Vroom, vroom: these are the best racing titles for Android

Rachel Mogan

from Android Central RSS Feed on 2022-01-12 14:30 (#5TY1V)

Speed your way past the competition in these outstanding racers for Android!

We've rounded up the best racing games found in the Google Play Store. With so many options to choose from, we've compiled a list that covers a whole slew of sub-genres - from stylized arcade racing to highly realistic racing sims - so no matter your preference, you should find an outstanding game that's right for you.

And if you want some great games in other genres, we have our list of the best Android games, too. Ready? Let's hit the road!

The games

Asphalt 9: Legends

Asphalt 9: Legends is the latest entry in one of the most popular racing titles games available in the Google Play Store. It skips all pretensions of realism and provides an over-the-top, high-octane experience with all the fixings. Players can work (or pay) their way through the career mode to unlock new rides or upgrade the ones they have. You can race against online opponents in eight-car races that are wild and fast.

The controls default to "TouchDrive," which allows you to focus on shifting lanes to hit specific jumps or routes, drifting, and using nitro while the game itself handles your acceleration and steering. There are other control options available, including on-screen controls and tilt-steering, but honestly, you're best off playing with TouchDrive on to start until you get a handle on the game.

The incredibly polished graphics and outstanding soundtrack make Asphalt 9 an adrenaline trip you won't soon forget.

Download Asphalt 9: Legends (Free w/IAPs)

Asphalt 9: Legends

Free w/ IAPs on Google Play

Asphalt is one of the best-racing franchises for mobile that features high-octane racing with over 50 of the world's top racing cars. There's a full career mode to enjoy with wild arcade-style racing action.

Beach Buggy Racing 2

Beach Buggy Racing 2 is like classic Mario Kart or Diddy Kong Racing (who remembers that??). It's a cart racer with power-ups and intense competition through wacky environs as you race to the top. But there's a bit more content here to enjoy and work toward than the classic game style.

Not only can you collect cars and drivers - and there's a lot there, for sure - but you can level up your power-ups, which there are plenty to choose from. There are a lot of game modes, including an online competitive multiplayer, so you'll have more than enough to do.

Beach Buggy Racing 2 is a fun racing experience and evocative of the classics above. Though it's free-to-play, it's not super invasive with its monetization, and since the game is so much fun, I don't feel bad about supporting the developer. You're just paying to speed up in-game progress.

Beach Buggy Racing 2

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

Beach Buggy Racing 2 brings you back to the good ol' days of console cart racing games. It's cute, fun, and it's just a great time all around.

CSR Racing

CSR Racing is a clean-cut drag racing game. Players needn't worry about steering - all you have to do is perfectly time your gear changes. Indicators tell when to make your next shift, and assuming your timing is up to snuff and your ride is amply upgraded, you should pull across the finish line before your opponent and earn some winnings.

Premium currency can be used to buy high-end cars, while the standard currency can be used to purchase the others and upgrade specific parts such as the gearbox, engine, intake, and body.

There are a couple of other racing games in this franchise including CSR Racing 2 and CSR Classics, but the first is still the best in our books.

CSR Racing

Free w/ ads, IAPs at Google Play Store

CSR Racing boils down to drag racing to pure twitch reflexes. Featuring over 100 licensed cars that can all be upgraded and customized, how far will you make it on the World Tour?

Data Wing

Another incredibly enjoyable game that's 100% free with no-nonsense: Data Wing is a racing adventure through pure neon style. The striking visual styling makes me love every minute I've spent with Data Wing. The touch controls are absolutely on point and incredibly sharp, the levels look amazing, and it's got a good skill ceiling.

There's a fun story behind Data Wing, a bit like the original Tron in some ways. You'll probably finish it pretty quick, but it's entertaining to go back and do it all over again. There's high replay value here. That soundtrack is pretty great, too.

I love everything about Data Wing, and it lacks the downsides and caveats I usually have to note. This is free, with no ads or IAPs.

Data Wing

Free at Google Play Store

Another excellent freebie, Data Wing, is a gorgeous racing adventure that takes obvious cues from Tron's neonscape. It's a brilliant little game and worth playing.

Dirt Trackin 2

Dirt Trackin 2 is the sequel to the excellent Dirt Trackin (of course). It may not be quite the looker like some of the other games on this list, but it has a solid gameplay foundation, some variety, and races versus AI and other players. Plus, it has simple yet tight controls, which is all you can ask for in any racing game.

There's plenty of customization, five car models to choose from, a career mode, and PvP. You also have time trials and some other modes to play. This is a fun game to play to kill some time.

Dirt Trackin 2

$4 at Google Play Store

Dirt Trackin 2 is a fun racing game with plenty of customization and plenty to do. It may not look the best, but it has a solid foundation.

#Drive

This game stands out from other racing games because it blends high-speed car chases with the best elements from the endless runner genre. Immediately, you're drawn in by the excellent art style that uses procedurally generated maps to plot out the curbside attractions and towns you must pass through on your outlaw tour. Of course, you'll need to become a skilled driver to collect all the bottle caps as you go, which are spent on unlocking your choice of 29 uniquely cool vehicles. Completing the ambiance is your anonymous sidekick, who reminds you every time you pass a gas station and comment on every near miss.

Although endless runners are often casual games, the touch controls require your full attention with quick inputs used to drive your car through tight spots. Each vehicle you unlock has its own speeds and handling, but you can master each one as you achieve them and race across the three terrains - deserts, snow, and jungle - each with five cities to tour through. The free version you download from the Play Store includes ads that you can watch to extend a run - or you can pay a one-time in-app purchase to remove ads and get permanent in-game bonuses.

#Drive

Free w/ ads, IAPs at Google Play Store

This is an endless driving game where you're on the run across multiple counties. All you have to do is keep your car fueled up and avoid crashing while outrunning the police - easier said than done!

Grand Prix Story

Grand Prix Story is another racing sim, though different in function and form from Motorsport Manager Mobile 3. This pixel art adventure is more cutesy and fun - much less serious than MMM3. You're still in charge of a racing team instead of as a singular driver, but some of you might prefer that. If so, read on.

Realism isn't what's important here; it's about having a fun time with a great art style. Since you're the manager, it's up to you to recruit and train drivers, build sponsorship deals, and ensure that your team wins as much as possible. Build new cars and parts to ensure you succeed.

Grand Prix Story is a one-time purchase with no ads or microtransactions. It's just a wholesome, quirky, and fun experience that puts you in the manager's chair.

Grand Prix Story

$5.49 at Google Play Store

Another racing sim, Grand Prix Story, takes a more whimsical and less realistic approach. Enjoy the cute art style while you manage a team to ultimate victory!

GRID Autosport

GRID Autosport brings console-quality racing to Android with no compromises in terms of graphics or gameplay. The game offers some of the best-rendered graphics and textures that I've seen from a mobile game. The physics engine is dynamic, and you'll see real-time damage on your vehicle as you swap paint with opponents in the corners.

There are over 100 cars to drive and an equal number of tracks to race across a wide range of disciplines - from open-wheel and touring circuits to street drag races and more arcade-style demolition races. GRID Autosport also lets you choose how to race with scalable difficulty allowing for an easier and more arcade-style experience for casual gamers or ramped-up difficulty for fans yearning for a pure racing simulation.

While the game does offer nice flexibility for touchscreen controls, you'll want to take advantage of the support for the Bluetooth controller. It's simply better with a physical controller, and if you need to find one for mobile gaming we've got you covered.

Unfortunately, there's a lack of support for the NVIDIA Shield TV since it should be ideally suited for running a game like GRID, but them's the breaks. GRID Autosport is a premium game but well worth the money if you're looking for the best racing action on Android.

Grid Autosport

$10 at Google Play Store

GRID Autosport is a full-featured racing game for Android that features a massive roster of cars to choose from and a ton of tracks and circuits to burn rubber down. Choose from more traditional racing modes, hit the streets in drag or drift races, or smash 'em up in a demolition derby.

Hill Climb Racing 2

A free-to-play, freemium game like others here, Hill Climb Racing 2 nonetheless presents a fun time racing. It's got a lot of vehicles to unlock, upgrades to purchase, customization for both cars and characters, and a few different game modes (like offline Adventure and Arcade).

As you might have guessed by the name, the game is all about climbing and descending hills as you race others. It's a simple game, but a lot of fun. If you like more whimsical racing games, I suggest checking it out because you won't find much realism here.

Hill Climb Racing 2

Free w/ ads, IAPs at Google Play Store

Hill Climb Racing 2 challenges you to beat everyone to the top and bottom of hills. There are several vehicles to unlock, upgrades to purchase, and customization to explore.

Horizon Chase - World Tour

Horizon Chase is a fun retro-style racer with gameplay reminiscent of the classic 80s arcade racer Pole Position. There's plenty of fun to unfold in Horizon Chase, featuring bright and colorful retro graphics and over 70 tracks spanning 32 cities. You start each race from the back of a 20-car pack and must weave your way past opponents to take the crown. Keep winning to upgrade and unlock up 16 available cars.

You get to play the San Francisco tracks but must pay to unlock the entire game. Given how beautiful and fun this game is, we bet you will. Horizon Chase is an ode to old arcade classics, from Pole Position to Outrun to Cruis'n USA. The soundtrack is just plain awesome, and all of it just makes me feel like a kid again dropping in quarters or booting up my N64.

Horizon Chase World Tour

Free, $4 to unlock full game at Google Play Store

Race through bright and colorful locales in Horizon Chase, a throwback racer that delivers fun arcade action with or without a controller in hand.

Mario Kart Tour

Nintendo making Mario Kart Tour free-to-play is as much a blessing as it is a curse - it means that millions of people can jump in and play without having to pay a dime, but it also means the game has been carefully designed to entice you to subscribe to a monthly Gold Pass and spend on in-app currency to unlock more characters and rewards at a quicker pace.

The gameplay itself is as frantic and chaotic as you'd expect from a Mario Kart game, and it's easily the most fun I've had with a mobile racing game in some time. However, in most aspects, this does look and feel like an authentic Mario Kart experience, complete with item boxes and coins scattered across each course. There are also fun shortcuts to discover, the familiar thrill of victory, and the even more familiar sting of defeat. However, despite the oversimplified controls, invisible bumper rails that prevent you from going off course, and other bizarre limitations that Nintendo has imposed.

In many ways, the only novel aspect of Mario Kart Tour is that it's available to play on smartphones. There are fewer courses and characters available, and to unlock them all would likely require spending cash than it would take to buy the latest Mario Kart game for the Nintendo Switch. But again, you don't need to spend money to enjoy Mario Kart Tour - until you start getting matched up against those players who've spent gobs of it on upgrading their drivers and karts, of course.

Mario Kart Tour

Free w/IAPs on Google Play

Mario Kart Tour lets you play some of your favorite race tracks, along with several new ones, right from your phone. There are plenty of characters, karts, and items to unlock. Compete against others from around the world to see how well you match up!

Motorsport Manager Mobile 3

What if, instead of being the racer, you wanted to manage the racers? Well, Motorsport Manager Mobile 3 does just that. You build up your racing team from scratch and compete in international events to become the best. You control everything, from hiring the drivers to upgrading the cars.

Strategy is the name of the game here, with you even working to have the most efficient pitstop. You'll need to be prepared for anything, including weather changes and crashes. As a result, it's quite the robust game, forcing you to see the whole picture of what goes into a given race.

With the challenge constantly evolving to meet your increasing skills, Motorsport Manager Mobile 3 (what a mouthful) promises less high octane action than some of the other games on this list, instead offering an excellent experience that makes you excited to manage a racing team.

Motorsport Manager Mobile 3

$7.49 at Google Play Store

Step out of the driver's seat and put on your manager's hat. It's time to build up a whole racing team. Control every aspect, down to training and upgrades.

Need for SpeedTM No Limits

It should come as no surprise that Need for Speed, one of the oldest racing game franchises still going strong today, has a pretty awesome mobile game out there with Need for SpeedTM No Limits. With gorgeous graphics, loads of cars and customizations, and options for both touch controls and tilt controls, Need for SpeedTM No Limits is sure to satisfy the adrenaline junkie in all of us.

As with most racing games, the gameplay loop revolves around winning races to get cash, build your notoriety on the street, and upgrade your cars to be tricked-out monsters. However, the development team also keeps a steady stream of events flowing to spice things up and keep players engaged.

Need for SpeedTM No Limits is free with in-app purchases (IAPs). Although it may be free from ads, which is awesome, many players complain that the prevalence of IAPs makes it nearly impossible to acquire more parts for cars by just playing the game rather than dropping a stack of cash. To its credit, though, you can disable IAPs as a standard-setting, making it a safer option for parents with young racing gamers.

Need for SpeedTM No Limits

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

Dominate the underground racing scene with sick cars and skills in Need for SpeedTM No Limits for mobile.

Nitro Nation Drag & Shift

It's hard to believe that I hadn't heard of Nitro Nation Drag & Shift before, especially given its ridiculous name, because it's very popular. So I decided to give it a go and knew almost immediately that it needed to be here in this list, and this is coming from someone who doesn't usually like racing games.

Because, despite some in-app purchases, Nitro Nation, as it will be henceforth called, strays away from the usual freemium pitfalls we see with these types of games (some of which are in this list, go figure). It's just an honest-to-goodness racing game full of drag racing goodness, with IAPs for high-profile cars and in-game currency.

There's an absolute ton to do in Nitro Nation, lots of cars to aspire for, tuning, cosmetics to unlock, and just a bunch. It's almost overwhelming. And without the usual nonsense of energy systems, wait times for upgrades, or anything like that, you can focus on enjoying the experience the game has to offer. I think you'll really like this one.

Nitro Nation Drag & Shift

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

Despite an awkwardly long name, Nitro Nation Drag & Shift is just a good drag racing game with a ton to do, lots of cars and cosmetics to unlock, and some great gameplay to enjoy.

Project Offroad 20

Maybe drag races have finally lost their thrill. Perhaps you're tired of circling the same tracks over and over again. Or maybe these newfangled one-touch racing games have got you down in the dumps. If that's the case, then give Project Offroad 20 a shot!

With its dated environmental graphics, Project Offroad 20 may not excel in the visual department, but it makes up for its shortcomings with an array of options and challenges that you don't find in your everyday mobile racer. There's automotive rock climbing, realistic mud and water physics, a fuel system to keep your eye on, track and hill-climbing modes, and more to keep you engaged and interested. What's more, the customization and vehicle tuning systems add an extra layer of depth, as each change you make to your car will change the way it drives.

The mobile racer genre is flooded with options, and many of them are just more of the same time and time again. So when you're bored of the same old humdrum, give Project Offroad 20 a look and see if it sparks joy.

Project Offroad 20

Free w/ ads, IAPs at Google Play Store

Take your ride into the wilds with Project Offroad 20, an innovative mobile racer with more playable modes than you can shake a stick at.

Rally Fury: Extreme Racing

Rally Fury: Extreme Racing tends to get forgotten thanks to its more ostentatious cousins, like GRID Autosport and CSR Racing. But if you've already played the other titans of the mobile racing genre, then this lowkey racer is an excellent choice for racing game enthusiasts.

Rally Fury is a pretty straightforward racer with a nice level of nuance to keep the gameplay interesting. Using either touch screen or motion controls, you'll need to hone your steering, drifting, and boosting to win. Rally Fury has been kicking around for a while, so it doesn't lean into the one-touch racing concept, which is a tick in the pro column in my book. The touch screen controls are simple and intuitive, but you may need some practice to do well if you're like me.

Despite its age, Rally Fury received yet another update earlier this spring. By now, the game features a variety of tracks, an upbeat soundtrack, and killer audio effects to create an immersive environment. It probably shouldn't be a goal, but it is kind of fun to crash into trees and have your entire screen virtually crack to show just how badly you did.

There aren't many negatives to Rally Fury, but I will say that customization is a little lackluster, and there aren't that many cars to unlock compared to other modern racers. Rally Fury does contain in-app purchases, but honestly, I can't imagine how you would feel like you needed them. By racing and playing the game normally, you can earn a lot of cash to purchase and upgrade your cars without spending real money.

The premium, ad-free version is one whole dollar, but you can play the base version of Rally Fury for free and get just as good of an experience out of it!

Rally Fury: Extreme Racing

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

Rally Fury: Extreme Racing may not have the name recognition that many of its contemporaries have, but the decent graphics, smooth controls, and good physics make this one racing mobile game you won't want to miss!

Real Racing 3

Real Racing 3 is a stunning mobile racing game bound to keep hardcore gearheads entertained. It puts real brand-name cars on real-world tracks - hence the name - and features an interesting asynchronous multiplayer system whereby lap times are recorded from your friends, and you race against a bot that's driving at that time.

Of course, you can bump them out and affect their track time, and there's a single-player career worth playing through too. Over time, players earn new cars and can upgrade various mechanical bits with their winnings, but make sure you take it easy on your car - you'll have to keep your ride in good condition to avoid repair costs.

This being an EA game, you can expect the usual slew of microtransactions on offer, including three different in-game currencies, to accomplish other things. It's a typical EA move and sours an otherwise fun racing game for me.

Real Racing 3

Free w/ ads, IAPs at Google Play Store

Real Racing 3 is gorgeous, and the white-knuckled racing action will keep you coming back for more.

Riptide GP: Renegade

Riptide GP: Renegade is the latest and greatest futuristic jet ski racing franchise on Android. Harkening back to memories of games like Jet Moto or Wave Race 64, Riptide GP: Renegade features a story-driven career mode alongside options to run a quick race or battle against online opponents. The graphics are top-notch, with water and motion blur effects, giving the game a good sense of speed.

It uses tilt-steering to control your hydro jet, which is less than ideal, but Bluetooth gamepads are also supported and make things smoother. Speaking of controls, one key aspect of the game is pulling off insane stunts, which are easy to do with quick swipes. There's plenty to unlock and upgrade as you play through the career mode, and the AI is top-notch, providing a real challenge compared to other racing games for Android. You'll need a pretty good phone to handle the graphics and gameplay, and it also plays wonderfully on the NVIDIA Shield Android TV box.

If you're looking for some tips before diving in, check out our Beginner's Guide for Riptide GP: Renegade.

Riptide GP: Renegade

$3 at Google Play Store

Who's ready to get a little wet? Riptide GP: Renegade is a stylish wave racer that's still one of the best-looking racing games on Android.

Thumb Drift

Want to race but only have one free hand? Thumb Drift is the perfect game for you! It features charming graphics and a simple premise. Your goal is to drift sideways through four increasingly challenging courses. With over 100 cars to buy via in-app purchases or unlock randomly using coins collected on the track or via special tricks, there are hours of mindless fun to be had here.

Thumb Drift is the casual, endless racer you've been waiting for. It's not exactly the most engaging or endearing racing game on this list, especially with how in-your-face the IAPs are, but sometimes a bit of mindless fun is worth the install. There's not much else to Thumb Drift. Give it a shot if it sounds like something you'd enjoy.

Thumb Drift

Free w/ ads, IAPs at Google Play Store

Featuring simple, one-thumb controls, Thumb Drift is a casual endless racing game that features over 100 cars to unlock and drift through six unique tracks.

Tofu Drifter

My real-life love of tofu probably makes me biased about this game, but Tofu Drifter is a hidden gem of a drifting game. The concept is as simple as it is strangely specific, you play as a tofu delivery driver taking orders and then furiously hitting the asphalt to get that tofu to the customer.

The draw here is the gameplay (or the abiding love of tofu, if you're me), which is pretty darn good. Using touchscreen controls in portrait mode, you drift around real-time generated tracks, collecting coins and XP that can be used to upgrade your business. Through it all, you collect new cars, upgrade your office, and improve your business' efficiency, which in turns nets you more tracks and higher maximum order limits. The progression is okay, but it can be a bit of a grind to get to the higher levels.

Tofu Drifter is monetized solely through incentivized ads. There are no in-app purchases or forced ads, which is a massive plus in my book. You can choose to watch ads to speed up in-game functions like the rate at which new orders come in. Overall, Tofu Drifter is a fun little game about drifting to your heart's content, and it accomplishes that goal very well.

Tofu Drifter

Free w/ ads at Google Play Store

An oddball take on the drifting genre, but no less fun, Tofu Drifter is a quirky, beautiful experience that is sure to delight drift fiends everywhere.

Top Speed 2: Drag Rivals

Top Speed was a trendy racing game back in its day, but the sequel takes things up a notch. It comes standard with multiplayer, over 70 cars to unlock, plenty of customization and racing options, and a lot more. It's a racing game that packs in much of what you'd expect, with the only downside being the freemium model.

You play as a disgraced cop who gets into drag racing with the mafia. It sounds pretty weird, but the story takes second place next to the high-octane racing action. You have many cars to choose from as you make a name for yourself and work to be the best driver in the city.

Top Speed 2 offers some good vehicular customization, but it's not without its faults. There are plenty of in-app purchases to be found here. You'll be asked to spend money on "refueling" (the stamina meter), loot boxes for car parts, and upgrades for your cars. It all feels pretty slimy, but the game itself is fun enough.

Top Speed 2: Drag Rivals

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

The sequel to the popular Top Speed brings all the things you loved about the first game, just better. Drive over 70 cars, customize them, and prove yourself the best racer around.

Update January 2022: Added Need for SpeedTM No Limits to our list!

Source	RSS or Atom Feed
Feed Location	http://www.androidcentral.com/rss.xml
Feed Title	Android Central RSS Feed
Feed Link	https://www.androidcentral.com/