Before we start, this one gets through even though it's a bit of a stretch to call it a sports game. It's motorsport, ok? Close enough. The gaming press and public went all fuzzy with excitement when Codemasters reworked the Colin McRae franchise with DiRT, taking the serious discipline of hurtling through a forest at deadly speeds in the middle of the night and turning it into a flashy, X Games-like take on the motorsport. They threw in dirt buggies and trucks and all manner of sideshow activities, but not everyone was equally amused - for many longtime fans of the series, this was a severely misdirected step. We loved the brutal, lonely nature of the classic Colin McRae games, and this pop restructuring took away from that feeling. This is one of the list entries which is more about the overall feel of the game, not necessarily the actual handling itself. There have been better, more precise, more realistic vehicle physics models, including the seminal DiRT 3. But Colin McRae 2005 delivered by creating what felt like a genuine depiction of the rally experience. It's meant to feel miserable at times - long, gruelling multi-stage events where your poor Subaru Impreza STI is barely holding together and you've chosen the wrong tyres for the terrain, but you have to make do, push through, or you're stranded in the Australian outback. Handling was unforgiving, and on the higher difficulty settings it was a relentless and tiring game, but that's what made it great. The DiRT direction still has elements of this, but it's all so glossy and Hollywood these days that we've lost the essence of proper "man and machine vs nature and the elements" rally racing.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
