The Fast and Furious film franchise has become one of the most lucrative film franchises of all time. Growing from a movie about street racing to a what would become superhero movies in all but name, the film series has delivered on some of the most exciting moments in film history. With the recent release of F9 and the series reportedly set to end with the eleventh film— though we don't know when that will be— many fans are wondering where else they can get their fill of car-based thrills.
Well, video games have been doing fast-paced, action-packed racing ever since Spy Hunter hit arcades in 1983; long before the original Fast and Furious film was even thought up. There are a variety of games on a variety of different consoles that capture the same thrills of the films, if not more.
10 Burnout 3: Takedown Is Over-The-Top Spectacle Racing At Its Finest
It is well documented that the Fast and Furious franchise started as street racing films and built up to be major spectacles of fast-paced vehicular combat. In a way, the Burnout franchise perfectly encapsulates this change as well. The Burnout series of racing games are well remembered as one of the most influential racing franchises of all time, with a major focus on high speed and death-defying maneuverability.
It was Burnout 3: Takedown, however, that introduced legitimate spectacle violence. Takedown introduced the aptly named Takedown mechanic, a system that rewarded aggressive driving against opponents with additional boosts. The Crash Mode from Burnout 2 returns, this time with the added Crashbreaker mechanic, allowing the player to detonate their car and cause even more damage.
9 Cruis'n World Brings Arcade Racing To Real Life Cities
Another staple of the Fast and Furious films is the exotic locations in which the main characters travel to, whether it's racing through the beautiful streets of Brazil in Fast Five or the heart-stopping Etihad Towers car jump from Furious 7.
Though it may not allow for anything as crazy as Furious 7's tower jump, Cruis'n World on N64 has no shortage of real world locations for players to race through, including Hawaii, Japan, Australia, China, Egypt, and many others. If you play the N64 version and beat the Cruise The World mode, then you unlock yet another track: The Moon. This means that, yes, Cruis'n went to space before Fast and Furious ever could.
8 Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA Encourages Taking A Chance On Risky Shortcuts
Rush 2: Extreme Race USA is a lot like Cruis'n in that it has many locations across the world to race on. However, while Cruis'n was a more linear racing game, most races mostly just taking the player from point A to point B. Rush 2 adds to the racing element by giving the player hidden shortcuts to find and stunt jumps to perform.
Exploration was incentivized by hidden objects in the game world, in this case taking the form of Mountain Dew cans that could be found in secret locations. There was also a notable amount of detail put into each race environment, and no shortage of environments, even allowing the player to race on Alcatraz.
7 Forza Motorsport 7 Worships Cars Like Few Games Ever Have
Fast and Furious obviously loves its cars. There are tons of scenes in the films where cameras just linger on the team's vehicles in admiration. It may not be the most action packed racing game, dealing with legally sanctioned races and utilizing mechanics that draw attention to the real effects that rain and off-road will have on a speeding car, but Forza Motorsport 7 does have an appreciation for cars that might put Fast and Furious to shame.
The visual fidelity of the Forza franchise is well documented, and every single part of every car in Forza Motorsport 7 is painstakingly recreated to be as true to their real world counterparts as possible.
6 Forza Horizon 4 Has Missions Where Players Have To Be Movie Stunt Drivers
While Forza Motorsport focuses more on the realistic simulation of races, Forza Horizon adds a layer of spectacle and arcade racing into the mix. The most recent release, Forza Horizon 4, adds a number of insane racing challenges to the mix such as racing an aircraft and doing a number of stunts for a movie director. There is even an Easter egg for Halo fans, allowing the player to drive a Warthog.
For fans of the death defying stunts found in the later Fast and Furious films, Forza Horizon 4 is a game that matches Motorsport's obsessive attention to detail with races that are just undeniably fun to race through.
5 Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Remix Is One Of The First Street Racing Games To Have A Story
For fans of the gritty street racing of the early Fast and Furious movies, the Midnight Club series provides more than enough of the excitement of terrorizing civilian traffic and escaping the police. Of all the games in the franchise, Midnight Club 3 is considered the best one.
The game received a re-release subtitled Dub Edition Remix, which added new cars and made a few gameplay changes. From its cutscenes with side characters that inspire the player to become a world renowned street racer, to the dozens of cars that can be collected, to the nearly infinite number of customizations that can be made to each car to enhance its look and performance, players will feel like street racing royalty in no time.
4 Need For Speed: Most Wanted (2005) Is Tight Street Racing Action Wrapped Around An Underdog Revenge Tale
For more street racing stories, the classic Need For Speed series prided itself on its fun, arcade style racing and its dramatic— if a little cheesy— story cutscenes. 2005's Need For Speed: Most Wanted offers more than enough gritty racing thrills, along with a revenge plot. The player is tasked with rising through the ranks of the coveted Blacklist to take back the car that was stolen from them.
Though Most Wanted received a pretty good remake in 2012, the original 2005 release still beats it out. Offering the player an open world to explore and the satisfaction of taking down every top racer that has taken from them gives this game an undeniable early Fast and Furious feel.
3 Driver: San Francisco Redeemed The Franchise That Put "Driving Games With Stories" On The Map
Arguably the best example of racing games with engaging plots, Driver: San Francisco gives the player an extremely engaging plot and a unique driving mechanic to engage with. Taking place after the events of (the extremely disappointing) Driv3r, players control FBI agent John Tanner who falls into a coma after a vehicle chase.
After awakening, Tanner gains access to the Shift ability. The Shift ability allows the player to take over other cars on the road, and the game uses this in a variety of interesting ways. The racing is well done and the plot is engaging and a little convoluted, which is the hallmark of any Fast and Furious plot.
2 MotorStorm Is Fast & Furious Meets Mad Max
If pure chaos is what you crave, then 2006's MotorStorm has more than enough. Admittedly, this game may lean a bit closer to Mad Max than Fast and Furious regarding its dirtier presentation and the fact that the game focuses more on chaotic off-road racing and multiple crashes per race.
Even so, the game has an undeniable Fast and Furious feel with the variety of vehicles that there are to choose from and the different stats that each vehicle has, meaning that there is a bit more strategy to MotorStorm than meets the eye. When it comes to the unrealistic, blood-pumping action of later Fast and Furious races, no other game comes close.
1 Need For Speed: Underground 2 Remains The Gold Standard For Street Racing Games
Potentially the quintessential racing game akin to Fast and Furious has to be the revered Need for Speed: Underground 2. It gives a dramatic plot, involving the player almost being killed and returning with a vengeance to earn the title of best racer in the area, and giving the player a significantly increased upgrade system than in the first Underground game in regards to both visual and performance.
From the car collecting, to the robust upgrades, to the satisfaction felt when the player finally uproots the corrupt racing crew, Need for Speed: Underground 2 quite literally feels like a playable Fast and Furious movie.