I'm not a big fan of racing games - I find them a bit too repetitive – but Death Track: Resurrection is an exception to the rule. In fact it's quite original, that is, for a racing game.

Death Track: Resurrection is not just about racing down all the tracks in the game and trying to arrive first to the finishing line; it's also about fighting against the other drivers and trying to stay alive in an action-packed race where the first prize is simply survival.

The game lets you choose between several cars and also features a wide range of weapons, though the demo doesn't include them. There are also different gaming modes, but only Challenge and Quick Race modes are available in this demo.

As for gameplay, Death Track: Resurrection is quite easy to control: the four arrow keys to manage your car plus two more keys to shoot against other players. In a way it's a good thing that the car is easy to control, as you also need to concentrate on shooting and gathering all the power-ups scattered along the track. The physics engine is not great - especially when it comes to car damage – but the game's general setting in a somewhat futuristic city looks great: all those gray buildings with huge ads reminded me of Blade Runner. Pity the tracks are so incredibly long: each lap takes years to complete.

Death Track: Resurrection is an original racing game where the important thing is not just arriving first, but also smashing other drivers on your way to the finishing line.

Download Death Track: Resurrection in Softonic

Need For Spped is widely acknowledged as one of the best racing series ever made and Need For Speed Carbon doesn't let down in stunning style and realism.

Need for Speed Carbon is a fast and furious racing game that features both city and canyon racing environments. However, be warned that the download is huge and you'll need a good 5 minutes to let the installation take its course but after you do, you'll think it well worth it. In this demo, you can adapt three main cars - a Chevy Camaro SS, Lamborghini Gallardo and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. Once you are strapped in, you race with three other team mates against 4 Scorpion cars. There is a huge amount of G-Force placed on the cars as they take the bend and you'll find yourself drifting an awful lot. However, this is exactly how you earn points - the more drift, the more points. It is however, almost impossible to beat the lead Scorpion car - they're just too damn quick and one mistake sees you out of the game for good.

A great racing game that has definitely been improved although the gameplay can be so challenging, you want to give up easily.

Download Need for Speed Carbon in Softonic

Racing through the streets of a big city like Paris or London is completely illegal. This is probably why street racing games are so popular these days.

French Street Racing is one of those games, which is set – as you can guess by its name – in the most important cities of France. You're given the opportunity to race those streets with your shiny sports car, competing against other drivers to reach the finishing line in the first position.

Exciting as it sounds the game fell quite short of expectations when I tried it. To begin with, menus are dull and difficult to use. Then, graphics are just fine, but they get blurred and confusing while playing the game. Last, but not least, the game's physics is far from being realistic.

French Street Racing features interesting elements, such as the possibility to customize your car and support for online multiplayer games. It’s a pity though that the whole gaming experience is ruined by the graphic quality and gameplay.

French Street Racing seems a very promising driving game that lets you race along the streets of important French cities. Too bad it still needs lots of development in graphics, gameplay and physics.

Download French Street Racing in Softonic

The game Moto Geeks welcomes you to the world of breathtaking motor-cycle races and formidable opponents. Various effects, splendid graphics and many fantastic routes will not leave you wanting.

You can choose one of the fastest superbikes and drive a race. It won´t be easy though, as there will be some seriously strong opponents waiting to stand in your way to the finish. Watch out for obstacles too and remember to keep within the time limit.

Download Moto Geeks 3.2 in Softonic

Working as a bus driver doesn't sound like an exciting job to me; at least not exciting enough to be part of a game, where you usually play as soldier, detective, mafia member and the likes. But someone must disagree with me as now you can also pretend to be a bus driver in Bus Simulator 2008.

This game puts you behind the steering wheel of a traditional urban bus and challenges you to complete "missions", that is, complete any of the city routes that bus must follow. But the game is not only a driving simulator, meaning you'll have to take care of the business by deciding the price of tickets or renting the vehicle's ad spaces to make them more profitable.

Driving a bus is not as easy as it seems at first sight: not only you have to find your way in an unknown city (note you can open the map with the M key) but you also have to stop at every single bus stop in your route, open and close the doors and follow your way to the next one. Also, don't forget to respect road signs: I didn't stop for any red light (too much GTA IV is seriously affecting my driving style, luckily only the virtual one) and got fired in about 5 minutes.

Graphics in Bus Simulator 2008 are just fine; quite realistic, but certainly not the best ones I've seen. Physics is not very elaborate, especially when it comes to crashing against objects or other cars (hey, don't laugh at me: I'm not that bad at driving, I just have to test everything!). Other than that, it's just an original game that seems as exciting as driving a bus in real life.

The main feature in Bus Simulator 2008 is undoubtedly its originality; apart from that, it's just a standard driving simulator with some business management tools that may entertain you for a short while.

Download Bus Simulator 2008 Demo in Softonic

If you're looking for the traditional PC Formula 1 racing game, this is probably going to disappoint you: not because this is not good piece of software, but because it's not a game in the true meaning of that word.

SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 lets you experiment the sensations of driving a real Formula 1 car, at least as real as you can get it in your PC. You won't need to wear special fireproof clothes or cover your head with a helmet. Still, you'll have to get used to a highly difficult car that tends to go out of track on every single curve.

The simulator is meant to be as realistic as possible, meaning you won't have any help from the "game" like automatic gear system. It's all on your hands so it'll probably take you some time to learn to drive. But once you get the knack of it you'll be able to fully enjoy the experience of driving an F1 car.

As for the rest, SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 is quite a simple game, as it only features one car and one track (the Singapore Grand Prix circuit). The weirdest thing about this simulator is the start menu, which looks more like a standard Windows application than a game in itself.

SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 is not a racing game in the traditional style, but rather an F1 simulator that tries to be as faithful as possible to the real thing, though that makes it quite difficult to master.

Download SingTel Ultimate Race Simulator 2008 1.0.2 in Softonic

Feel like taking part in exciting races all over the world? Then Race Driver: GRID is definitely the game you're looking for.

This amazing game lets you join different racing events in several locations across three continents, always challenging you in various ways: drifting along the streets of a Japanese urban cirtuit, taking part in the DTM series or racing in the Daytona track with a powerful NASCAR vehicle, just to mention the three possibilities made available in the game's demo.

No matter which option you choose, you'll get a glimpse of the game's breath-taking graphics. Cars are designed with such an impressive level of detail that I'm starting to wonder if there's any room left for further improvements in this field. The physics are also faithful to reality, so you better learn fast how to control your car if you don't want to eat all the curves in the track.

Race Drive: GRID includes several camera modes, including one from the inside of the car that shows up loads of details and even changes all the sounds of the game. Another amazing option is the possibility to go back to race after smashing your car by replaying your last few movements before the crash and trying to correct your path.

The Race Drive: GRID demo features the three aforementioned races plus a multiplayer option, which I had some problems to test but finally managed to make it work. My advice though is that you get a bit of training before you try your luck on multiplayer races: it's all full of master players out there.

Though a bit difficult to control at first, Race Drive: GRID is a highly realistic racing game with an interesting multiplayer option that's going to please all motor fans for sure.

Download Race Driver: GRID Demo in Softonic

The game Smart Cars releases an all-absorbing line of arcade races. You drive a racing car and your objective is to be the first at the finish first. The game gives you a feeling of speed and danger. Every level of the game is full of obstacles, which you need to overcome in a limited period of time taking different routes. The obstacles reduce the speed, skid your car or cause a car crash. Your car will encounter different checks in your way. The speed of your car reduces if you take an earth road. You can pick up such bonuses as life, scores, speed, and a gun. Ready to go for it?

Download Smart Cars 2.1 in Softonic

You've probably seen a ton of online racing games already, but Trackmania Nations Forever is quite different from anything you have seen so far.

To begin with, this great game is completely free. No trial periods, no disabled functions, no nagging windows. It's for you to play and enjoy for free, as long as you want, as much as you feel like it. Also, Trackmania Nations Forever is not that much about arriving first to the finish line, but rather about having fun along the way; hence the extensive social component of the game and the incredible jumps and spins you'll be able to perform. Last, but not least, it also enables you to customize the game, featuring a complete editor with which you can create not only tracks, but also design your very own car.

Trackmania Nations Forever includes three different gaming modes (Solo, Online and Party play) which give you a different approach to the game: you can either play against the PC and try to break your personal records, play with friends on the same computer or in a local area network or play against other Trackmania drivers from all over the world with its superb online multiplayer mode. The Solo mode works with a system based on medals (the best your racing times are, the more medals you get and the more tracks you unlock) while the Online mode uses a worldwide ranking to measure players's achievements.

In a way, we could say that the most important element in Trackmania Nations Forever is gameplay. Everything has been carefully planned and designed to be as easy for the player as possible: for example, you can register your profile by simple filling in a two-field form, or control the car with just the arrow keys. This simplicity is what makes the game so much fun and so wickedly addictive.

Despite this apparent simplicity, however, you'll find a very elaborate game. Track and car design are simple, but realistic and very accurate. An excellent soundtrack adds the final touch to a game that, in my opinion, sets a turning point in online racing games.

Trackmania Nations Forever is probably one of the greatest online racing games you'll ever see: fun races, customizable elements, an extensive user community and excellent gameplay.

Download Trackmania Nations Forever 2.11.11 in Softonic

Trial may not be the most popular motor sport but it's definitely a spectacular show with incredible jumps and spins that make our jaws drop. And guess what? You can now reproduce those movements without compromising your physical integrity.

Trials 2 is a realistic trial simulator that puts you in control of a powerful bike and challenges you to complete very varied tracks – all indoor. Tracks are categorized according to difficulty and also to different gaming modes. Though the demo version doesn't include all of them, you can still get a glimpse of what the whole game should be like. There are some tutorial levels as well, but I don't understand how they work, because instead of explaining movements bit by bit (as you would expect from a tutorial) you're just presented with a basic circuit you can use as training. You can also choose between several camera modes, but if I were you I'd stay with Action mode: the other ones are a little confusing.

Trials 2 features an easy gameplay, with only a few keys to learn, but at the same time is quite challenging and difficult to master. Graphics are very detailed and the excellent physics engine contributes to the sensation of realism. However this realism sometimes goes a bit beyond the line, especially when the driver falls from the bike: it always looks like you're on the verge of dying even if you simply crashed at about 5 mph.

If you'd like to test an original motor sport, far from the typical bike and car races, Trials 2 may be the game you're looking for.

Download Trials 2 Second Edition 1.06 in Softonic

If you like your driving games real, high speed and without any kind of flashy special effects, then Driving Speed is for you.

With great handling and some impressive graphics, this is a great driving simulation and best of all, it's for free. Of course, if you're looking for a Need For Speed clone, then look elsewhere because this game is not designed in that vein. The choice of cars is limited to European or Japanese but pick of the bunch is probably the Mustang 68. The overall handling and sound are incredibly realistic for a free game of this type although be careful with the controls because it's hypersensitive to even the mildest movements. As regards the graphics, they're not first class but they do extend to the sound and visual effects of the wind blowing, advertising billboards and grass embankments. The gameplay is simple - you have 11 opponents although you can spice things up by playing against 8 friends over the internet. The icing on the cake is that you can compare your fastest laps with other racers so this is truly a global game.

Racing fans looking for fast thrills and no fuss action will love this game although let's hope the developers add more circuits to it soon.

Download Driving Speed 2 in Softonic

MiniRacingOnline is an addictive and very interesting multiplayer racing game in which you will be able to compete with players of any part of the world. Graphics are pretty basic but it offers a large amount of interesting options to compensate that. For example, you can play with up to 16 players on the Internet and the game shows publication of results automatically, publishing of circuits and cars, ranks, different types from statistics, multiplayer options in a computer, support pad, keyboard and joystick, car specs customization, adjustment of tire types. Enjoy this free racing game with many people on the net.

Download MiniRacingOnline 0.98e in Softonic

Racer is a free cross-platform car simulation project (for non-commercial use), using professional car physics papers to achieve a realistic feeling. Cars, tracks and such can be created relatively easy (compared to other, more closed, driving simulations). The 3D and other file formats are, or should be, documented.

Editors and support programs are also available to get a very customizable and expandable simulator. OpenGL is used for rendering.

Download Racer 0.5.7 Beta in Softonic

Street Challenge is an authentic, free, online multiplayer drag racing simulator. Street Challenge appeals to fans of speed films like "The Fast and The Furious" and "Gone in 60 seconds", gearheads and casual fans of driving games who want to sharpen their skills before they attempt to crush the online competition. Requires an internet connection.

Download Street Challenge 1.352 in Softonic

Project Torque could be defined as a free online clone of Gran Turismo – if PlayStation fanboys would excuse such audacity.

Now, before you start throwing your sixaxis controllers at me for being such a daring reviewer, let me explain: Project Torque is not Gran Turismo, that's right. But it is an awesome online racing game, seasoned with a very attractive social component that's contributed to build a very active user community around the game. Add to that a complete driving license system, several game modes, online competitions and a shop where you can upgrade and customize your car, and you get an excellent game that's definitely worth a try.

Bear in mind, however, that it may take a while before you can actually start taking part in races. First, the game file will download an extra 456 MB patch before allowing you to launch the game. Then, I advise you to follow the tutorial, which teaches you all the basics in less than 5 minutes. And finally, you'll need some time to get used to the game's interface, which looks a bit cluttered with all those available options and tools. One tip: add your favorite MP3 files to the game's music folder and you'll be able to enjoy your favorite music while playing Project Torque.

So how's racing itself? Pretty fun, indeed. The game allows you to drive from different perspectives (inside or outside the car) and in all of them, the level of realism is going to make your jaws drop. This goes also for circuit environment, light effects and physical effects as well, the later being especially noticeable when you bump against a lamppost. Luckily you can repair your car on the spot with the backspace key.

As you unlock tracks, obtain different driving licenses and take part in races against players from all over the world, you'll earn experience points that you can later on invest in your baby, I mean, you car, to make it the fastest machine on earth. Project Torque will also give you the chance of meeting very friendly people online, who you can add to your buddy list. The game features embedded chat and email clients to keep in touch with them.

Project Torque is a free online multiplayer driving game, clearly inspired by Gran Turismo, where you can take part in exciting races, earn experience points, improve your car and have loads of fun!

Download Project Torque in Softonic

It's usually difficult to find high-quality free racing games, but sometimes you do find exceptions to this rule like Moto Race Challenge. This game doesn't offer the official championship bikes or pilots, but at least you can play it absolutely for free.

Graphics are better than we expected, with good response to controls. The motorbike is controlled just with the cursor keys, but don't let this apparent simplicity fool you: it takes some time and practice to master it, especially when accelerating and braking.

You can play offline as much as you want, but if you'd like to join an official race or championship, then you must register as user (it's free). However, bear in mind that you'll have to pass the qualifying series to be allowed to join the race.

Download Moto Race Challenge 08 in Softonic

Those of you who have played Mario Kart on any platform will already be acquainted with Kart n' Crazy, an online kart racing game clearly inspired by the Nintendo popular title.

The first thing I'd like to point out is that this game is completely free: simply register a free account on the developer's webpage, download the client and you're ready to go. As an online game, you may have to download extra patches but it doesn't take long.

Kart n' Crazy definitely met our expectations – and believe me, as a faithful Mario Kart fan, they were high. The game is very funny, features different playing modes to appeal different kinds of gamers and includes also an addictive social component which lets you meet other players and chat with them while speeding along the circuit's bends.

There are two game modes: Speed and Arcade. The first one challenges players to be the fastest on track, while in the second one the aim is to make other players fail on their way to the finishing line by using different weapons you can pick up and use along the race. These weapons are also similar to the ones you find in Mario Kart: the lightning bolt, the turtle, the star that makes you go faster (no bananas though).

Personally, I found the Arcade mode to be much more exciting. I had loads of fun racing and trying to throw other players off the track at the same time. After each race, depending on your position on the final ranking, you're awarded experience points which you can later on use to customize your kart and buy new apparel for your driver.

Now, is there any drawback to this game? Not really. Except the odd connectivity issue (which is reasonable bearing in mind this is the first public release) Kart n' Crazy is an excellent racing game for all ages.

If you like Mario Kart or just kart racing games, you'll love Kart n' Crazy: an online karting game where you can compete against players worldwide to be the fastest pilot in the world – even if you have to kick your competitors off the road!

Download Kart n' Crazy in Softonic

X-Moto is a challenging open-source 2D motocross platform game where realisitic physics effects play an all important role in the gameplay.

You need to take your bike to its limits to make it over the obstacles to become one of the fastest finishers and progress a level.

Download X-Moto 0.4.1 in Softonic

Even if you don't like cars, I'm sure you'd love to drive a Porsche, at least once in your life. Here at Softonic we don't have a Porsche giveaway included in our budget, but at least we can provide you with a racing game where you can experiment how it feels to drive a Porsche – that is, a virtual one.

The Need for Speed: ProStreet Porsche Edition demo puts you behind the wheel of a genuine Porsche sports car and challenges you to race against other pilots in the Porsche's testing track in Leipzig. You can choose between two models (GT2 and GT3RS) and select between different levels of difficulty, which makes the game suitable even for the driving-challenged.

Graphics are as spectacular as you expect them to be in the NFS series. The extraordinary level of detail in cars enables you to see images reflected on their shiny bodywork. Physics are faithfully reproduced, both in the car's movements and in object reaction when hitting against any obstacle on the road – not that I'm a bad driver, it was just for testing purposes.

Though the demo may feel too short (only the two aforementioned cars in two different tracks) the game is quite enjoyable, thanks to a realistic speed sensation and the constant desire to be the fastest pilot on track.

With Need for Speed: ProStreet Porsche Edition you can experience all the sensations produced by driving a Porsche at top speed – only for a short period of time, though.

Download Need for Speed: ProStreet Porsche Edition Demo in Softonic

Hot Racing 2 is a racing game that will leave any motor racing fan gagging for more - great graphics, sound and competition combine to make a great racing game.

The game features twelve cars, 15 quick race tracks and an amazing 50 tournaments so you won't get bored in a hurry. The music and sound effects are excellent and you can choose to play against the computer or friends but not via LAN or the internet. As you take the steering wheel, there are several challenges along the way and bonuses that, if you manage to pick up, boost you on your way to the finish line.

The game combines real 3D photo-realistic graphics and a number of difficulty levels to keep you interested. There really isn't much to fault with the game really although it would have been nice to have had different weather settings, plus more options to customise your car.

Nevertheless, this is a pulsating racing game that packs excellent graphics, realistic sounds and superb gameplay into a great game.

Download Hot Racing 2 in Softonic