Racing games have always been part of the home console horizon. I remember the first Need For Speed I played on Playstation, Porsche Unleashed, and it was downright spectacular for its time. Every racer in the world has certainly started out on an NFS, and then moved on to something more immersive, like Gran Turismo.

Ah, who hasn’t played Gran Turismo, the legendary racing game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony for its own consoles. Over the years, GT has become the Go-To for any racer wanting a console racing simulation. The title became so popular that Sony’s competitors, notably Microsoft and its Xbox, followed suit with games like Forza Motorsport. But Gran Turismo has always stood out from the crowd, except perhaps in the face of industry greats Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione.

In this article, I share with you my top 6 must-have racing games for Playstation 5, ranked according to their gameplay style: arcade, sim-arcade and simulation. A personal ranking, based as much on the fun of the game as on the experience behind the wheel.

The best arcade racing games on PS5

Need For Speed Unbound

The Need For Speed saga has just celebrated its 30th anniversary, and it has to be said that it has come a long way. This title isn’t one of the most perfect in the saga, of course, but the engine still has the horsepower to drive it, it seems.

The latest is Unbound, released in 2022. I know, it’s a far cry from the bangers that were Need For Speed Most Wanted (first of the name), Underground (1 and 2) or Hot Pursuit. But the saga has survived EA’s false moves, and we find NFS Unbound in this ranking.

The game is still arcade-style, even if there have been attempts at sim-arcade with Prostreet, but this time the touch is much more fun, both visually and in terms of driving. We’re back to the basics of the saga: dozens of cars, endless customization, fiery races and always the presence of the police to make your task even more difficult. What more could you ask for?

Wreckfest

Moving on to another topic, totally different from NFS, and that’s Wreckfest. This title saw the light of day in 2019 for its first installment on PS4 and Xbox One, and the second has just been released. The principle is as follows: you’re on a track with other cars and the aim is to survive as long as possible on the circuit, trying to blow up the other cars without that happening to you. It’s more or less the updated version of the Burnout saga, but with much more advanced damage management.

What sets Wreckfest apart from other arcade titles on PS5 is the literal collapse of the vehicle at every turn. Unlike other track-based fighting games, Wreckfest puts car destruction, and the realism that goes with it, at the heart of its gameplay. You’ll play to see the cars fall to pieces before your very eyes, and it’s a thrill, I must say.

The best sim-arcade racing games on PS5

WRC 10

The WRC saga saw the light of day years ago, with numerous entries across several console generations. The latest in title is WRC 10, released in 2021, and the game is officially licensed by the World Rally Championship. Think of the title as a very distant descendant of V-Rally and Colin McRae Rally 2.0 on PS1.

For WRC 10, the game is based on the 2021 championship, with all the cars, teams and drivers that raced in that season. You have a whole host of vehicles to drive on special stages around the world, with realistic physics and advanced graphics too.

Coupled with a rally-style setup from Fanatec, for example (with DD base and specific steering wheel), WRC 10 is a sim-racing must-have, perfectly suited to beginners and experienced drivers alike.

Gran Turismo 7

It’s impossible to talk about the best racing games on the PS5 without mentioning Gran Turismo. It’s THE racing game on Sony’s console, and has been since PS1. Today, we’re at GT7, with a title that is literally taking racing and fast car fans by storm.

The first Gran Turismo saw the light of day in 1997, and since then it has gone from strength to strength. The latest is GT7, featuring more than 400 vehicles, each as magnificent as the next. You can drive more or less anything and everything in Gran Turismo 7, from touring cars and prototypes to the world’s most expensive supercars and hypercars.

Gran Turismo is billed as the ultimate console driving simulation, but in reality – and this remains my opinion – the title touches on both sim-arcade and simulation. Depending on your preferences, and above all your input parameters, GT7 can adapt to your driving by being both sim-arcade (no damage to the vehicle, no pit stops, etc.), or simulation by increasing realism. Gran Turismo 7, and indeed the entire saga, remains a must-have for sim-racing on Playstation.

The best simulation racing games on PS5

Assetto Corsa Competizione

Assetto Corsa Competizione is a true racing simulation game, available on consoles and PC. It is the successor toAssetto Corsa, or rather no, it’s much more of a GT3 racing title, whereas AC is more generalist.

ACC is a revised version of the original title, with dynamic native weather management, far more advanced car AI, sublime vehicles taken from the GT3 category, and tracks very faithful to their real-life counterparts. What’s more, the graphics have been upgraded this time around, which is only to be expected given that the title is only 6 years old, unlike Assetto Corsa and its 11 years.

As far as feel is concerned, ACC is superbly well served. The physics engine draws on a wide range of telemetry data to provide realistic feedback – provided you have the right setup, of course. On PS5, Direct Drive bases compatible with Sony’s console, and especially quality ones, are rather rare. Apart from Fanatec and Thrustmaster, there aren’t many out there. But if you’ve got a good sim-racing setup, ACC will be grateful, and will pay you back double.

F1 24

Let’s end with the official FIA Formula license signed by EA Sports and Codemasters: F1 24. This is practically the last title in the legendary F1 saga, and if you want the one that deals with the 2025 season, you’ll have to wait a few weeks (end of May) to get behind the wheel of F1 25.

So, F1 24 takes up the 2024 season of motorsport’s premier discipline, offering a hybrid approach. The title is like Gran Turismo 7: if you want simulation, you can have it, with car behavior and vehicle management too, as well as qualifying, drivers and the whole shebang. And if you’re an F1 fan but not so keen on simulation, F1 24 can also be a sim-arcade title.

With EA’s title, you have the career mode, of course, but also online racing with other drivers from around the world. F1 24 supports dynamic weather, which should add an extra layer of realism and immersion, as well as increasing the difficulty of the tracks.

F1 24 is available multiplatform, both on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series and Xbox One, and PC too. For PS5 setups, the story is the same: you’ve mainly got some equipment from Fanatec and Thrustmaster that’s fully supported by Sony’s console.