The spectacular crashes that the series became known for also made their debut here, albeit without a dedicated ‘Crash Mode’. Though lacking in features and finesse in comparison to later games in the series – which did well to refine the basic risk vs reward factor of gaining boost with dangerous moves such as driving on the wrong side of the road – this was a strong opening for the Burnout series, which went on to become a big influence on other games even the ‘dangerous driving’ aspect of gathering boost can be seen in games such as Forza Horizon, which give players points as they build combos by chaining together risky manoeuvres. It’s hard to believe that the original Burnout is now more than 20 years old when it arrived, the racing game world was mostly split between serious, more simulation-esque driving games and cartoony kart racers – more arcade style racers were decidedly thin on the ground. A real outlier, but a genuinely brilliant game that really should be made available again. Its lack of availability is perhaps due to the amazing licensed soundtrack, which used songs such as Crash by The Primitives and Gold by Spandau Ballet to hilarious, compelling effect. Special combos, power ups, crazy weather effects and gameshow-style events all feature, with the pinball-esque, physics-based destruction being unbelievably addictive. Taking the crash modes and Takedowns of other Burnout games and placing them in a top down viewpoint, players drive their chosen vehicle to a busy intersection and cause as much carnage as they can in a strict time limit, with extra explosions and aftertouch granted as cars pile up.
However, it’s definitely worthy of inclusion on the Best Burnout Games list, despite the change in style and content. It’s sadly no longer available either, so unless you were fortunate enough to purchase it back when it was on sale, there’s actually no way you can play this title. Burnout Dominator – 2007 (PS2/PSP)Ī digital-only release, Burnout Crash! is the least ‘traditional’ game in the series on this list.
Though the budget causes the game to be pretty stripped down feature-wise, that lends it a real arcade simplicity that had been slightly lacking in the later games in the Burnout series. Though created on a much lower budget than most other Burnout titles – which means that it even lacks in-game music – Dangerous Driving is an excellent example of a back-to-basics approach paying dividends for the franchise, which continually added on elements, sometimes detrimentally, to the basic and addictive arcade racing formula.įeaturing the option to race against AI or online players, Dangerous Driving even features Takedowns which increase Nitro boosts for the player it really does feel like a ‘lost’ Burnout entry from a simpler time. Fully intended as a spiritual sequel to the Burnout games – the last of which is, unbelievably, 2008’s Burnout Paradise, though it was remastered in 2018 (and for Switch as recently as 2020) – Dangerous Driving was created by Three Fields Entertainment, a development team headed up by three members of the original Burnout team. Well, here’s the thing: Dangerous Driving is a Burnout title in all but name. Wait…what? Isn’t this the list of the Best Burnout Games? What is this imposter doing here?