Stop Ramming Me Off The Track You Jerk

March 31, 2009 9:26 PM

Best racing game for the Xbox 360?

I've never been a huge fan of racing games, but figure it can't hurt to give a few a try. I dug Burnout Paradise, for example. Except for one thing: no split-screen/same console multiplayer. I'd like to have a two player race on the same console, just for lulz.

So what's the best racing game for the Xbox 360 that has two player split screen?

Thanks!

posted by turgid dahlia to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

Response by poster: Come to think of it, any further suggestions for awesome same-console multiplayer games of any badge or stripe would be appreciated. Provisio: they have to not do stupid shit like Resident Evil 5's "oh we'll just use a fifth of the screen real estate and put one player in the top left and one in the top right of the display so it looks really stupid and annoys everybody".
posted by turgid dahlia at 9:32 PM on March 31, 2009

Forza 2 is my favorite. It's great with the wheel, it takes a bit of getting used to with the controller.
posted by defcom1 at 9:34 PM on March 31, 2009

My husband loved Burnout Paradise too (LOVED it, as in, finished every single achievement), and bought some other racing games hoping to capture that same fun time, but we couldn't find any racing games that were even remotely as fun. They're all sort of serious about trying to make you feel like you are racing around a track or other course, and giving you cars that look like actual cars that have similar stats to those cars, whereas Burnout is all about doing all the stuff you're not supposed to do when actually driving and the racing and cars aspect is kind of - not incidental, but not that central. I guess if you liked Burnout Paradise but wished there was less intentional crashing into other cars and flipping your car upside down and more careful maneuvering through difficult turns, maybe you would like these other games. I remember Forza 2 was one of them, but I can't recall the others. I will be following this thread with interest, because his birthday is coming up and he's really run out of stuff to do in Burnout at this point.

Incidentally, if you liked the open street layout and the reckless driving, and you haven't played the latest Grand Theft Auto, you should probably check it out.

Oh, and as for your addendum: Rock Band was the first and last same-console multiplayer game we ever bought (oh, I guess we also bought Rock Band II) and it has been such a great investment. We play a little Rock Band at pretty much every party we have at our house, and actually played through the whole of the first game as a 2-person band.
posted by crinklebat at 9:47 PM on March 31, 2009

PGR is my favorite racing series on any console. Great balance of arcade and simulation. PGR4 is on the 360 and it does do split sreen.
posted by wongcorgi at 11:46 PM on March 31, 2009

Huge Burnout Paradise fan here as well. If you can stand a racing sim, I completed Forza 2; that's a whole different genre of racing. Fun, but you need to learn how to handle the cars. Worth picking up for $10 on ebay to see if it's your thing.

I enjoyed the demo for Pure and my friend loved the full version -but again No Splitscreen. :(

The best split screen experience I've ever had in a game is Left 4 Dead. Every Sunday, my buddy comes over and we play that for a few hours.

Burnout Revenge has split screen, but coming from Paradise, I couldn't get drawn in.
posted by yeti at 6:56 AM on April 1, 2009

Forza 2 for realism, it also has a fantastic online multiplayer as well as split screen.

for flat out sliding fun the PGR series. Both 3 and 4 do split screen.
posted by moochoo at 7:34 AM on April 1, 2009

DIRT, and to a lesser extent GRID, are both pretty great racing games on the 360. They're more "simmy" than Burnout, but definitely more "arcadey" than Forza.

Oh, and PS, you can now download the "party pack" for Burnout that gives you pass-the-controller play.
posted by Oktober at 8:30 AM on April 1, 2009

i hated paradise, but i loved burnout revenge.

multiplayer - lego starwars and castle crashers
posted by nadawi at 9:26 AM on April 1, 2009

Response by poster: I was really looking forward to GRID after checking a few reviews, but no split-screen! What the hell is with that?

PGR4 I guess it will have to be. Not having Xbox Live, I'm not sure Left 4 Dead would be such a hot investment, but I know it's a pretty rockin' game.

Thanks for the answers so far! Keep them coming peeps!
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:22 PM on April 1, 2009