Open world seems like an interesting idea. I'd probably try to make a sandbox racing games that also follows an interesting story. That way I can add some character to my game.
I would make a hybrid. To give you a bit of insight, that would mean that you can drive through the open world and start races from there, but you could also choose from a list and it would automatically start the race. Think Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005).
I think this would be a great thing to do as I really liked that game and it's even one of my top favorite racing games of all time. If they are successfully able to bring the charm of that game back I think it will sell well in this generation as well
I would make it an open world game, where you choose which races you want to play. And, each race would give you money and maybe upgrade parts. I'd also like my game to have a lot of customization options and a lot of cars available to choose from. Something like Need for Speed: Underground 2, only with better graphics, a bigger map, more cars and a lot more customization. That game was amazing for the sheer amount of customization options you had for performance and visual tuning of your cars.
I've been thinking about this again recently because I was telling my daughter that they just don't make funny racing games like Crazy Taxi anymore. My latest idea is that I'd like to have a death race type game with weaponized cars, but in the funny art style of Sunset Overdrive.
