As I mentioned in my Top Ten Racing Games From The 80's/90's list, The Fast and The Furious had a big impact on my friends and I during the early and mid part of the 2000's.  This movie also affected gaming with so many racing games coming out during this time that focused on street racing.  Every console was pumping out racing games.  I spent a good amount of time playing racing games back then.  Now that I look back on it, I spent a lot of time playing these games.

As with all of my lists, these are my favorite games from this time period that I have played.  There were a lot of racing games that came out during this time and I haven't even come close to playing all of them.  This list is going to focus on games that came out for the Xbox, Playstation 2 and Dreamcast as these are the systems I was playing almost every racing game on (I had a PC and Gamecube but I rarely used them for racing games).  Also, most of these games were on multiple systems so besides the Dreamcast games, everything else was on both the Playstation 2 and Xbox.  (All screenshots of non Dreamcast games are from the Playstation 2 version)

10.  Daytona USA (Dreamcast, 2000)

I played this at the local arcade once or twice and I liked it.  When I got a Dreamcast I picked this game up and enjoyed it just as much as I did in the arcade.  This is an arcade racing game through and through.  The game has good graphics and controlled really well.  I like to come back to this game every so often.

9.  MX World Tour Featuring Jamie Little (2005)

This is the game that got me to watch Supercross racing.  This is a more arcade focused racing game and I found the game really easy to control.  The game also had decent graphics and sound.  The game had some customization options for you and your rider.  This is a game I have been meaning top go back to and put some more time into.

8.  Burnout Revenge (2005)

Burnout Revenge is another great game in the franchise.  The game looks great and continues improving on the game play.  The crash mode is back and better than ever.  While I did spend a lot of time with this game, by this point I was getting a little burned out from Burnout games.  This is another game that I hope to come back to at some point.

7. Need For Speed Underground (2003)

This is one game almost all of my friends got into and because of that I got into it as well.  The game had some unique mechanics that went beyond just racing.  The game handled good and had a lot of customization options.  Having Need For Speed in the title also helped this game out.  The game went on to have a direct sequel but by that time most of my friends had moved on from racing games.

6.  R:  Racing Evolution (2003)

This is one racing game that I played through until completion.  The game had a decent story but nothing amazing.  I thought the game looked and handled good.  This is one of those games that I played when it came out, enjoyed it and probably won't come back to again.  If I do it won't be anytime soon.  With that said I did finish the main story and that is something I didn't do that very often during this time.

5.  Street Racing Syndicate (2004)

On the surface this is just another run of the mill  street racing game.  If you thought that you are not too far off, it really is.  The game looked good and played well too.  The big difference with this game is that you were able to get girlfriends in this game after doing certain objectives.  These girlfriends all had in game videos of them dancing and the more objectives you did the more videos you unlocked.

4.  Crash 'N' Burn (2004)

I will start this by saying in the grand list of racing games that came out during the 2000's, this game is average at best.  However, this game is exactly what I was looking for at the time.  It is a more arcade racing game that allowed you to race against the computer but also had a damage mechanic that could let you win if you were the last one standing.  It had some customization options and upgrades for your car.  There were a few different game modes to play as well.  This is a guilty pleasure game of mine.

3.  Burnout 2:  Point Of Impact (2002)

I have a great memory about this game.  I was hanging out at one of my friends houses one night and another friend came over with this game.  The friend that brought the game over went and did something else while myself and my two other friends took turns playing this game all night long into the morning.  We played all parts of the game but mostly focused on the crash mode.  When our local Wal-Mart opened we the three of us went out to the store and each bought a copy of this game.  I then went back home and I started playing my copy of the game before I went to bed.  So many great memories with this game.

2.  Crazy Taxi (Dreamcast, 2000)

I played this game in the arcades and I had a blast with it.  The game is more of a race against the clock game versus a racing game.  This game ported very well over to the Dreamcast even though the Dreamcast couldn't recreate the arcade experience of sitting inside a cabinet and actually driving the car.  This is a great game to pop in, play for a little bit and put back down.  The Dreamcast version also had the arcade soundtrack which featured The Offspring who became one of my favorite bands.

1.  Burnout 3:  Takedown (2004)

Out of all the Burnout games, this is the one I had the most fun with.  This game had good game play, graphics and music.  The crash mode is just as fun as it was in the previous game.  The game changed a few mechanics for the better.  I was also a big fan of the in game announcer who did a great job.  This is the Burnout game I go back to if I'm in the mood to play a Burnout game.