Combat and kart-style racers

Some racers add a second game on top of the race: a way to hit, block or take out your rivals. Speed still matters, but so does what you do with the pickup in your hand.

Item racers

The Mario Kart series (Nintendo) began with Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo in 1992. Item boxes on the track give power-ups such as speed boosts, shells and banana peels. Items are chosen based on the racer's position, so players further back tend to get stronger items. Battle mode takes the same items into an arena, where each player starts with three balloons and loses one per hit.

Contact as a weapon

• Takedowns. Burnout 3: Takedown (2004) introduced Takedowns, where you ram an opponent into a crash. Burnout 2 (2002) introduced Crash mode, where the aim is to cause as much damage as possible in traffic.
• Demolition derby. Wreckfest includes demolition derby, where the last car running wins.
• Ship weapons. WipEout includes weapon pickups collected from pads on the track, such as missiles and mines, and its modes include Eliminator and Combat.
• Collision attacks. In F-Zero, machines can attack each other by colliding.

Playing smart

• Learn what each pickup does and when it is more useful. Holding it for the right moment beats using it immediately.
• Tucking in behind a rival gives you a speed boost in games with slipstreaming.
• Clean driving usually matters. Bumping rivals costs speed for you as well.
• In derby modes, protect your weakest corner and pick targets that are already damaged.