San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing

Rush was one of our regular rentals as a kid; we loved the huge jumps, speed, car damage, insane crashes and explosions. There wasn't anything like it on the N64 at the time. You quickly learn that destroying your car is as much a part of the game as the racing, as you're placed back near the front of the pack after each spectacular crash (unless you have the macabre-sounding "deaths" option turned on, in which case the game is over).

Driving and handling is Daytona-like, but perhaps even more stiff. Steering and braking is almost entirely ineffective, meaning your best option most of the time is to keep the accelerator on and bounce off the walls. It's odd, though it does promote car damage and show off the physics, which were perhaps up there with those in Top Gear Rally at the time. It can make more difficult tracks frustrating, though, as they're often littered with ninety-degree corners.

Let's not discuss the shudder-inducing music; a monkey given Pro Tools could've composed a better soundtrack.