GRID

Codemasters' Race Driver: GRID is the spiritual successor to their TOCA Race Driver series. It is most notable for one feature - the ability to rewind time. Although this mechanic had been used in games before (Prince of Persia did it best, in many gamers' eyes) this is the first time it has appeared in a pure racing game, and the ability to do a short section of the track over instead of starting the race again after 5 minutes of driving made it hugely popular with critics and the public. The mechanic was later ported to Codemasters' other main series, Di RT.

The other notable addition to the familiar driving game formula is that the announcers (one your manager, the other the head of your pit crew) will speak to you on a First Name Basis, as long as your name is common enough to be on the list.

Not only this, but you can also hire a team-mate after you reach a certain point in the career mode. Each team-mate has different strengths and weaknesses, and they all charge different fees accordingly.

The game features examples of these tropes:

 * Anti Frustration Features: Flashbacks.
 * Fridge Logic: Even when you're providing cars for a team-mate you still only pay for one car.
 * Rubber Band AI: Watch the other cars catch up with you at about 400km/h when you've finally built up a decent lead in La Sarhe.
 * The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Collisions affect the computer cars and the player cars differently. Also, the computer cars get more grip in some places.
 * Understatement: Your pit crew head will say that your car has "only a few scratches" even with the front end completely smashed if the "core" components (wheels, engine, suspensions) are untouched.
 * "Your car are all banged up but it's nothing serious."
 * Unnecessary Roughness: Online racing. Tracks and race classes are picked by majority vote, which almost always results in a combination of heavy closed wheel vehicles and narrow city courses, preferably the ones with a tight first corner for maximum carnage potential.