Who doesn't like powerslides?

Okay, it's not powersliding, but I love classic Ford Escorts. So the picture stays.

Ever wondered why arcade racers like Project Gotham, Ridge Racer, Sega Rally, Outrun, or Mario Kart are so much more fun than a more realistic racing sim in the vein of Gran Turismo? One word. Powerslides. Long, lustrous, countersteery drifts. Think about it. There are very few feelings in gaming that are more satisfying than the sense of reward garnered from wrestling a pretend car with far too much power around a tight corner in a maelstrom of squealing tyres, protesting engines and tyre smoke.

It makes you feel like a driving god.

As far as I understand, Namco are the people who understood this first. They may not have been, it was more than likely SEGA, given their history of arcade innovation, but Ridge Racer is certainly the first racer that I played where drifting was the central mechanic, and nobody, as far has I am concerned has done drifting better. The feeling of the car pivoting around the front wheels while the rear wheels lose traction is better in Ridge Racer than in any other arcade racer. Only Sega Rally comes close. It may not be realistic, but it sure as hell is a lot of fun.

So why can't that sort of thing translate into a sim?

It's a question I've been asking myself since I worked my way through Gran Turismo 2 and continued asking as I worked my way through Gran Turismo 4 then Forza 3. Like many people, I'd come to think of racing sims as fun yet sterile. All four wheels in line, point the car and press the accelerator, braking occasionally when a turn came up. And worst of all, no big drifts unless you do something really silly. When you do get a drift on, the revs drop and slow you down as the tyres bite or the game hooks in another gear and the car snaps back into line.

Not very exciting really.

Then I bought Forza 4, and disappointed with the experience, I started delving into the menus. I don't actually know how many people have found this out for themselves, probably everyone but me, but it turns out that I'd been missing so much.. Are you having those fun killing problems from revs dropping with a big drift? Turn off the traction control! Game hooks in a new gear when you're spinning up? Turn off the automatic gears. You're not an old dear behind the wheel of a Nissan Micra, you're a twenty something racer behind the wheel of a digital Skyline. Start acting like it. If you've never turned off the driver aids before, you absolutely have to give it a go. It's transformative.

Turn off the driver aids and begin to rely on your skills as a gamer and Forza 4 becomes a whole new game. With the driver aids on, something modest (in gaming terms) like a TVR Tuscan is a relative pussycat. Turn them off and, I'm not exaggerating here, that pussycat of a Tuscan mutates into a fire breathing monster. One that is absolutely intent on killing you. Cornering in a Tuscan with the traction control off is a hair raising experience. It's like four wheeled ballet. Brake to the apex, the weight transfers to the front wheels, turn in and the rear end immediately breaks traction and spins up. The revs climb and there's no TC to back it off, the control is all under your trigger finger. Gas it, let the wheels spin and countersteer. With a bit of practice you can hover at the very edge of control, balancing the car on the throttle over the cavernous precipice of a spin. It's exhilarating, and crucially, it results in beautiful Ridge Racer style powerslides out of the corner.

And as we all know, powerslides are the basis of all racing game fun.

Manual gears are crucial of course. You don't want the game changing gear when the car hits the redline do you? It'll end your glorious powerslide. People worry with manual that they won't know when to change gears. You will. Do you drive a car? Then it's instinctive. Even if you don't and you've just played a lot of racers, you'll know by the sound when to change. You've been listening to games doing it for you for perhaps hundreds of hours, it'll be down in your subconcious somewhere. If you're worried about when to change down when you're braking, think of it like this. If you're on the brakes, change down, it's as simple as that. If you're braking really hard, change down again. You may not be instantly good at it, but with practice, it becomes second nature.

If I haven't said this enough already, turning off the driver aids will transform a racing sim and make it as rewarding and enjoyable as any powersliding arcade racer out there. It takes some practice, but if you've ever finished in first place in any racing game, then it's not beyond you and the payoff for all the practice is so, so worth it. I've found out that racing sims aren't any less fun than arcade racers. I've just been playing them all wrong.