Forza Horizon 2 throws players into action-packed, open-world driving scenarios where they can smash through fences, plow through fields, and race past forests for shortcuts while they compete against other players on slick two-way roads. Players are encouraged to accumulate points by being more daring by driving fast, drifting hard, and even causing crashes. If you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription, you and a few friends can join up and roam the streets in a playground mode while waiting to join up for competitive matches. You can even start your own Car Club online with up to 1,000 other players. It wouldn’t be a cart genre racing game without weapons and power-ups; Sonic & Sega All-Stars Transformed has a variety of different items you can pick up, such as turbo boosts, heat-seeking missiles, and blowfish that help you beat out the competition. Levels are creative and have you dive onto aircraft carriers in the middle of a war, tropical jungle islands with deep temples with mazes, and even inside a few casino machines. There’s also a multiplayer option where you and three others can play offline in split-screen and square off. Hot Wheels World’s Best Driver gives players a set of different missions that test one’s speed and quick thinking, guiding through obstacle courses and beating time challenges. Drivers choose from one of four different racing teams with their own unique abilities and vehicles while performing risky tricks like wheelies, spins, or drifts that can be chained together for points and power-ups. Anyone who wants to take a break from competitive racing and pull off some sweet stunts with unique objective-based gameplay should pick this one up. Cars 3: Driven to Win has six different game modes, including a campaign race mode, battle mode, and even a takedown mode where your aim is to crash other cars. The game provides players a thorough walkthrough that helps them get familiar with the controls, so they can easily learn to drift, use their turbo boosters, and even jump over objects. There are different options for difficulty, too, so you can set the game to a very easy setting for younger kids or they can ramp it themselves if they are bored and want a challenge. Sticking true to its authenticity, NASCAR 15 features real raceways, such as the Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, and Homestead Miami Speedway. The game lets you start off in a rookie career mode, so you can become your own NASCAR champion across multiple seasons while defeating the best in the business, all of whom have their own skills and styles to which you have to match up. The game can get a little intense and competitive, especially with its 16-player online multiplayer mode, where crashes can come easily in massive car pileups. MX Vs. ATV Reflex is loaded with different diverse play modes suitable for any type of player (there’s an easy-going freestyle mode, a motocross, as well as a serious national championship campaign). Racers pick up high speeds on tight winding dirt tracks, flying in the air on their bikes, ATVs, super buggies, or trucks while pulling off cool tricks like the “Superman.” MX Vs. ATV Reflex includes a 12-player multiplayer mode, too, so you can challenge your friends, even offline. The structure of Jimmie Johnson’s Anything With An Engine’s main career mode is basic and starts you off with a series of cups with 13 uniquely styled tracks, such as carnivals with hazards, ruined cities, and medieval lands. The game includes six different racing mode types and there are multiplayer modes, too, with two to four players in an offline split-screen mode and online competitive matches with up to eight other players. Need for Speed: Rivals is a bit of an unconventional racing game, but that’s part of what makes it so fun. With an Xbox network connection, players can jump seemingly in and out of multiplayer with no lobbies or waiting, creating events in a world where no two moments or events are the same. Players can even play as the police, upgrading their vehicles with shockwaves, deployable roadblocks, and helicopter support, so you can purse and bust racers.
