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Playstation > PlayStation Game Cheats > PlayStation Reviews > Staff Review | |
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| Playability: To start things off I just want everyone to know that while this game does contain the NASCAR name and license for the vehicles and drivers, it doesn't plop you onto oval tracks making you dizzy from going around in circles. The tracks that you will race on are actually some of the most imaginative fantasy style circuits that I have ever seen in a racing game. The terrain varies between pavement, sandy beaches, dirt, mud, gravel and water (well, actually you sink when you hit the water). The game starts you out playing against a grid of 5 other drivers (this can be adjusted in the option menu between 2 and 6, including you) with the "3" count ticking down. Timing the gas just right will have your car exploding off the line and pulling the front end off the ground to boot! The first thing that you will notice is that the other drivers are EXTREMELY aggressive. Right from the beginning of the race they will do their best to drive you into a wall or off the road. Your best strategy is to get out in front early and try to stay there…not only because of the other drivers but because you will miss the power-ups if more than two cars are in front of you. The power-ups normally appear across the track in groups of three and are identified as glowing white orbs. There is no way to tell what each power-up is until you run over it and each lap they re-generate in the same spots again (but the power-ups are always different). Their variety is pretty impressive and falls into both defensive and offensive categories. On the offensive side you get storms, tornado's and freeze attacks that you can execute. Getting frozen turns your car into a blue "car-sickle" and totally locks your steering for a few seconds. "Storm" will send a black cloud of rain and lightning hovering over the track until it latches onto the first available car. Once it hits you, your speed is reduced and it is very difficult to see in front of the car. The best one though is the Tornado power-up…this will send a full sized tornado twisting around the track for the duration of the race!! Each time it passes your car (and all other cars in its path) are picked up and tossed about like scraps of paper. It is also impressive as hell just watching the Tornado passing by and continuing along the tracks as it fades off into the distance…the effect is outstanding. The only ways to avoid getting hit by these "natural" disasters is to either slow down to a crawl before they hit you (they will then pass you by), pick up an "Invincibility" power-up or take a shortcut on the track and hope that the power-up doesn't decide to follow you! Other offensive power-ups include turbo, Big KO (this one is cool…when you hit another car it blows them off the road and makes a sound like hitting a bowling pin) and Sonic Boom. On the defensive side you can dump off some Bad Gas and Oil Slicks. You can also pick up Invincibility and Slicks (fat tires that grip the road). Because you don't always know what kind of power-up you have until you execute it, you can occasionally give yourself crap like Bad Gas or Oil Slick. This actually makes the game even more exciting because you can be out in front, execute a Bad Gas power-up and end up losing the race because your car kept stalling and sputtering. In addition to the tracks being nice and creative, there are slew's of them to race on! Races are broken into "themes" with a select number of tracks under each one. Taje for instance "Gold Rush". This circuit consists of 3 tracks that are all in canyon settings with boulders strewn about, large cliffs and tunnels burrowing through the mountainside. Each race is gauged on a point system. Get the most points after all of the races and you win the gold for that circuit. Once you win the gold you can now race the NASCAR "Legend" that resides there. Place gold on all of the circuits and you get bumped up to "Pro" status and unlock a whole bunch of new and more powerful cars. Get all golds again and unlock the "Elite" setting and more cars still (actually the cars are upgrades to the originals, but they look and drive very different). Now no racing game of this type would be complete without shortcuts to discover along the tracks and NASCAR Rumble has a bunch of them. Depending on the "theme" of the circuit, the shortcuts could consists of driving through dusty old mausoleums, breaking through a boarded up gold mine or barreling down some ravine. Virtually all of them require a sharp eye to spot, but they are not ridiculously hidden either. I actually thought they where pretty logically placed throughout the game and they REALLY help you out when you take them. In addition there are two sets of cars in this game to unlock… the NASCAR ones which can be obtained by placing first in all the tracks at the carious levels (Rookie, Pro, Elite) and then there are what I like to call "the wacky mobiles". These consist of chicken trucks, golf carts, RV's jet cars, etc. These cars can be unlocked by finding (not so easy to do) and driving over a gold wrench secretly located on most of the tracks. There is also a very solid two-player mode that zips along just as quickly as the single player mode and get this…there is also a full grid of cars to race against in addition to the 2nd player. Like the single play mode, the number of cars can be adjusted. I thought it was a riot slamming my buddy into other cars or into walls…hehehe. Overall this is one hell of a racing game. With the sheer number of cars, tracks and secrets to find, the replay value and overall enjoyment is right up there with some of the better racers. Hell, there is also a good assortment of game play options that I haven't even mentioned like Single Race, Time Trial, Championship, Legend and others. The one thing that really stands out in this title for me though is the word "fun". This game was just plain fun to play…I really enjoyed every minute of it and I think you will too. Game Options: This is a 1 disk game for 1 or 2 Players. It is compatible with the standard (digital) joypad and the analog stick controls of the dual shock joypad. Games can be saved via memory card (1 block per save). |
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