Alistair

Jak X: Combat Racing.  While I initially was set to dislike it (since it turned one of my favorite PS2 franchises into a racing game), when I actually bought it and played I had a blast.  Both the racing/combat were great and the story stayed true to it's roots.

While I got over my dislike of Hydro Thunder when I finally beat it after nearly 2 decades, I have too much frustration with it to truly like it..........it was what started my dislike of the genre in the first place.

I see! I'm not a big fan of racing games either. Like you, I had a blast playing mario kart. The only other racing game I ever played extensively was an old Burnout game on PS2. Aaaah, good times ^~^

race games are tough to do well. there's a line you gotta thread between realism and weirdness. you either go one way or another. or you're like Burnout or Flat Out and you just skip robes while balancing on that line. (Just look up anything about a Flat Out game, it's good.)