When Criterion steps into the driver’s seat, it doesn’t just makeracing games– it makes chaos machines powered by speed, style and destruction. From its legacy with Burnout to revitalizing Need for Speed for a new generation, the British studio has built a reputation on fast-paced arcade racers that prize fluid controls, satisfying takedowns and over-the-top spectacle.
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The best Criterion games aren’t just about being first across the finish line – they’re about the moments in between, when a perfectly timed sideswipe sends a rival flying into a barrier, or when a risky boost threads you through traffic with inches to spare. While other studios focus on simulating rubber and suspension, Criterion has always focused on fun.
7Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
No Story, No Nonsense
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Criterion’s reboot of Most Wanted isn’t a remake of the 2005 game. It ditches the story cutscenes and cheesy dialogue for a stripped-down experience focused entirely on freedom and competition. The city of Fairhaven becomes a playground of jumps, shortcuts and high-speed pursuits.
All 41 cars are available from the start – players just have to find them parked somewhere in the world. That change alone made Most Wanted feel more organic andplayer-driventhan most racing games at the time. The Autolog system also returned, constantly comparing times and scores with friends to encourage endless one-upmanship.
Its seamless integration of single-player and multiplayer, combined with an excellent crash physics engine and smart use of licensed vehicles, made this one of the best arcade racers of its generation – even if some fans missed the older game’s story-driven structure.
6Need for Speed Unbound
Graffiti Meets Gasoline
Need for Speed Unbound
Unbound might be the most stylistically bold game Criterion has ever made. Releasing in 2022 with a visual identity that mixes realistic car models with cel-shaded drivers and hand-drawn graffiti-style effects, it’s a departure from the gritty tone of its predecessors. But underneath the aesthetics lies the same tight arcade racing that made the studio famous.
The game features anopen-worldmap of Lakeshore City, loosely inspired by Chicago, filled with night-time street races, high-speed cop chases and underground meets. Races come with buy-ins and payouts, making risk management and smart upgrades part of the long-term strategy.
Unbound rewards aggression and confidence, especially when it comes to managing heat from the police. It’s not Criterion’s most explosive game, but it’s among the most polished, offering a slick, fresh take on street racing that proves the studio still knows how to drift in style.
5Burnout 2: Point of Impact
The Moment Everything Clicked for Burnout
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Point of Impact was where Criterion found its rhythm. While the first Burnout was a rough draft with flashes of brilliance, Burnout 2 refined everything – tighter controls, more responsive drifting and a bigger focus on rewarding dangerous driving.
It also introduced Crash Mode, a genre-defining feature where the goal wasn’t to win a race but to cause the most expensive pile-up possible. That single addition gave Burnout a unique identity and carved out a space no other racing series had explored.
Burnout 2 also began incorporating real-world locations with exaggerated twists, and the tracks encouraged risky behavior with near-misses and daring overtakes granting precious boost. It wasn’t yet as outrageous as later entries, but it laid the foundation that Burnout 3 and Paradise would build upon.
4Burnout Revenge
Grudges, Gridlocks and Glorious Explosions
Burnout Revenge
Revenge doubled down on the idea that racing should be personal – and violent. Unlike Takedown before it, this game introduced the ability to ram traffic from behind and use it as a weapon, essentially turning rush hour into a battlefield.
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It also added the Traffic Attack mode, where the objective wasn’t even to win a race but to cause as much damage to civilian vehicles as possible. Burnout’s signatureslow-motioncrash cams returned too, making every collision feel like a miniature Michael Bay explosion.
The World Tour mode gave players a sense of progression across dozens of event types, and the revenge mechanic – where you were encouraged to take down the driver who wrecked you last – added an emotional layer to every lap. Criterion turned racing into a blood sport, and Revenge remains one of its most gleefully chaotic creations.
3Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Criterion and Cops: A Match Made in Speeding Tickets
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Criterion’s first entry into the Need for Speed franchise set the tone for everything it would later do with the series. Hot Pursuit is a game where players can be both street racers and cops, with full campaigns on either side. The goal was simple – go fast, or shut someone down.
Every race or pursuit is packed with gadgets like spike strips, EMP blasts and roadblocks. That, paired with lush environments and dynamic weather, made each event feel like a full-blown cinematic car chase.
The game’s biggest innovation was the return of Autolog, a system that tracks your friends’ times and challenges you to beat them in every single event. It turned an already solid racer into an endlessly competitive experience, and it’s the reason many still consider this Criterion’s best Need for Speed game to date.
2Burnout Paradise
The First True Burnout Playground
Burnout Paradise
Paradise was a major shift in direction for Burnout. Rather than offering a menu of discrete races, Criterion gave players an entire city to explore. Every junction, streetlight and parking lot became a launchpad for races, stunts or massive wrecks.
It also stripped away traditional progression systems – no racing calendar, no career path, just events unlocked by finding intersections and vehicles upgraded by hunting them down and taking them out on the road.
Paradise was ahead of its time in many ways. It offered seamless drop-in multiplayer, live challenges that required real cooperation and dozens of collectible billboards and super jumps. The crash mechanics still held up, too – no other game turned smashing into a wall at 200 mph into something so beautiful.
1Burnout 3: Takedown
The Gold Standard of Arcade Mayhem
Burnout 3: Takedown
If there’s one game that defines Criterion, it’s Burnout 3. Everything about it was fine-tuned to deliver maximum adrenaline – from the aggressive AI to the thumping soundtrack of early 2000s punk and alt-rock.
The titular “takedown” system rewarded players for sending rivals flying into walls, trucks or off cliffs, all while locking in extra boost. The more aggressive the play, the faster the race, and the more satisfying every victory became. Crash Mode was better than ever, featuring complex set-ups and multipliers that turned every wreck into a high-stakes puzzle.
Takedown also introduced Impact Time – a slow-motion post-crash mechanic that let players steer their wreckage into others for aftershock bonuses. It was a stroke of chaotic genius. Even two decades later, no arcade racer has captured that balance of control and carnage quite as well.
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