Formula 1 is all about emotions — the noise, the excitement, the smell of burnt rubber. While nothing beats watching a race live, TODAY takes a look at the games that can best replicate these feelings for you from the comfort of your living room.

GRAN TURISMO 5 PROLOGUE

PlayStation 3
If retired F1 champion Michael Schumacher was a game, he would be Gran Turismo.

Ever since its debut on the PlayStation a decade ago, it has constantly satisfied racers’ quest for that elusive sensation of being in the driver’s seat.

Ultra-realistic driving physics means a front-wheel-drive car like the Honda Civic will understeer wide when you nail the throttle mid-corner, while rear-wheel-drive ones like the BMW M3 will fling its tail out.

The latest evolution of the franchise is Gran Turismo 5 (GT5), which seems to have been in development forever. But the developers at Polyphony Digital were kind enough to offer GT5 Prologue — a teaser to the full-blown game, making racers salivate over what might be in store for them in the (hopefully) near future.

GT5 marks the franchise’s debut on the PlayStation 3, and it does not disappoint. Big boys’ toys like the Ferrari 599 and the Audi R8, along with the Japanese Evo X and WRX, are featured in their high-def glory, with their interior painstakingly reproduced for the in-car view — a first for the series.

Until the full game comes out though, “will this game ever be officially finished?” will be the cry for most racers.

FORZA MOTORSPORT

2 Xbox 360
Forza Motorsport 2 is to Xbox 360 what Gran Turismo is to the PS3. It is the definitive racing franchise for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Labelled as a racing simulator, Forza Motorsport 2 has you contending with issues like tyre wear and fuel levels, and pitting strategy during endurance races lasting over an hour.

It also lets control freaks fine-tune the various racing parameters like wheel camber and gear ratios. Never before have so many countless nights been spent trying to get that perfect set-up to clock the fastest lap on the Nurburgring’s 22km-long Nordschleife circuit.

RACE DRIVER: GRID

PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS
Race Driver: Grid puts you in the seats of some of the world’s fastest race cars — ranging from small and light Japanese imports to European exotics, all the way to testosterone-fuelled American muscle cars.

As a rookie, you try to break into the big leagues and manage your race team at legendary tracks like the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans. Grid also offers a variety of street races and drift events.

Grid straddles that extremely wide racing line that separates a simulator and an arcade experience. It may not have the polish of Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, but it gets the job done.

BURNOUT PARADISE

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Racing games are supposed to be fun, but for some, the technicalities of clipping turn apexes and slip streaming are just too complex to grasp.

Burnout Paradise unleashes players on 18 square miles of the fictional Paradise City, where you’re free to roam, challenge other racers or unleash mobile mayhem on the city’s motorists.

No gear ratios to fiddle with, no wing angles to calculate. Just get in the car, fire it up and drive... into the next unsuspecting vehicle.

Crashes are greeted with delight, as the game goes into super-slow-mo mode at the point of impact, providing a Matrix-esque view of the destruction. No car manufacturers in their right mind would let their supercars suffer such punishment, even virtually. But a close look will reveal the underpinnings of a Ford GT and a Porsche Cayenne in these “fictional” vehicles.

Burnout Paradise is the antithesis of racing games, treating racers to the metallic crunch and carnage of twisted metal, minus the frowns of team owners and race fans.

PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 4

Xbox 360
Microsoft didn’t have to hardsell me their Xbox 360 console; its launch title Project Gotham Racing 3 (PGR3) sealed the deal. PGR3 was the armchair racers’ first taste of “next-generation” racing. Cars from TVR, Corvette and Aston Martin featured accurately modelled interiors, and dashboards that are lit during night races.

Intricately-mapped surroundings make you feel as if you were driving your Sagaris through the streets of London, Tokyo or Vegas. Driving in this context would be down straights, as the game encourages powerslides, or in the Asian context, drifting your way around corners.

Bizarre Creations has raised that bar even higher with PGR4, adding weather effects and throwing motorcycles into the fray, making an excellent game even better.

Now, gamers can answer the biggest debate gearheads have in their garages: What’s faster? Four wheels or two? Why don’t you pit two blood-red Italian thoroughbreds — Ducati and Ferrari — against each other to find out?

BLACK-FLAGGED TITLES Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

Need For Speed: Pro Street
Is it just me or has there been way too many games cashing in on the Fast and the Furious phenomenon?

Sure, the street racing scene was all the rage with Vin Diesel behind the wheel of the first instalment seven years ago, but it has been milked dry by developers.

We all know the script – new guy comes into town, new guy gets a ride, new guy sets out on the streets to earn respect. And by respect, that means being the fastest off the line or the most sideways around corners.

They’re not necessarily bad games, but if you’ve played one, you’ve played them all.

TITLES TO LOOK OUT FOR

Need For Speed: Undercover all platforms
After a disappointing outing with Need For Speed (NFS): Pro Street, Electronic Arts has decided to drive down memory lane for a well-received formula along the lines of NFS: Hot Pursuit or Most Wanted.

NFS: Undercover will be out in November. The game features a touch of Hollywood, having players race through the fictional Tri-City Bay area’s 80 miles of roads while being caught between the law and a crime syndicate.

And with Maggie Q playing the role of your contact Chase Linh, all we have to say is: “Give us the keys.”

Midnight Club: Los Angeles PS3, Xbox 360
The team behind Grand Theft Auto IV has brought its expertise to the racing genre with Midnight Club: Los Angeles, slated for launch late October.

Illegal street racers will find themselves chased by cops in what is arguably the most accurate representation of the City of Angels.

Notable features of the game include weather effects, night and day cycles, and rush hour traffic depending on the time of day.TODAY/rose