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For a first Burnout, start with Burnout 3: Takedown: it distills the series’ speed, aggressive driving and spectacular crashes into a focused event structure. Prefer choosing your own route through a city? Burnout Paradise may be the better fit. This is an editorial ranking of eight games commonly included in the series; it treats Burnout Paradise Remastered as a version of Paradise, not a ninth original entry.
How this ranking works
Burnout is arcade driving built around speed, risk and collisions. EA describes the series as high-speed driving with stunts and crashes shown in slow motion (EA’s Burnout catalog). This ranking weighs four things: how satisfying the speed and handling feel; how well crashes, takedowns and traffic interactions create action; how events are organized and replayed; and how distinctive and complete each entry is as a version of Burnout.
The games do not all pursue the same kind of flow. Closed-track events deliver a direct, compact loop; Paradise’s open city asks players to explore and select routes. Neither structure is inherently better. The order below is an editorial judgment, not an objective consensus or a claim of hands-on testing. Its scope is the eight entries listed by a secondary series index—not an official EA taxonomy: Burnout, Burnout 2: Point of Impact, Burnout 3: Takedown, Burnout Legends, Burnout Revenge, Burnout Dominator, Burnout Paradise and Burnout CRASH! (series index). Available first-party descriptions are much fuller for some entries than others, so the ranking avoids inventing distinctions for the less-documented games.
Every Burnout game, ranked
1. Burnout 3: Takedown
The strongest all-around starting point is Burnout 3. Criterion describes it as bringing together the high-speed action, handling and crashes developed in the first two games, then adding takedowns that let players steal boost from rivals (Criterion’s game catalog). That addition ties aggression directly to momentum: a takedown is not just a crash spectacle, but a way to keep the run alive.
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- Excellent Gaming Experience: Equipped with a 3.0 - inch high - definition screen and excellent speaker sound, it provides an excellent visual and auditory experience for video games. This handheld game console is small and lightweight, convenient for kids to use and carry. Its ergonomic design ensures a comfortable grip, allowing children to fully enjoy the games.
- Rich Collection of Classic Games: This retro handheld game console contains 220 interesting kids video games, including various types such as entertainment, sports, and adventure games, just like those found in many retro game consoles. While playing these games, kids can cultivate skills such as hand - eye coordination, thinking, and problem - solving.
- Convenient Rechargeable and Long - lasting Battery: The video game console is equipped with an 860mAh lithium - ion battery. It ensures that kids can play games without interruption, because there is no need for frequent battery replacement, which is very suitable for playing portable games outdoors. It is a great addition to the world of handheld games for children and can bring more fun to them.
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It is the clearest benchmark for the classic, event-focused Burnout formula in the available first-party descriptions. Criterion’s catalog lists a 93% average review score for the game, but does not identify an aggregator or explain how it calculates that figure; treat it as Criterion’s catalog statistic, not a current universal rating.
2. Burnout Revenge
Revenge is the next pick for players who want the series’ aggression pushed further. Criterion calls it an escalation of Takedown and highlights Traffic Attack, where hitting traffic cars earns time and cash, alongside race, crash and road-rage modes (Criterion’s game catalog). That mix gives its destruction a broader role than simply eliminating rivals: traffic itself becomes part of the event’s scoring and pressure.
Its appeal is not that it replaces Takedown as the best entry point, but that it expands the ways a player can turn risky driving into progress. Choose it if you want more emphasis on smashing through traffic and varied event types.
3. Burnout Paradise
Paradise makes the series’ biggest structural change. Instead of moving through closed tracks, players explore an expansive city, find challenges and compare times through Road Rules, as Criterion explains (Criterion’s game catalog). EA’s launch announcement describes challenges beginning at intersections, with players choosing their own routes to the finish (EA’s 2007 announcement).
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That freedom is the point, not a flaw to be ranked away: the city makes route choice and discovery part of the driving. But anyone who wants a tightly directed sequence of track events may prefer Takedown or Revenge. At launch, EA Criterion creative director Alex Ward said, “The Burnout series has always been about reinvention” (EA’s 2007 announcement); Paradise is the clearest example of that shift.
Rank #2
- Officially licensed Atari titles. Titles include Asteroids, Centipede, Millipede, Breakout, Missile Command, Crystal Castles and many more. Game save options.
- Packed with over 200 built-in Atari games + bonus titles. Pac-Man & Galaga not included. Full Game list listed below.
- Includes Atari console, games instructions, 2 wireless joysticks, USB power cable, HDMI cable, and user manual. System connects directly to TV.
- Includes two 2.4 GHz wireless joysticks, inspired by the original Atari joysticks, include paddles for paddle games like Breakout, Warlords and many more.
- User Guide Languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Japanese and Arabic. Dynamic RGB LED lights.
4. Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Burnout 2 belongs near the top for readers interested in how the series’ core took shape. Criterion says the first two games established Burnout’s trademark high-speed action, handling and crashes before Takedown combined those elements with boost-stealing takedowns (Criterion’s game catalog). That makes the sequel an important foundation, though the available official description gives less reason to choose it over the more fully characterized third game.
5. Burnout
The original is essential to the series’ identity, establishing the high-speed, crash-focused approach that Criterion says defined the first two entries (Criterion’s game catalog). Its place here reflects the strength of the later games as recommendations, not a claim that the first game lacks value. Start here if you specifically want to follow the series from its beginning.
6. Burnout Legends
Legends is part of the eight-game working scope, but the first-party material available for this ranking does not provide enough comparable detail to assess its handling, event flow or distinct features against the mainline entries. It sits below the games with stronger documented cases, rather than receiving an invented feature-by-feature verdict.
7. Burnout Dominator
The same limit applies to Dominator: the official catalog material used here does not establish comparable specifics about its events or how it changes the driving formula. Its position is therefore cautious, not a definitive judgment of its quality or a claim about its platforms.
8. Burnout CRASH!
CRASH! is included in the series index’s eight entries, but the available official descriptions do not support a detailed comparison of its gameplay loop with the driving-focused titles. It ranks last for this particular list because the evidence is too thin to make a stronger case—not because this article can establish that it is objectively the weakest.
Rank #3
- Kids Friendly Design: This P30S handheld game console is specially designed for kids. It has a stylish arcade - like appearance. The body fits a child's hand, and the game settings also cater to kids psychology, thus being very attractive.
- Excellent Gaming Experience: Equipped with a 3.0 - inch high - definition screen and excellent speaker sound, it provides an excellent visual and auditory experience for video games. This handheld game console is small and lightweight, convenient for kids to use and carry. Its ergonomic design ensures a comfortable grip, allowing children to fully enjoy the games.
- Rich Collection of Classic Games: This retro handheld game console contains 220 interesting kids video games, including various types such as entertainment, sports, and adventure games, just like those found in many retro game consoles. While playing these games, kids can cultivate skills such as hand - eye coordination, thinking, and problem - solving.
- Convenient Rechargeable and Long - lasting Battery: The video game console is equipped with an 860mAh lithium - ion battery. It ensures that kids can play games without interruption, because there is no need for frequent battery replacement, which is very suitable for playing portable games outdoors. It is a great addition to the world of handheld games for children and can bring more fun to them.
- Absolutely Surprising Gift: Our handheld game toy is a surprising gift for kids, teenagers, and even adults. It is the best gift for birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Customer satisfaction is our top priority. Our customer support team will serve you wholeheartedly.
Which Burnout game should you play first?
- For the classic formula: Choose Burnout 3: Takedown, the best-supported benchmark for speed, crashes and takedowns that feed back into boost.
- For more traffic destruction and event variety: Try Burnout Revenge, whose Traffic Attack joins race, crash and road-rage modes.
- For an open city and self-chosen routes: Play Burnout Paradise. Its challenges and route choices are built into exploration rather than a closed-track sequence.
- To see the foundations: Start with Burnout and Burnout 2: Point of Impact, then move to Takedown to see the formula Criterion describes as bringing those earlier strengths together.
Paradise Remastered: what the re-release includes
Burnout Paradise Remastered is a remaster of Paradise, not a separate original entry. EA’s announcement for PS4 and Xbox One says it includes the base game and eight Year of Paradise add-on packs (EA’s 2018 announcement). EA’s Switch announcement likewise describes the base game and add-on content, including Big Surf Island (EA’s Switch announcement).
Details vary by platform: the PC manual specifies the complete Paradise game, DLC cars, motorcycles and modes, plus improved 1080p/4K visuals at 60 frames per second (PC manual). Those PC technical details should not be generalized to every version. If you want the open-world entry in a packaged re-release, look for Burnout Paradise Remastered for Switch or another platform’s edition, and check the current local listing for format and availability.
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Is Burnout Paradise Remastered a separate game?
No. It is a remaster of Burnout Paradise, so this ranking counts Paradise once.
Is Burnout 3: Takedown the best Burnout game?
This ranking places it first as the strongest all-around starting point; a preference for open-world exploration may make Paradise a better fit.
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