Looking for a good, old-school racing game

[Skaarphy]

I'm looking for two types of games, actually. One would be just a standard racer. What I'm looking for here is a career mode, nice graphics, interesting tracks, and diverse scenery, i.e. rural, urban, etc., not just race tracks.
I don't much care for a story but if it's a good one I don't mind. If it's some ego-stroking BS I hate it with the burning passion of a thousand suns. Multiplayer is not needed.
I was very interested in Forza Horizon 5 until I found out that you basically start with an almost high-end car and it doesn't take much to get to the actual supercars. That and various other reasons made me reconsider.
Does a game like that still exist? No BS; no fluff, just racing in a beautiful environment, progressing through tournaments and events?

The other type of game I'm looking for is one like POD, with or without weapons but with a turbo-boost mechanic. Just high-speed crazy nonsense with lots of jumps and crashes and explosions and whatnot.

i did try to find one myself but so far no success. Can anyone help me here?

[RPG Gamer Man]

Would a mario cart style game be acceptable? You got the sonic racer games on steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/212480/Sonic__AllStars_Racing_Transformed_Collection/

[Skaarphy]

Thank you, but it doesn't look like my thing. Too cutesy and fun, the wacky kind.

[Nx Machina]

Some games to consider not necessarily old school.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/284160/BeamNGdrive/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/550320/art_of_rally/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307710/GRID_Legends/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1328660/Need_for_Speed_Hot_Pursuit_Remastered/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1262580/Need_for_Speed_Payback/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1238080/Burnout_Paradise_Remastered/

[PurpleCreativeValiant]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2930160/Nightmare_Kart/

[Skaarphy]

Thanks everybody. Sadly, none of the game recommended by you really hit the nail on the head for me. I think I'm just being too particular in what I want out them.
I will give Forza Horizon 5 a try. Maybe it'll do the trick.

[Iceira]

Originally posted by Skaarphy:

Thanks everybody. Sadly, none of the game recommended by you really hit the nail on the head for me. I think I'm just being too particular in what I want out them.
I will give Forza Horizon 5 a try. Maybe it'll do the trick.

Maybe you made a mistake with good old racing game, then you want better, graphic then old games

even GTA5 has a racing fun game side, is you want serious games try simulator then, then you know its not a casual race games. ( plenty of them )

here is a older one, + MC + formula one , ( require alot of car setup )
https://store.steampowered.com/app/690790/DiRT_Rally_20/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1211480/DiRT_Rally_20__Colin_McRae_FLAT_OUT_Pack/

[MancSoulja]

You don't start with a high end car on Forza Horizon, it's literally just a playable intro that lets you try the different disciplines.

You start with a crappy Golf or a Focus like every other racing game.

[Skaarphy]

Originally posted by Iceira:

Originally posted by Skaarphy:

Thanks everybody. Sadly, none of the game recommended by you really hit the nail on the head for me. I think I'm just being too particular in what I want out them.
I will give Forza Horizon 5 a try. Maybe it'll do the trick.

Maybe you made a mistake with good old racing game, then you want better, graphic then old games

even GTA5 has a racing fun game side, is you want serious games try simulator then, then you knwo its not a casual race games. ( plenty of them )

I really liked FlatOut, for example. It had good tracks with plenty of opportunities to improve, it had a good career mode where you start at the bottom and climb to the top, it had plenty of action and tension where other cars could easily derail your run. It also had low-key 'choice & consequence' where you had to choose between improving your current car and buying a new one. That was the game. And I loved it. It's what I mean by old-school.

I own one Need for Speed, the one where you can get chased by the police. Nice idea, I like it. What I don't like, what was eventually a deal breaker for me, is that every time the police starts chasing you a small cutscene occurs interrupting your race. You see the police car start giving chase, then you get back to your race. WTF for? It's what for me is modern gaming BS.
Another thing it does is when you earned yourself a new car you get to see a video clip about it that is nothing but an unabashed commercial.
There's so much overproduced, pointless crap in this game that it felt like the actual racing is just a side note. And from what I've seen this is true for many racing games nowadays.

I'm not going to get FH5, by the way. There is a prominent negative review about it on the store page, and HFS, it's even worse than I thought. Much worse.
I think I'll just reinstall FlatOut, or something.

[Iceira]

Dont forget motobikes they can be fun as hell, very close to each other in the race, if this has your eye also.

[eram]

new out got great reviews and a large community playing
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2634950/Tokyo_Xtreme_Racer/