Best iOS Games 2018

The latest Asphalt game takes the action off the road in Asphalt Xtreme, with players racing through canyons and dunes in a variety of game modes. Players will be able to go behind the wheel of a variety of vehicle classes, from dune buggies to pickups and monster trucks, with licensed automobiles from big names like Jeep, Ford, and Dodge. In addition to the five game modes and hundreds of career events and challenges, Asphalt Xtreme also features a live multiplayer mode with up to eight racers going head to head on the track.

Maybe it’s showing its age a little bit, but Real Racing 3 remains an excellent free-to-play driving sim that lets you take the wheel of a host of real-world cars as you drive around gorgeously rendered real-world racetracks. Numerous game modes — including time trials, standard races and the Time Shift multiplayer mode — offer varied challenges to players, with updates continuously adding new content such as new cars and racing events.

Unlike the more realistic mobile racing sims, Asphalt 8 takes an action-oriented approach, delivering stunning graphics and fast-paced, nitro-fueled races. Airborne lives up to its name, with numerous ramps and other gameplay elements encouraging players to take death-defying leaps in order to execute insane aerial stunts. Asphalt 8 features 56 high-performance vehicles from a who's who of automakers, and offers eight seasons, 180 events and numerous game modes for solo or multiplayer mayhem.

Need For Speed: No Limits is a free racing game that delivers short but intense races as you blast through an underground street racing circuit. Drifting, drafting and smart use of nitro are necessary to win, with victories earning you parts to modify your cars or blueprints that unlock new machines. NFS: No Limits features a variety of in-game and premium currency systems, as well as a fuel system, though daily challenges allow players to earn premium currency without resorting to in-app purchases.

Take to the waves in Riptide GP: Renegade, the latest installment of Vector Unit's Riptide science fiction jetski racers (and one of the top 10 games on the App Store in 2016, according to Apple). This game features a single-player career mode as well as online and local multiplayer races. As a disgraced racer, you must make a name for yourself in the illicit racing circuit while slowly climbing your way back up to the top. Riptide's stunts mechanic encourages players to take risks on big jumps to build up a turbo gauge, and players can collect a variety of different racing craft and unlock new skills, stunts and character models.

Fast & Furious: Legacy is the latest of Kabam’s games based on the hit movie franchise, mixing drag racing, lane control and insane drifting to give a satisfying arcade racing experience that’s less about the simulation, and more about the action. Players race with, and against, familiar faces from the movies in a variety of game modes, and collect more than 50 customizable cars. Even with timers and free-to-play limiters, Fast & Furious Legacy still provides a fun racing experience.

Dive into a sci-fi future and defy gravity in AG Drive, a sleek arcade racer that delivers fantastic vistas and action-packed races. You'll take on a rogue’s gallery of the galaxy’s best drivers as you zip through impossible architecture in your antigravity drive powered vehicle. AG Drive offers a variety of game modes, from time trials to elimination laps, and winning races will unlock more events as well as points to purchase or upgrade your vehicles.

CSR Racing 2 combines some really sweet graphics with some neat urban drag racing gameplay. Since players compete in flat-out drag races, you don't steer, so the game is won by precise starts, perfectly timed gear-shifts, and meticulously tricked-out cars. What could just be a drab series of taps is paired with slick graphics that show off the high-performance cars and environments. Players can work through a single-player campaign, as well as head-to-head online multiplayer battles against others. It's not just about the street racing though: players can also go all out with car customizations, tweaking the paint job, rims, interior trim and technical elements such as gear ratios and tire pressure.

Asphalt Street Storm is the latest entry in Gameloft's mobile driving games, with this version taking on the urban drag racing genre pioneered by other games like CSR Racing. Players engage in quarter-mile drag races while behind the wheel of a variety of vehicles, from classic muscle machines to sleek supercars, with designs from automakers like Ferrari, Ford and Chevrolet. In addition to the single player mode, you can participate in live multiplayer races with up to four other people.

Get in, get out and get paid (or blow up gloriously) in PAKO 2, an endless getaway driving game by Tree Men Games. Players must race forward to pick up their crew as they escape from a heist. From there, it’s a frenetic getaway chase against trigger-happy cops as you scramble for the escape point, earning points and power-ups along the way. Points can be spent to unlock new vehicles and new levels, giving this free-to-play game a decent amount of replayability.

If lightning-fast crotch rockets are more your style, then try out SBK 16, the official game of the Superbike World Championship. Players can take the role of international star riders such as Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli and race incredibly fast bikes down challenging, real-world racetracks. Players can engage in quick races, a championship mode, time attacks and test rides. Cool additions to the game include a new cockpit view that puts you right in the action, mobile controller support, and the ability to upgrade to the ad-free experience either through in-app purchases or by beating the Test Ride challenge mode.

For a more arcade-style take on motorcycle driving, check out Traffic Rider, a first-person motorcycle game and entry in Apple's Best of 2016 list that has you bobbing and weaving through congested traffic. Traffic Rider is all about hair-raising near-misses, with players scoring extra points or bonus time for dodging past cars and trucks, with bigger bonuses for dodging oncoming traffic. Points earned can be spent to upgrade your ride or purchase newer motorbikes. A career mode lets you play through a variety of missions and challenges, while Endless, Time Trial and Free Ride mode offer different ways to play.

Unpossible is a stylish infinite driver that takes you to a neon-lit scifi cityscape where you hurtle down a circular rail while spinning around and dodging obstacles in an attempt to last as long as possible. The Simplicity game mode gives you an easy introduction, but increasingly difficult Futile and Ultra modes offer significantly more challenging, downright “masocore” experiences.

Taking inspiration from coin-op and console racing games like Rush and Out Run but with a modern mobile sheen, Horizon Chase takes you on a third-person perspective arcade race through racetracks around the world as you jockey for pole position. The game features 73 different tracks to race through, across 32 different cities, with 16 upgradeable race cars to collect.

Gamers looking for a more strategic approach to racing might want to check out Motorsport Manager, which puts you in command of your own racing team, rather than at the wheel. As team manager, it's up to you to choose the right drivers, invest in research and development to improve your machines, and decide on the perfect race tactics and pit stop strategy. The game features a slick aesthetic of simple abstract shapes and tilt-shifting effects to give the races a sleek, board-game feel.