Mixing the original GT's trendsetting format with GT Sport's stern but very successful focus on competitive online racing, Gran Turismo 7 makes a few errors but is a potent podium performance from developer Polyphony Digital.
Grid Legends is a sure step up from Grid 2019 – and its new story mode that looks all the way back to 2002's TOCA Race Driver is a cute and effective flex for a racing series with such history – but it's definitely treading water in some core areas.
Forza Horizon 5 is the result of a racing studio at the peak of its craft and the best open-world racing game available.
Cruis'n Blast is an endearingly earnest arcade racing time capsule, but it's also a very lean package that struggles to disguise its origins as a wafer-thin 2017 arcade cabinet.
Carefully detailed, highly customisable, and buoyantly uncynical, Hot Wheels Unleashed is a surprising and brilliant arcade racer.
Skatebird is a cute and original arcade skating game supported by great music, but the skating itself is crude, the objectives are boring, and the camera is a regular hassle.
Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is easy to pick up and play but it simply doesn't have the content or the atmosphere to truly go the distance.
WRC 10 is another successful example of KT Racing's commitment to fantastic stage design and frantic, fast-paced, and occasionally unforgiving fun.
F1 2021 is the best-looking and most customisable instalment of series so far and, while it's a little plain, the new story mode is a well-executed and fun new addition.
Operation: Tango is a clever and appealing take on a co-op spy experience, although it's short and not really as replayable as it may appear.
Biomutant has a lot of the building blocks of a top-drawer action RPG but its cookie-cutter approach to objectives and puzzles starts feeling very repetitive very early on.
MotoGP 21 is a good year for new riders to hop on but it hasn't particularly distanced itself much from MotoGP 20.
Monster Energy Supercross 4 has no time for beginners, but it's also an inessential upgrade for fans of Supercross 3.
Rainbow Studios has been behind some great racers over the years, but Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 isn't one of them.
Rich, rewarding, and highly replayable, Hitman 3 is one of the barcoded butcher's best appearances.
Dirt 5 isn't particularly deep, but it's fast, frantic, extremely handsome, and buoyed by a superb stunt track editor.
The graphics are rough and it's lean on content, but Monster Truck Championship's simulation-style approach works well.
Oozing with 1930s atmosphere, Mafia: Definitive Edition is a successful rejuvenation of the best story in the series.
WRC 9's incredible stages make it easy to recommend to series first-timers, although it's not a huge leap from WRC 8.
High on speed and low on polygons, Hotshot Racing is a fun, old-school ode to the golden era of early '90s 3D racers.