Burnout Paradise celebrated its 15-year anniversary this week, on January 22, 2023. Below, we take a look at how the iconic game's unique approach to arcade racing helped set the standard for years to come.

Most of the time in an arcade racing game, you see a hot rod screeching down the countryside, with a gorgeous vista in the distance--one that's nothing more than that: a distant setting that you'll never reach. Instead, you have only a single road to follow, with that distant scene serving as window dressing.

That sort of Hollywood-esque set was the backdrop for the majority of arcade racers, a genre about hopping into a Corvette, flying down the road, and then hopping out a few minutes later. You could play as many races that you wanted to, but the joyride would never go any further than that.