Yarborough's Full Review: NASCAR 2001 for PlayStation 2
With the release of "Nascar Heat 2002" there is really no reason to either buy or rent "Nascar 2001". Heat is graphically superior with road textures that even beat out Gran Turismo 3, although GT3 still takes the award for best looking cars. Heat adds about 36 "Beat the Heat" challenges that are great fun over constantly driving in circles. My original review follows.
Now available on CD, not DVD. As an owner of Nascar 1999 and 2000 on the Playstation 1, this is definitely the best graphics yet in this series (until Nascar Heat 2002). My benchmark for what cars should look like in a game has been Gran Turismo 2 on the PS1 and previous Nascars came no where close. In fact, they were down right disappointing in comparison. GT2 spoiled me and Nascar 2000 got far less play after that. My hope was for a Nascar with better looking cars than GT2. I wasn't disappointed. They now are.
The Game
This is definitely, for the Nascar fanatic. Who else could enjoy 200 to 500 miles of oval driving on 10 tracks plus 2 road race tracks. Thankfully, as before, there is an adjustment for various percentages of the total race, to alleviate "racers thumb". 3% can bring each race down to something like 6 laps, depending on the track. These shorter races are my favorite. Racing options are a Quick Race to select and go, a Single Race and Championship Season which now has a choice of half season (10 races) or full season (20 races).
You compete against 20 Nascar drivers per race and in a season. You may take on the persona of one of 37 actual drivers or create your own driver. There are 12 real Nascar series tracks, some with day and night racing. For the first time, the long awaited Daytona has been added. Oh boy, another oval. Levels of difficulty are Rookie, Veteran, and Legend the latter two will keep you busy.
Sounds
Benny Parsons & Bob Jenkins are back as our announcers, but in this version, they are no longer visible. The spotters are informative and will let you know when someone is near you. "Car low, stay high". The rumble of the engines, skidding and scraping are realistic. And of course, that sickening sound of hitting the wall.
Music is thin. There are 7 instrumentals which move from modern country to Jerry Lee type piano to rock to jazz. Nothing too spectacular about them. After mile 433, you might want to turn it off.
Graphics
The best of the new graphics are the cars and road surfaces. The car surfaces are very smooth. The decals are more legible than on videos of real cars. Night time lighting reflects nicely off the cars. The spring of the suspension looks realistic and is interesting to watch on the cars in front of you. Damage shows, including donuts on the sides. Effects of the damage is user adjustable.
The road surface quality is good, with visible cracks in the tar.
Scenery, although the best yet, is so-so and the quality differs from track to track. Some of the grass has an unrealistic watery look to it. Yet driving into it will bring up clouds of brown dust. Turning the rear view mirror on has a very negative affect on the overall graphics. I keep it off and listen to the spotters instead.
Accidents are fun. I particularly like these. Someone spins out ahead of you bringing up clouds of smoke that you can't see through, so you hope for the best.
Worthy of noting, the inside driver seat view is excellent. It has incredible detail and is my favorite. The steering wheel is leather and textured and watching how much it is moving while steering is a great aid to precision driving. Also, there are 3 (angel) views above the car and one exhaust sniffing chin scrapping front bumper cam.
Control
Unfortunately, loading a track to qualify takes approximately 22 seconds and then loading to race takes the same again. Time to head to the refrigerator. Controller configuration is limited to a choice of only 3 and they are too similar. The "X" button is not programmed to take advantage of the new analog button. It's off or pedal to the metal, as in the past. Fortunately, full analog steering and accelerator/brake is on the 2 joysticks. Steering is very smooth.
Gripe one: When switching from race to race in a season, this absent minded game forgets your setup, like the driving view, and needs to be reset.
Gripe two: Related to the above, resetting the view requires pushing the "O" button 5 times in the 3 seconds prior to race start while simultaneously holding the accelerator full on for the running start. I need a third hand for this one.
Gripe three: How can I do 500 miles when this game will not recognize my Act Lab steering wheel. Nascar 1999 and 2000 both do. Ridge Racer 5 on the PS2 does. The manual makes no mention of wheel or "Negcon" support, which in the past, has insured that Racing Systems would work. Nascar 2001 did away with the Steering Wheel interface that supported most PS1 wheels. A new style PS2 Racing Wheel, that mimics a Dual Shock controller would need to be purchased for use with this game. I bit the bullet and purchased the new InterAct Blue Thunder Racing Wheel which works great with this game.
(Put "Blue Thunder Racing Wheel" into the search box at the top of the page to find my review of the wheel.)
Miscellaneous Stuff
Replays are short highlights only. Drivers can now be seen buckled in their cars. Qualifying becomes very important because competition is very aggressive in this version and will provide a real challenge to get through a pack of 20 cars.
This is not a Gran Turismo that will busy you for months. It is a play for a while and then put away for a rainy day. Or during the racing season, watching a race at Bristol and then trying it on your game to see what the drivers are really up against.
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