Xbox

NASCAR Thunder 2003

For NASCAR fans, it’s all about the drivers personalities, and NASCAR Thunder 2003 delivers them in a big way. The pre-race intros in pit lane are worth watching again and again, and cool videos of drivers pop up all over the place.

Far from suffering from a "sophomore jinx," Thunder 2003 has managed to smooth out some of the rougher edges of last year's model -- similar to the way last year's Thunder 2002 for the PS2 ironed out a lot of the wrinkles from the franchise's PS2 debut. Thunder 2003 gives gamers more tracks, more stuff to do, and better graphics. And, like the best of racing games, it'll probably boost your trip to the mall by a few mphs.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed NASCAR Thunder 2003. Not a big stock racing fan by any means, the user-friendly controls and interface along with an absolutely splendid presentation really helped draw me in, and I expect it will do so for the majority of console owners out there as well.

NASCAR Thunder 2003 comes close to being one of the most perfect NASCAR racing games available so far and much of that has to do with the realism factor this game pushes to its farthest limits. While its heavy-on-the-realism feature can be too realistically demanding the game’s racing fun does not slow down very much.

Overall, NASCAR Thunder 2003 is an impressive update to last year's game. The core gameplay remains solid and is perhaps a bit more focused, and the game gives veteran racers not only the latest drivers, cars, and tech, but also a good number of new gameplay modes and features to play with. Yearly sports franchise updates don't always provide enough of an upgrade to even warrant their existence, but in this regard, NASCAR Thunder 2003 definitely satisfies.