teeny KillerBee with your massive Rammer (not a euphemism)? It’s like the feeling you get when your gloating younger sibling lands on your hotel-packed square in a festive game of Monopoly.

Yeah, it feels good.

We list some of the racing games that can drive a wedge between you and your friends this holiday period. Because Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without everyone falling out – it’s what brings us all together.

You Suck at Parking

Happy Volcano’s ode to competitive parking is a game that combines two of life’s most stressful things: finding a parking space and spending time with friends.

You Suck at Parking’s competitive multiplayer sees you and seven others fighting to find and park in every spot on a map, battling against physics-based obstacles along the way.

However, your car has to be completely stationary for the ‘park’ to count, so there’s a window of opportunity there for one of your esteemed friends to barrel in and knock you out of the space, like some weird game of multi-storey bowling.

And it gets even more chaotic when all eight in-game cars are controlled by humans. Thanks to the vindictiveness of human nature (and because it’s very, very funny), ganging up on the best player has never felt more delightful than it does in You Suck at Parking.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

We’ve all been there: sauntering to an easy win, with your mates languishing behind after several Rainbow Road ‘excursions’. Just as you’re about to cross the line, there’s an evil cackle from the corner of the couch (remember couch multiplayer sessions?!).

You’ve just been blue-shelled.

You’ve been taken out of the race by an evil-minded ‘friend’ and lost first position. And it’s all thanks to Mario Kart’s heinous Spiny Shell (colloquially known as the blue shell).

This weapon of mass disagreement was first introduced in 1996’s Mario Kart 64, and has remained a staple of the series to the present day, presenting backmarkers with a shot at regaining lost ground or, at the very least, ruining the leader’s race.

However, the blue shell can also take out anyone in its path to the frontrunner, keeping the race competitive for all participants. It’s a great leveller if you’re gaming with an extremely skilled player, but mostly it’s just irritating. Just like your friends.

Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament

Back in the ‘90s Micro Machines was a revelation, with Codemasters’ series arguably becoming the pinnacle of the top-down racing genre.

Micros Machines 2: Turbo Tournament, this time developed by Supersonic Software,  stepped things up a notch, however, by introducing the J-Cart; a game cartridge with two extra controller ports built-in.

Pioneered by Codemasters, the J-Cart allowed four gamepads to be plugged into a single Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console, allowing up to eight players to play at once (two players could share a pad, with one using the d-pad and the other using face buttons).

MM2’s simplistic controls enhanced the experience and helped cement the game as a multiplayer masterpiece. Of course, more players also equalled more chances to get one over on your enemy/friend.

The game’s multiplayer races were typically fraught, with each course littered with impenetrable trackside objects and car-destroying obstacles. The action swept along at breakneck speed too, making the very act of controlling your  Micro Machines a frustrating task.

When you then add friends into the mix, who constantly shoulder barge your car off the track and into oblivion, you have a recipe for extreme irritation.

F-Zero X

Sure, Nintendo’s N64 classic F-Zero X was a tremendous single-player racer in its own right, featuring buttery smooth 60 fps visuals and perfect arcade handling sensibilities, but it’s often overlooked in favour of its plumber-based stablemate in the racing game stakes.

But just like Mario Kart 64, F-Zero X had four-player local multiplayer, with the 2022 Nintendo Switch Online version also including an online element. This included Battle mode, where it was a fight to the death for the glory of finishing first.

But even when you’d dispatched your biggest rival in-game, they still had a chance for revenge thanks to a hilarious slot machine mechanic. The departed player could spin three bars (as if they’ve been transported to some mysterious purgatory casino), and by matching three you could impose status effects on the remaining players.

This could mean depleting your opponent’s health bar slightly, or it could mean the instant destruction of their ship. It’s the ultimate act of retribution.

Turbo Sliders Unlimited

Antti Mannisto’s delightful Turbo Sliders Unlimited received its v1.0 release earlier this year, bringing chaotic top-down racing thrills kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

The game has a huge range of customisability, including Steam Workshop support for user-generated tracks, and a diverse landscape of multiplayer potential thanks to hilarious sumo, parkour, football and deathmatch modes.

You can also simply just race against your friends, you know, if that’s your kind of thing (you weirdo). 

Happily, TSLU’s driving physics are satisfying to master, with grippy handling and 20 cars on track ensuring it isn’t long before vehicles are literally flying all over – and off – the map. And this is where the fun really starts.

Cars can also be weaponised thanks to hidden rocket launchers, giving your online buddies another chance to destroy your fun times. In all honesty, however, it’s much more likely you’ll be rammed into oblivion before the explosions begin.

Which racing game do you and your friends get all over-competitive with? Let us know in the comments below!