History NintendoHard / RacingGames

* ''VideoGame/CobraTriangle'' is possibly the most evil vehicle-based game that ever came out for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem (except for the vehicle-based stages of ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'', which resemble it greatly). A boat racing game in theory, there were a number of levels in which you had your boat doing everything from protecting random swimmers to ''jumping over waterfalls''. Most player never even get past the giant fire-breathing dragon.

* The ''VideoGame/JetMoto'' series for the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation. Large numbers of ruthless opponents, lots of sharp turns, {{Marathon Level}}s, BottomlessPits everywhere, etc., not to mention a lot of confusing course designs that usually takes a few laps to get a handle on.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Juiced}} 2: Hot Import Nights'', the ultimate upgrades for each class have to be unlocked by winning a lap against a far superior vehicle. Some are easier, as the faster vehicle has poor handling, whereas others are frustratingly hard. The best power upgrade challenge pits you against a nitro equipped Zonda F on a track with two long straights and two hairpins. Yeah... NO.

* In ''Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights'', the ultimate upgrades for each class have to be unlocked by winning a lap against a far superior vehicle. Some are easier, as the faster vehicle has poor handling, whereas others are frustratingly hard. The best power upgrade challenge pits you against a nitro equipped Zonda F on a track with two long straights and two hairpins. Yeah... NO.

* ''VideoGame/DaytonaUSA'', which combines ridiculously tight time limits with aggressive AI and difficult turns. THe player is expected to learn how to powerslide, something that is usually ''not'' associated with games inspired by UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}}.
* Its SpiritualSuccessor, ''NASCAR Arcade'', isn't any better. Powersliding from ''Daytona USA'' games cannot be used in ''NASCAR Arcade'' due to physics change, and time extensions in this game are not done with checkpoints. Instead, you have to reach target positions to get more time. It's easy to slipstream past the tail end of opponents, but as you progress further you'll encounter smarter opponents. If you crash or otherwise lose speed, completing the race will easily become impossible. This is already hard on the two oval-shaped courses, but apply this mechanic to a technical course, Watkins Glen, and the course easily propels into [[ThatOneLevel That One Course]] territory, even with only 15 opponents instead of 30.

* ''NASCAR Arcade'' by SEGA seems like your typical SEGA racing game, this time, with a UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} license. The catch? Time extensions in this game are not done with checkpoints. Instead, you have to reach target positions to get more time. It's easy to slipstream past the tail end of opponents, but as you progress further you'll encounter smarter opponents. If you crash or otherwise lose speed, completing the race will easily become impossible. This is already hard on the two oval-shaped courses, but apply this mechanic to a technical course, Watkins Glen, and the course easily propels into [[ThatOneLevel That One Course]] territory, even with only 15 opponents instead of 30.

* ''VideoGame/DaytonaUSA'', which combines ridiculously tight time limits with aggressive AI and difficult turns.

** Like a Lighting is a hard-as-hell draft mission in where you must draft your opponents to to reach 400 KM/H (250 MPH) '''12 TIMES''' and maintaining a average speed of 385 KM/H (239 MPH) in a Mercedes-Benz C11 LMP1 Group C car and then finish first!.

** To elaborate, there are three main single-player modes. Can you master them all? 1) beat all 5 Grand Prix cups on the Master difficulty. This is very hard. 2) beat all 10 story chapters on the Very Hard. This is extremely hard. 3) unlock all the staff ghosts in time trial and beat them, which is "don't even think about doing this" hard. Also, some sick dev decided to set up a bunch of interview questions and responses... each of 41 characters has over a dozen to answer, and only one is given each time you win a four race cup with that player). Getting even ''most'' of them together is a [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/560617/26083 team effort]].

** Unless the ''[=DiRT=]'' game happens to be ''[=DiRT Rally=c'' specifically, which rivals ''RBR'' in unflinching realism and punishing difficulty, without even giving the player a proper Rally School tutorial to learn the techniques required to attain acceptable stage times like ''RBR'' does! And to top it all off, several of the cars have very different drivetrain layouts, each with different handling characteristics. [[DamnYouMuscleMemory Have fun going from a FF Mini to the RMR Lancia Stratos in the very next car class!]].
* ''[[VideoGame/RidgeRacer Ridge Racer Unbounded]]'': The Ridge Racer answer to F-Zero GX. Winning any single race can be extremely difficult due to its insane Rubberband AI. While winning is not always the case, you must win sometimes to get 15,000 points and three stars. No matter what car you choose, the game can get incredibly frustrating to the point it makes the game nearly impossible to beat. It easily makes you want to RageQuit a lot.

** Unless the ''[=DiRT=]'' game happens to be ''[=DiRT Rally=c'' specifically, which rivals ''RBR'' in unflinching realism and punishing difficulty, without even giving the player a proper Rally School tutorial to learn the techniques required to attain acceptable stage times like ''RBR'' does! And to top it all off, several of the cars have very different drivetrain layouts, each with different handling characteristics. [[DamnYouMuscleMemory Have fun going from a FF Mini to the RMR Lancia Stratos in the very next car class!]]

** Unless the ''[=DiRT=]'' game happens to be ''[=DiRT Rally=]'' specifically, which rivals ''RBR'' in unflinching realism and punishing difficulty, without even giving the player a proper Rally School tutorial to learn the techniques required to attain acceptable stage times like ''RBR'' does! And to top it all off, several of the cars have very different drivetrain layouts, each with different handling characteristics. [[DamnYouMuscleMemory Have fun going from a FF Mini to the RMR Lancia Stratos in the very next car class!]]

* The ''VideoGame/WipeOut'' series is primarily known (and remembered) for its many [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNSNHiCmA7A Those Levels]] - sharp corners (bonus points if they're blind as well), chicane series and hairpins are often the reasons why. And the ThatOneLevel (s) start appearing in some cases as soon as the third or fourth track(s). Combine this with challenges that can get to NintendoHard levels themselves (the "Combo" challenges in the earlier games are especially prone to this) as well as game-specific factors (whether it is the earlier games' DifficultySpike, Fusion's LuckBasedMission or HD's HarderThanHard AI) and the result is that one has to master absolutely every single mechanic in the games in order to 100 % them.

** One test in particular, from ''[=GT4=]'', involves doing a lap around the Nürburgring Nordschleife -- a 20 km track -- behind a slow pace car that must not be hit or overtaken. Not only is it very difficult, but it shows up twice in the game as some of the final tests before getting the top two licenses. The Super License version has you in a much faster car (much, ''[[UpToEleven much]]'' faster if you're playing the Japanese version). A guide on Website/GameFAQs says "You don't stand a chance at getting Gold on this test unless you have the entire ring memorized. There aren't any tricks or cheats on this course -- you just have to be good to do it. So practice."

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'' may as well be the poster child of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard for the entire franchise. The AI on 150cc will always catch up to you at some point and can even stay ahead of you unless you play aggressively with the power sliding mechanics. The AI can also clip through course obstacles except for walls, so this means that obstacles like pipes, Thowmps, Cheep Cheeps, and others will hassle you, but never the AI. The AI also has unlimited items and can use them at will while you're limited to picking up items from item panels. If the AI controls Mario or Luigi, they will have ''unlimited stars'', which means they can become invincible AND even faster than usual at will!
*** The enemy AI is just the icing on the cake. The real bulk of the soul-shattering difficulty comes from the [[MalevolentArchitecture horrifically sadistic]] [[NoOSHACompliance track design]], with a ''very'' tight and dense concentration of traps, solid walls, 90 degree+ turns and BottomlessPits. Special mention goes to [[ThatOneLevel Rainbow Road]], an isolated stretch of track with no railings whatsoever. Good luck beating all the tracks to unlock 150cc mode, let alone [[ThisIsGonnaSuck playing them on it]].
** ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' has a ton of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard moments. It doesn't matter if you jumped half the track from Rainbow Road or the wall in Wario's Stadium, the computer always catches up to you. In Bowser's Castle, the opposite is true: If you fall from first place and lose sight of the current first place, you will never catch up to it.
** ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii is especially infamous for this as the increase of Racers from eight to twelve on Tracks results in a crazy spike in difficulty compared to previous games, there are horror stories from people who get in dead last because of a Blue Shell, Pow Block ect. not to mention the utterly insane means of unlocking characters and karts.

* ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' has a ton of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard moments. It doesn't matter if you jumped half the track from Rainbow Road or the wall in Wario's Stadium, the computer always catches up to you. In Bowser's Castle, the opposite is true: If you fall from first place and lose sight of the current first place, you will never catch up to it.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'' may as well be the poster child of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard for the entire franchise. The AI on 150cc will always catch up to you at some point and can even stay ahead of you unless you play aggressively with the power sliding mechanics. The AI can also clip through course obstacles except for walls, so this means that obstacles like pipes, Thowmps, Cheep Cheeps, and others will hassle you, but never the AI. The AI also has unlimited items and can use them at will while you're limited to picking up items from item panels. If the AI controls Mario or Luigi, they will have ''unlimited stars'', which means they can become invincible AND even faster than usual at will!
** The enemy AI is just the icing on the cake. The real bulk of the soul-shattering difficulty comes from the [[MalevolentArchitecture horrifically sadistic]] [[NoOSHACompliance track design]], with a ''very'' tight and dense concentration of traps, solid walls, 90 degree+ turns and BottomlessPits. Special mention goes to [[ThatOneLevel Rainbow Road]], an isolated stretch of track with no railings whatsoever. Good luck beating all the tracks to unlock 150cc mode, let alone [[ThisIsGonnaSuck playing them on it]].

* The aptly-named ''VideoGame/HardDriven'' is one of the earliest examples at driving simulation, and as such you are expected to take corners as you would in real life, and take on very difficult stunts such as loops. Crashing will cost you a lot of time because you have to turn the key to start the car again.