NASCAR Thunder 2003 built upon the foundation of NASCAR Thunder 2002. The most glaring single player improvement is a much deeper career mode that allows a player to race a full season. The handling model may be tough to get used to for some, but it falls into the same category as NASCAR Thunder 2002, a game that was overshadowed by its successor.
Papyrus built off of its momentum from NASCAR Racing 4 and created NASCAR Racing 2002 season. This truly was the best NASCAR simulation of its time, and it may go down as one of the most underrated NASCAR video games of all time. The only reason for that is because of the Papyrus NASCAR game that succeeded it.
Monster Games made their sequel to NASCAR Heat with NASCAR Heat 2002, and the game is strange to say the least. It does license most NASCAR tracks, but not all. The PS2 version includes only 24 drivers per race while the XBOX version includes 43 drivers per race. A strange difference between the two video games, especially considering EA Sports had full fields, but this game was a precursor to a special NASCAR game.
The first game in the NASCAR Thunder series, and the one with many firsts. It was the first console NASCAR game to include features such as a career mode and full, 43-car fields. It also was the first NASCAR game to include all 23 licensed NASCAR tracks.
For all intents and purposes, this was the first full NASCAR console video game. It was not quite as deep as its successors, but the game did improve on its predecessor in many ways. This included graphics, gameplay and features.
Just looking at this screenshot shows that this game is leaps and bounds better looking than the previous games. However, the game is still not perfect.
The career mode is there, but players are only allowed to run in 12 races per season. This is strange, especially considering there is a single season mode in the game that allows players to play a full, 36-race season. However, it is a start, and it’s the first NASCAR console game to include such a mode.
This was the foundation upon which EA started building its next NASCAR games. While it’s not as deep as its successors, it still holds a very important place in NASCAR gaming history.
This was the game with which Papyrus really started to gain some traction. The quote on the box even highlights Dale Earnhardt Jr., noted NASCAR gaming enthusiast, “This is the sim we have been waiting for.” When you start to think about NASCAR PC simulations by Papyrus, this is the game that started to look like a Papyrus NASCAR game.
NASCAR Racers was a licensed NASCAR TV show that ran for two seasons. The game was only released on PC and on the Game Boy Color, so, no console release likely hurt the game’s reach. There is not much out there on this game, and the show had a short run.
A new publisher, Sega, joined the NASCAR gaming fray in 2000 as they released NASCAR’s first Arcade Game. NASCAR arcade games are commonplace nowadays, but this was the first one released. Due to it being an arcade game, it’s not a game that has the same nostalgia factor as other NASCAR games on this list, but it’s still a part of NASCAR gaming history.
The first NASCAR video game that Monster Games worked on. Instead of being released on the PS2 like NASCAR 2000, Monster Games elected to stay on the PS1, Game Boy Color and PC for its release. The game was not received exceptionally well, but it was a start for Monster Games as the company began to work on competing with EA.
This was the first NASCAR console video game that was released on the PlayStation 2. However, even though it’s the first PS2 NASCAR game, there are not as many improvements as some may have expected. The game still did not include full, 43-car fields or even a career mode. For the first PS2 NASCAR game, it may not be as broad as some may have expected.
While NASCAR 2000 was EA Sports’ final simulation-style console video game in the 64-bit era, NASCAR Rumble was the last game EA itself published. This is an arcade style NASCAR video game in which drivers can drive as licensed NASCAR drivers and cars, but they use power-ups and items similar to Mario Kart. It’s not exactly a kart racer, however, but it is an arcade-style console game that garnered good reception.
