In my quest to briefly review every game I play – I now present to you one of the most addicting games I’ve ever played, NASCAR Thunder 2002.
If you follow my social media accounts you probably have seen me mention this game.
If you know me or have been reading for a little while you probably also know I’m a sports junkie. Almost all sports. Including racing. NASCAR especially. Anyone who says it’s not a sport is a fool.
So, naturally finding old sports titles in the bargain bins at used gaming stores is awesome and nothing excites me more than old NASCAR games because no sports genre (as far as gameplay) ages better than racing games.
The races hold a full field of 43 cars (although the ps1 version can only hold 36) and they have alternate paint schemes and night and day racing at a dozen of the most popular tracks.
Now here is where my nostalgia is probably going to blur my objectivity when it comes to rating this title fairly.
Pros: Easy to pick up and play, career mode has an RPG quality to it, as you earn money you improve your car and crew etc, a fun blast from the past
Cons: With the exception of the small upgrade system, the career mode is pretty shallow. Announcers and pre race commentators won’t even acknowledge your created racer and there are no real storylines to follow. Sometimes the racing AI will rubber band itself into and smash the shit out of your car. Also – like earlier NASCAR titles this one still suffers from tank-like invincibility for computer racers.
But I can’t stress this enough. For $.99 this is the most fun bargain bin game you will find. Unless you find maybe, NASCAR Thunder 2003.
Year Released: 2001
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: Electronic Arts
System(s): PlayStation 2 / XBOX / PlayStation
Type of Racer: NASCAR
RATINGS:
Amount of cars: 18/20
Realism: 16/20
Controls: 20/20
Sound: 20/20
Graphics: 15/20
Overall: (89%) SILVER
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Nice! I used to love racing games. I think I had the first Gran Turismo and then some others after that. This one looks fun. Does it let you choose real NASCAR drivers or just the cars?
$0.99 is a heck of a deal 😉
Yup – they have a bunch of real drivers. Marked both 1st tier (Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart etc) and 2nd tier (journeymen like John Andretti, Kyle Petty and the like)
What’s also sort of funny about it is seeing all of the old businesses and their logos. A subtle reminder that a lot of the banks are gone though😬😅
Oh, wow. That’s really cool, though. Like finding your old Blockbuster Video card 😁 We recently found a Borders (bookstore) bookmark and we were like, “oooh neat” 🙂
Yes exactly! 😂 😂 One of my favorites was seeing the old American Online blue and yellow car with the AOL instant messenger guy on it. *Sigh* so many good memories on AIM 😂
99 cents sounds like a great deal !
So fun. Too fun. I had to physically separate myself from the game. I wasn’t getting anything done 😂 😂
Haha that’s awesome actually ! If a game is that’s addicting , that’s great .
Right now I’m playing the first Mafia. But soon I’ll get to a game I think you’ll enjoy. 😂 rhymes with um fecko the goblin 😂
Hahah I’m still at loss of what it could be 😂😂 can’t wait to see the review . Also I finally finished KH Dream Drop Distance . So I’m on my way to KH Birth By Sleep 0.2 and hopefully after that KH 3.
😂 😂 damn you’re way better than me. I couldn’t get past chain so I never started KH2. I heard KH3 was fantastic though so that should be fun. I’m proud of you for stepping from Genshin for this long 😂
I actually have to get back on Genshin to finish up an event 😂😂I’ve been multitasking . Last Genshin Event had me glued to my pc , but I got some new characters ✨ But yeah playing KH games in order ( also watching the 2 hour movies in between games ) is quite a challenge .
I know I have to go back at it because the games are so addicting. You should do an article on KH – it’s not an easy accomplishment
Haha maybe ! But I was so spaced out in between games . I didn’t even get good screenshots.
I know two boys (one of them not so young!) who love Nascar races and games.
Am I one of them? 😂
You’re the young one and my husband is the “not so young”!
😂 we’re both young at heart 😂
Always!!!