5. TrackMania Nations Forever
Not the most obvious choice, admittedly. But have you seen this thing move? Excrement and shovels have got nothing on this little baby.In normal gameplay it can look like anyother racer. Ah, but once you work out how to get the most from it, you can create an amazing sense of speed.
The best way to do this is to create a 'forward' track. All the player needs to do is push forwards to make the car accelerate. The rest is all taken care of by impeccable track design, resulting in something that isn't just fast, it's downright insane.
The worst thing you can do on a course like that is try to drive it. A single tap on left or right will make the whole thing impossible to complete. Best to just strap in, sit back, and watch the speedy spectacle.
How fast you actually go: About 200mph. So... about as fast as a regular F1 car. Or as fast as the fastest wood-built roller coaster's top speed and the fastest metal rollercoaster's top speed combined - which is a pretty good description of how the thing plays.
How fast it feels: With things passing this close by, easily 400mph. Fast enough that you wouldn't want to lean out the window, at any rate.
4. Sonic Unleashed
Unsurprising, really, that a Sonic game would make the list. And not just because I'm a Sonic fan. He happens to be known for being the fastest thing alive. And, if this list is anything to go by, that's very true as he's the last (only) fleshy being on this list. Still, he lives up to his reputation here. Whatever the Werehog may have done to the game's reputation, the fact remains that the daytime stages in Sonic Unleashed feature some of the fastest, most breathtaking scenes in any game ever. Look at this speedrun and try to remember to blink:
Not half bad, eh? The problem with speed of that nature and graphical quality is that it takes a long time to program. That's why the Werehog exists at all - to pad out the game so that you're not paying for half an hour of awesome action. Honestly, I'd rather pay £40 for an hour-long game that's amazing and I can enjoy countless times again than a 15-hour game with 14 hours of padding. Hopefully Sonic Colors will be this cool all of the time.
How fast you actually go: You don't get any real indication that Sonic breaks the sound barrier, but he can run that fast - it's what turned him blue. So let's say he's hit his stride at 500mph. That's the combined speed of 33 hedgehogs running at top whack. If they were to curl into a ball and roll down a hill, it would be a different story, of course.
How fast it feels: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Don't let me die - I have so much left to give!"
