NASCAR Heat
NASCAR Heatby Infogrames Entertainment
Platform: Xbox
ESRB Rating: Everyone
ASIN: B00005O62B
Check price @ amazon.com
Features:
• NASCAR-licensed racing simulator
• Choose from 25 top drivers and race on 19 Winston Cup tracks
• Experience the speed of NASCAR racing
• 5 game modes, 2 levels of difficulty, and photorealistic special effects
• For 1 to 2 players
Amazon.com Product Description: Fans of the NASCAR Winston Cup will thrill at the dynamic racing modes of NASCAR Heat. Choose from one of 25 different drivers to race on 19 real Winston Cup tracks. Five modes let you compete in single races, season championships, beat-the-heat, head-to-head, and race-the-pro. Realistic car damage, dents, scratches, sparks, and collisions heighten the race drama, as do special effects such as lens flare, waving flags, and rotating signs.
Take on all-new racing scenarios that capture the split-second decisions and timing required of NASCAR drivers. Race at normal level for fun arcade-style racing, or take on the expert simulation mode and experience the physics of driving a 750-horsepower Winston Cup car. Realistic graphics and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound capabilities heighten the pulse-pounding competition.
Customer Reviews:
Fun, But Not Exciting, May 31, 2002
Reviewer: chad steingraber from Lake Dallas, TX
-Chad Steingraber-
-Paradigm/Infogrames-
-Level Designer/Game Designer/3D Artist on The Terminator: Dawn of Fate-
I must admit, this is the first NASCAR game I've ever played...so, I can't compare it to another NASCAR game. I thought is was pretty cool, it had really good graphics and the driving physics were pretty realistic. I found myself trying to create car wrecks as much as possible...it was just fun to watch a 10 car pile up. I played an entire season and took first place....and this is why I quit playing feeling dissapointed: There was nothing to award the player for taking first place! NOTHING! At least, AT LEAST a floating gold cup spinning around with "You Win!" at the bottom. Come on guys, that was just plain dumb.
It was a fun game, but I found that after playing one season (with no reward) there was no reason to play it again. If you love NASCAR, this game would be good....if you just want to see cool cars driving around, rent it first.
Fun!, April 28, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer from Des Moines, IA United States
I'm not really a Nascar fan but I do love racing games. This one is a hoot! Here's the deal: I bought Nascar Thunder but I also own Nascar Heat because my girlfriend bought it the same day as a surprise to me. So here I was with two Nascar games and I've kept them both. As far as true racing and competition, Nascar Thunder is the better racing game. It has a create-a-car option and most of the real Nascar drivers. The graphics aren't as good as Heat though. If you're into better graphics and bigger, fiery crashes, Nascar Heat is the way to go. Sometimes I create havoc on the track just to watch the replays of the crashes. You can create a lot more mayhem on Heat than Thunder...and that's why I love it. The only problem with Heat is they don't have all the drivers. Half the cars in a race are just fake, generic cars. I play both a lot, but if I could only pick one - I'd give a slight edge to Nascar Heat. But you really can't go wrong with either one. Both are great games that you can pick up anytime for a few minutes (or hours) of fun. If you love great wrecks, get Heat. Great racing, get Thunder.
Good things, bad things, January 22, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer
I have Nascar Heat and Nascar Thunder. On the good side, Nascar heat is more of a simulation, meaning the driving is a bit more realistic and if you know a little about Nascar racing, you can adjust your car in about every way possible. In Thunder, you can only adjust tire pressure, spoiler angle, and gear ratios. In this game, you can adjust individual tire pressure, spring rates, wedge...the more technical stuff. The "in-car" view is better in Heat because you can look left and right, which I'm pretty sure you can't do in Thunder, which to me makes it unplayable. I think Heat sounds more like Nascar than Thunder does. The graphics are about the same.
ON the bad side, if you have the Mad Catz steering wheel, you can't up shift using the gear selector. There are only three controller configurations, and you can't customize them. Drivers are limited to 20, and there are only 19 tracks.
So basically, Heat is more of a simulation, but you can't use a steering wheel with a manual transmission, a lot of drivers/cars are omitted, and a few tracks are missing. If future versions of Heat fix these things, then I'd prefer Heat. As it is, I prefer Thunder.
Exceding Expectations:, January 5, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer from San Francisco, CA USA
On Christmas Eve, i opened a box to find a console inside. On the outside, i had gotten SSX Tricky (for gamecube by mistake) so i thought my mom had picken out the wrong system. But, luckily there was an Xbox inside with the Nascar Heat Game. Shucks i thought, neither of these games are nearly as good as Halo or other games. But, that didnt stop me from tearing open the box, and immedietly inserting Nascar and hooking it up to my tv. The graphics were stunning, and the gameplay looked to be confusing but there were really only two buttons; acceleration and joystick. Even better, the game included sponserships, etc. to make it life-like. No, I will not make this my one and only game for XBox but I don't think Nascar Heat will be as big a hit as it deserves. I hate Nascar and can barely stand to watch ugly cars just driving straight without any action. But, this game was great and it makes me yearn for more of the Xbox.
The More Realistic Racer, January 2, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer from CA
After playing both the EA and the Infogrames NASCAR simulations, I preferred this game. The caveat is that this is a more complex, more time consuming racer. The reward is more depth and a more realistic experience, particularly in the stupidly named, but very playable "hardcore" mode. The number of car setup options and nice physics model kept me involved.
The EA Sports game, in comparison, is more suitable for those that care less about depth and desire a more arcadish (aka Daytona USA with a bit more panache) feel.
Although I preferred this game, there were some annoying things about both NASCAR racers. First, Infogrames, couldn't you have built a pace car that really looked like a pace car instead of a re-painted stock car? This game also suffered from some pop-up, something that EA Sports addressed very well with their racer. That said, NASCAR Heat has smoother car models and more realistic track design than the EA Sports NASCAR Thunder game.
I don't think you can go wrong with either game, but they definitely target two different audiences: Prefer simulations? Go with NASCAR Heat. Prefer Arcade? Thunder is for you.
NASCAR HEAT 2002: THE BEST GAME OUT THERE!, December 30, 2001
Reviewer: A gamer from Cleveland, Ohio USA
I recieved Nascar Heat 2002 as a Christmas Present. In just 2 days, i spent hours playing it. It is awesome!!!! The graphics are great and the game play is realistic to NASCAR races. You can practice, qualify, race, go to the garage and even race in happy hour! This game was great and i highly recommend it for anyone who likes action packed games!
Great fun, even if you don't know that much about NASCAR., December 18, 2001
Reviewer: A gamer from Austin, TX USA
I have never been a fan or spectator of NASCAR racing, but I'm extremely glad I decided to get this game. It's easily one of the most enjoyable games I have on the XBOX (and I have quite a few great games so far, including Halo, NFL Fever, NHL Hitz, Dead or Alive 3, Amped, and others). If you're a novice at stockcar racing--and simply appreciate how cool it could be to drive 300 laps at 190 miles an hour, racing other fast cars, making pitstops, accumulating points over the course of a season to win the coveted NASCAR Championship, taking practice runs and qualifying laps, as do I--you can turn this game on and be enjoying all these things in no time. If you're more advanced, or even very advanced, don't worry: there are plenty of different things you can do to insure a very realistic, challenging and fun simulation. The graphics, the game play, and especially the realism are all great. I'm sure EA Sports' NASCAR Thunder is a great game for more advanced people, but I can't imagine it being more enjoyable or realistic than this game--for novices, experts, or anyone in between. Highly recommended.
NASCAR Heat Rocks!, December 15, 2001
Reviewer: Dan Mazzei from Bellevue, WA USA
This is the best NASCAR game out there bar none. I am a huge NASCAR fan and I love this game! The playability of the game is excellent and you can spend hours making highly technical adjustments on the car in the garage and they make an amazing difference to how the car handles. If you're not up for such technical things and just want to race, go for it! The cars are set up very well from the get go and you can be very competetive without making any adjustments to the car. Most of the NASCAR stars are depicted in this game along with quite a few drivers that I've never heard of. The tutorial is great as are the one on one challenges against the NASCAR stars. The only complaints I have about this game are the graphics which at times simulate the sun glaring on your windshield which gets annoying at times. Also, I ran into a problem while racing at Martinsville. The race went under caution after the 4th lap and the pace car kept coming off and on to the track. The race didn't go back to green again and it was very frustrating. I haven't faced any other problems with this game. Fix this minor glitch and you've got an AMAZINGLY stunning game!
Nice!!, December 4, 2001
Reviewer: Jackster from Los Angeles, CA
All the drivers and all the action any NASCAR fan could ever ask for. Dig it.
REALISTIC AND ONE OF MY TOP PICKS, December 1, 2001
Reviewer: Cameron Johnson from Roanoke, VA United States
Usually, I'm not a big fan of NASCAR games -mainly because they're too realistic for me (vehicle damage, time in pit, difficulty steering, etc.) however I decided to give this a try and I was impressed. Took me a few practice runs and races to get any good - actually - it took me a few times to even finish but I must say I do enjoy this game. There are options such as steering and braking assistance which help make the race run smoother for you if you're a beginning. You can also choose from like 20 different drivers/tracks and choose auto/manual transmission plus the # of laps (based on percentage of actual race at that speedway...for example 3%, etc.). I enjoy the multiplayer feature and I enjoyed playing it with some friends for a good while yesterday. I recommend this racing game!
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