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Best Racing games on Arcade

The 8 best Racing games on Arcade, ranked from 718 critic and player ratings.

The best Racing game on Arcade right now is Crazy Taxi (1999), with a critic score of 82/100 — updated November 2026.

How this ranking is built
  • Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
  • A game only enters the ranking with at least 30 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
  • Each game is ranked in one genre only, the one that defines it best, so the same title never tops two different genre charts.
  • Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
  • Release window covered: 1970 to 2026.
  • 8 games are listed on this page, carrying 718 ratings between them.
  • Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 13 November 2026.

Top 8

Played them? Give your tier with the + next to each game. No account needed to try — create one to keep your tiers.

01 Crazy Taxi (1999) Crazy Taxi (1999) 1999 · 244 ratings · finished by 12% Hey hey, come on over and have some fun with Crrrrrazy Taxi! Barrel through traffic packed streets, hurdle off parking garages, and Crazy Combo your way to Crazy Money in a wild frantic race to scare up the most fares. In Crazy Taxi, time is money, and only the Craziest Cabbies come out victorious. 82 /100
02 Daytona USA Daytona USA 1993 · 34 ratings The player is put behind the wheel of a stock car (known as the Hornet), with the choice of three tracks as well as an automatic or manual transmission. The player's objectives are to outrun the competing cars, and complete the race before time runs out. 80 /100
03 F-Zero F-Zero 1990 · 193 ratings F-Zero is set in the year 2560, when humanity's multiple encounters with alien life forms had resulted in the expansion of Earth's social framework. This led to commercial, technological and cultural interchanges between planets. The multi-billionaires who earned their wealth through intergalactic trade were mainly satisfied with their lifestyles, although most coveted more entertainment in their lives. This resulted in a new entertainment based on the Formula One races to be founded with vehicles that could hover one foot above the track. These Grand Prix races were soon named "F-Zero" after a rise in popularity of the races. The game introduced the first set of F-Zero racers: Captain Falcon, Dr. Stewart, Pico, and Samurai Goroh. 80 /100
04 Spy Hunter (1983) Spy Hunter (1983) 1983 · 43 ratings Originating in the arcades, Spy Hunter is a driving action game played from an overhead point of view. Your car is equipped with machine guns to help you get past the numerous enemies out on the road (be careful not to shoot any civilians, though!) Occasionally you will come across a weapons van, and if you drive into the back of the van your car becomes equipped with a second weapon (such as smoke screen, oil slick, or missiles). At several points the road splits and you can enter a boathouse which transforms your car into a boat temporarily. If you drive far enough the seasons change as well (watch out for icy conditions during winter!). The enemy cars will do anything to stop you, including running you off the road, firing guns from the back of a limo, or dropping bombs from a helicopter. 80 /100
05 Ridge Racer Ridge Racer 1993 · 36 ratings Ridge Racer was initially released on the Namco System 22 arcade system board and was later ported to the PlayStation console. It is the first title in the long-running Ridge Racer series of games released for arcades and home consoles. The game's objective is to finish in first place in a series of races. Ridge Racer was among the first racing games to utilise polygon graphics to its full potential. 82 /100
06 DiRT Showdown DiRT Showdown 2012 · 78 ratings · finished by 4% Race, crash and hoon your way through a world tour of motorised mayhem in DiRT Showdown! Crowd atmosphere, social gameplay and accessibility are all ramped up in this turbo- injected shot of driving delirium. Smash down the accelerator and earn the adulation of frenzied crowds at hyper-energised events at iconic locations. Trick, speed and smash your way to victory, then do it again. 75 /100
07 Pole Position (1982) Pole Position (1982) 1982 · 47 ratings The very first racing game with the rear perspective camera and track based on real life. 60 /100
08 Sega Rally Championship Sega Rally Championship 1994 · 43 ratings Sega Rally Championship is a 1994 arcade racing game developed by AM5 on the Sega Model 2 board. The unique selling point of Sega Rally was the ability to drive on different surfaces (including asphalt, gravel and mud), with different friction properties, with the car's handling changing accordingly. As the first racing game to incorporate this feature, Sega Rally is considered to be one of the milestones in the evolution of the racing game genre. The music for the arcade game was composed by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, while the Sega Saturn port's soundtrack was done by Naofumi Hataya and the Guitar were played by Joe Satriani. 50 /100
Browse all the best Arcade games

Other platforms

Best Racing games on PCBest Racing games on Xbox 360Best Racing games on PlayStation 3Best Racing games on Xbox OneBest Racing games on PlayStation 4Best Racing games on PSPBest Racing games on PlayStation 5Best Racing games on Xbox Series X|SBest Racing games on Nintendo SwitchBest Racing games on AndroidBest Racing games on iOSBest Racing games on Linux

Same platform, other genres

Best Action games on ArcadeBest Arcade games on ArcadeBest Casual games on ArcadeBest Fighting games on ArcadeBest Shooter games on Arcade

Nearby rankings

Best Racing games of 2019Best Racing games of 2018Best Racing games of 2017Best Racing games of 2013

Catalog statistics

Most abandoned gamesMost completed games

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Racing game on Arcade?

Crazy Taxi (1999) currently tops the ranking with a score of 82/100 across 244 ratings. Ranking updated November 2026.

How is this ranking built?

Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.