RACING
Grid 2
Publisher: Codemasters
Release: May 27
Codemaster's latest racing title offers a three-way split between track, dirt and street - and an ambition to garner wide appeal while delivering a deep driving simulation. Oh, and lovely menus. You can't forget the lovely menus.
Distance
Publisher: Refract Studios
Release: TBC 2013
The developers behind the unique and fun free-to-play racer Nitrionic Rush took to Kickstarter to fund their next project - Distance. Freed from the shackles of a publisher, the studio is aiming to take their futuristic survival racing to the next level.
Race The Sun
Publisher: Flippfly
Release: August
A hazardous landscape is procedurally generated before you as you attempt to keep pace with the globe's orbit and escape the onset of dusk. It's is fast, fun and right now you can play the demo version for free.
Trackmania 2 Valley
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release: July 4
Trackmania's Valley expansion takes the racing-game construction kit off-road, with a slew of dirt tracks and rugged rallies to test your tyres. It isn't the the most outlandish of the Trackmania releases, but it looks a treat.
Trackmania 2 Stadium
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release: February 27
Trackmania 2 Stadium, goes in quite the opposite direction from the grit of Trackmania 2 Valley, introducing ludicrous loops, huge jumps and other stunt-bait to the racing-game construction kit's grab bag of components.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Publisher: Sega
Release: January 31
Until a few years ago you wouldn't have thought Sonic had it in him to create a great racing game – and to be fair, Sumo Digital may have helped a bit. This imaginative, thrillingly fast racer shoves all your Sega favourites – Tails, the cast of Jet Set Radio, er, a Shogun – into one hyperactive karting game, and the result is far more compelling than it has any right to be. The belated PC version added characters from TF2, Total War and Football Manager, as if things weren't weird enough already.
