Nascar
SCORE: 89
Gentleman start your engines. Nascar has finally made it to the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP). Nascar is one popular state in America, and this game does a very good job of capturing the look, and feel of the sport. Nascar fans are very hardcore about their sport, and don’t make the mistake of calling it driving (like I did). I originally thought all Nascar race tracks were big ovals with left turns only. Well this video game has schooled me that there are race tracks in Nascar that have left turns. Go ahead and get the jokes out of the way, about it confusing the drivers. This technically is Nascar 07, but since there have been no previous Nascar PSP games, EA decided to drop the year from the name. Sit down, put the steering wheel on, put your seat belt on, and press that gas pedal for the rest of this review.
The graphics in Nascar are very realistic to the different race tracks, and stadiums that are represented. Electronic Arts did a great job showing the different times of the day for the different races. My personal favorite was racing into the sun. The graphics are not on far with the Playstation 2 version, but this machine has less horse power under the hood (puns intended). The details are nicely done, and the feel of the speed is certainly there. There are quite a few sponsors on the different cars (just like in real life), however I did not notice any inappropriate ads that could be troublesome to families.
The sounds in Nascar are a mixed bag. The sounds of the cars are done really well, especially the shifting. The pit crew also have some words of encouragement about racing clean, and trying to avoid accidents. This kind of encouragement is great to see in a major sports video game. The only knock on the sounds is many of those warnings keep coming (maybe it was my poor racing skills). The music has a specific country theme to it, which is what the majority of Nascar fans listen to. Just like Madden, the songs can be turned off if any of the lyrics are offensive to you.
If you are into Nascar, and have a Sony Playstation Portable you should look long and hard at this game. It has enough modes to keep you busy for months. The Wi-Fi makes it fun for more than one person, and there are also a lot of different professional racers you can play. In this reviewers humble opinion this game is worth the price of admission. The ability to save anywhere works very well.
The only major problem in Nascar is the controls. For some reason I had trouble controlling some races. Not all, but a few here and there were tough. This game also requires patience in passing, and trying to bump everyone out of your way winds up with your car crashing. I understand encouraging good sportsmanship, but the physics should be real. I could not spin other racers out, but they could spin me out pretty easily (in contrast I tried the PS2 version, and could spin other cars out pretty easily). Ultimately it was still fun to play though.
The fact that this game tells you to race clean, and that there will
be consequences for racing dirty is a great lesson that I appreciate EA
putting in. Nascar is safe for the entire family, and it was my joy and
pleasure to play/review this game. With a few tweaks this game could be
even better, and it works very well on the PSP.
- Sam
Graphics: 94%
Sound: 86%
Replay/Extras: 98%
Gameplay: 76%
Family Friendly Factor: 91%
System: Playstation
Portable
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
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