PlayStation 2

NASCAR Thunder 2004

There's no denying that Rugby 2004 and NASCAR Thunder 2004 are a simple prelude to EA's more widely-appealing NHL and Tiger Woods franchises. But unlike Rugby, NASCAR is a polished effort perfect for the audience it targets.

An exclusive licensing deal makes NASCAR Thunder 2004 the only NASCAR game this fall, so it's fortunate that EA Sports continues its streak with another strong performance. Some innovative ideas and slick polish give race fans plenty to roar about...unless they own a GameCube, which got bumped from the circuit this season.

EA Sports returns once again with NASCAR Thunder 2004 for the Microsoft Xbox, Playstation 2, and GameCube videogame systems. And I have to admit before you read more in to this review. I am not a NASCAR fan. As a matter of fact, I pretty much despise NASCAR racing. I have never watched it on television before (I attempted to do so, but could not watch it!), and I don’t have any intentions of either. I used to live in the panhandle of Florida, and everybody who lived down south loved NASCAR, and they would try and cram it down my throat! I could just never get into the sport. So I guess you can say that I am just not the biggest NASCAR fan there is. I like the crashes, but other then that, it’s just not my bag.

EA has been trying very hard to grow the audience for its NASCAR titles beyond the niche of hardcore racing sim fans and hardcore NASCAR fans. To that end, this year a host of new features has been added with the purpose of making NASCAR Thunder 2004 a better game, instead of just adding more of the same from previous years' versions.

EA Sports laid most of the groundwork for NASCAR Thunder 2004 last year. The 2003 edition brought driver AI and car handling up to realistic levels, transforming the franchise into the kind of simulation that longtime NASCAR fans have been clamoring for on a home console for years. Thanks to the inclusions of a 20-year career mode, a comprehensive tutorial, and lightning challenges that allowed players to relive key events from the 2002 season, EA Sports gave NASCAR fans a product that portrayed their favorite sport with the same degree of authenticity and reverence as the company's other sports franchises. NASCAR Thunder 2004 goes even further, tweaking and improving every aspect of the game while adding in a slew of new features--chief among them, an intricate system of rivalries and alliances that makes each race more intense than the one before it.

Last year's version of NASCAR Thunder was one of the best representations of stock car racing I have played on a console. It had decent graphics, solid gameplay, and featured a deep and involving career mode. This year the PS2 version is kicking it into high gear with supported online play and the new addition of a grudges and alliances feature that attempts to re-create some of the bad blood (and pit row friendships) that we see between drivers on Sunday.