And now NASCAR 21: Ignition has brought the series to an even lower bar than the HEAT franchise. I honestly hope Codies gets the NASCAR and Indycar licenses so they can churn out F1 quality simcade racing games with EA's funding
I hope we can ditch Motorsport Games asap, but they bought 704 Games and their exclusive license which lasts until 2029, so I'm not sure if its even possible...
@@drew_on_drums Glad you enjoy the Heat games. Evolution was a dumpster fire back in 2016, even compared to the ETX games that I actually kinda liked. Heat 2, 3, and 4 were all small improvements on the game with improving levels of polish. Heat 5 and NASCAR Rivals are minor reskins of Heat 4, but even at its best I don't enjoy the driving physics of the Heat games. The AI feels far too artificial (doesn't get loose correctly on contact is the largest issue for me). The crash physics are also so bland compared to early 2000's NASCAR games. I also find the presentation of the Heat games lacking. In many of the older games races started with a commentated intro for the event with overhead cameras, flybys, and a general race day vibe. They also had caution periods where you were driving and got to see what other drivers were diving into the pits so you could make a decision. This might seem minor, but in Heat when a caution comes out, pressing "pit" and finding you lost loads of places or not putting and finding you're in first just feels shallow. Speaking of feeling shallow: the pause menu. In most other games, when you press the pause button you have the ability to change your graphics settings, audio settings, gameplay options (at least view them), and usually keybinds (or at least look at them). Heat games have a pause menu that looks like a generic Unity asset rip shovelware game with (cancel, restart, and exit) being the only choices. I know console gamers aren't as used to messing with settings etc (especially on games that don't have PS5/Xbox Series "performance" and "quality" options), but as a PC gamer who usually has a controller, wheel, pedals, and/or HOTAS plugged in at any given time I somewhat frequently have to fix keybinds and loading into a race, testing, backing out, and repeating till everything works right is a pain. Same with changing graphics settings or gameplay options if something isn't set correctly. Tl;dr: I'm glad you enjoy the game. Personally I feel like NASCAR franchises peaked before just before the EA Exclusivity contract in 2004 and each subsequent franchise has been a bit worse than the last.
So fun fact: NASCAR for the PSP was the first NASCAR game to feature the interactive scrolling ticker in the race menu, and I'd say it was the basis for NASCAR 08 since they both are eerily similar
You hit it on the head my dude 👍 We grew up with those early Nascar games. It's that rush of nostalgia and memories that we long for with the new games. But somehow it just isn't there. For me growing up, it was 05' Chase for the Cup. I played the hell out of that on PS2. I remember how magical it was to play that with my old man as a kid. It was the most crazy, exciting, fast pace, foot to floor, thing for a kid to experience. Those were the days. The new games just don't capture that feel. So we'll hang on to what was and the memories we had. And everytime we'll smile when we think back and that wave of nostalgia comes over us. Anyways, great video man 👍 Really enjoyed it thanks. 😎
this video is amazing! i didn't know about this channel until you commented on my robin video. You deserve so much more subs and views. It felt like you were reading my mind with the things you said in this video lol.
i had a 98% complete save going on 06, which i guess makes me a madman for being so okay with the physics, but when you join kevin harvick racing in the busch series your career freezes itself at the start of the next season. so i had to go back to my 90% complete save where i was still in the truck series, and then saw that one of the challenges needed to get a 100% save is ‘sign with kevin harvick racing in the busch series.’ so having a functional 100% save is impossible. now i’m signed with roush for a second year in the truck series so i can get enough prestige to sign with chance 2 next season
Seeing as you brought up Sonic near the end, NASCAR gaming since the late 2000s and onwards have been stuck in a dark age. NASCAR gaming has yet to have its own Unleashed, Colors or Generations-esque title that can reassure to fans that NASCAR games can still meet the standards of the Thunder and Heat series, which are (imo) NASCAR gaming's own Sonic Adventure-esque titles.
Yeeeeeah... I guess it comes down to the nature of sports games in general. Every new Sonic game can be a total departure from the last and still be a success in some way. And Sonic games LOVE being wildly different from each other! But with NASCAR we've only REALLY had a few games come out in the last decade or so because the majority of titles have just been upgrades to existing games :/ It's less likely to have some breakout success that can recharge a franchise when you really only get one shot at that every 5 to 6 years.
NASCAR 06 had some of the worst handling ever. The car felt so stiff that when you went into a corner, the thing would just sail into the wall and like a magnetic force it would latch onto the wall and never let go. And don’t even get me started on the apron physics. My god the apron physics. You literally have to run 2 lanes above the track in order to avoid spinning like a top. Like WTF is that? Heat Evolution’s physics were ass. Nothing like playing NASCAR Pin Ball. “Motorsport Games you have the chance to put us on the right path.” This comment aged horrendously.
Well with the news that Iracing (which is built off Papyrus's old NR2003 engine and has the NASCAR cup cars and many cup tracks) will be developing the next NASCAR console game; there is some hope with a competent developer with an established track record of quality. Whether a sim company will be able to deliver a simcade experience to rival the Thunder games or Dirt to Daytona is yet to be seen
It's fascinating hearing other perspectives on NASCAR 06 which was my first NASCAR game and the one I compare all others too. I'm totally used to the slippery controls and hate the Heat game's driving by comparison. Heat feels like the cars are glued to the track and it's virtually impossible to get wrecked or wreck other cars even with the option on that makes them easier to wreck. In 06 you could just casually tap a guy in the rear quarter panel during a turn and watch them slide up sideways into the wall. It made you feel like you're Dale Earnhardt showing em' who's boss! A wonderful feeling that's totally gone in the modern games.
Nascar 08 was my first video game, ever. My dad managed to get a used silver PS2 slim (a console I might have put more than 10000 hours on by now) in like 2009, when I would have been like 6. He saw nascar, grabbed it, and that was my only game for a while. The disk scratched after a bit, so I got some more, and eventually I got every nascar game for the PS2 except for thunder 02 I think. Eventually, I settled into rotating between 04 and 07 (which is the one I hold the most nostalgia for). Since I got my own computer for college, I managed to jerry-rig NR2003 on it, and oh my god I've been in love for almost 2 years now.
iRacing is probably my favorite NASCAR game and the one I play the most, still leaves a huge hole for me though since I'm craving that classic single player career experience like 2004. Really hopeful though for NASCAR 21 with the RFactor devs working on it!
After watching your whole series, my ideal NASCAR game would be a game with fun but not crazy physics and very accurate damage models like you would see in BeamNG or Wreckfest.
And Wreckfest specifically has SUPER fun driving physics, I honestly should own and play it yet here we are :/ But I HAVE played Flatout on PS2 which was a predecessor of Wreckfest, and really both of them hit the sweetspot for handling. Just gotta get that in a NASCAR game, we'll see!
My favorite NASCAR games from the fall era are the first 2 Eutechnyx NASCAR games. 2011 & Inside Line. Due to the advancements they made such as the graphics, physics, especially the 360 degree full paint booth.
NASCAR Thunder 2004 was absolutely the pinnacle and it was because of the golden years of EA Sports games, also known as 2003-2005. It wasn't just NASCAR, NCAA Football 2004 is the greatest sports game of all time, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is the best golf game, NHL 2004 is a Top 3 hockey game and still has a dedicated player base that upgrades rosters every year, Madden 2004 and 2005 are known as stone-cold all time greats, Fight Night was an incredible boxing game and even NCAA March Madness was fun to play. NASCAR Thunder though, oh man, those games were so good that they made me a lifelong fan of the sport and I'm always glad to see them get the recognition that they deserve.
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup is such a tease of a game. It has a bunch of content but the lack of tire wear for the A.I. kills the game for me. I mean it's playable but one has to compromise the settings so much just to make it not suck.
That's such a good point because like, yeah you caaan just turn off wear and have a good time... but once you start having to actively avoid using certain features because they break the game it really dampens the mood :/
Nascar 09 ps3/x360 is actually very well put together, especially back when online was around. Custom paint schemes ala iracing, great physics, ranked lobbies. The single player experience was lacking though
NASCAR 2005 was a big step down from Thunder 2004, yes, BUT it arguably has the second best soundtrack by a nose behind Thunder 2004. We're talking as class as Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven.
Ea sports nascar racing is one of the arcade games I have multiple high scores on it’s one of those nascar games for you to sit down and have fun quickly for a little while
My favorite NASCAR game is NASCAR Thunder 2002. It’s a sad thing that the popularity of NASCAR games has fallen down after NASCAR 08, it was a very wrong decision for EA to collapse this amazing franchise. Rest in Peace. (1996-2009)
a little late but here my story with heat 5, I was wanting to play a nascar game on my ps4 so I've brought heat 5 in a sale, and my god, what were they doing? a tire wear that until it hits 90% it runs fine, but when drops below 90% (so the tire is still brand new) you start to slide and can't control the car just like your car has worn tires, I even got heat 4 and the difference in tire wear is enormous, thanks god we still have nr2003
nascar sim racing 2005 was really good. kinda like NR2003 but just less enough that NR2003 comes out on top. tbh only good thing about Sim 2005 is the better stock graphics and slightly better wheel support, but then again thats if you can get it to run..... also thunder 2004 is goated
Nascar 06 was the nascar game I grew up with. I thought I was just bad at it until I started replaying it recently and my god you really gotta be careful around tight turns. You try turning and the wall turns into a bumper magnet. I never finished it but I'm trying just for the sake of completion now.
NASCAR Heat 3 burned me on recent consoles and NASCAR games, bought the game about a week after it's release, thinking "hey, NASCAR Heat 2 was a significant step up from NHE, why not spend lots of money on a brand new game." I was at Target, and bought it for 40-60 dollars (I don't really remember lol) drove home, popped it in the XBOX ONE I had bought a month prior, for other games. Spent an hour of my time installing the game (had to buy a Wi-Fi router for the XBOX, damn thing wanted internet) popped it in, played and was entertained (i'm easily entertained) didn't wanna do 100% Dirt races because I didn't think the fuel and tire wear would work out well with no pit road. I made it to the Texas hot seat, finished 2nd, turned off the console, went to sleep. When I got up the next morning and turned in the console, the disc wouldn't read. So I uninstalled and reinstalled the game at least 20 times. That didn't work... I had downloaded all the extra DLC that was free, and I had wasted my money on a game that didn't last a week. Maybe I shouldn't blame the game for my console's shortcomings, but it wasn't anywhere near the caliber of NT2004, which I had the pleasure of playing for a month before my old PS2 finally bricked (bought it, 2005, and 07 on Amazon, all of them performed exceedingly well) even though I was stomping the competition on Legend by the end of that month, the racing was fun. (even if the lapped cars blocking me got a little annoying) Sorry for the essay lol.
older sports games are better in large part due to two things: 1. lack of official sport interference, because sports games were less of a major brand pillar back then and leagues didnt realize what they had. they now understand the impact games have on the image of their sport. this causes a flattening out of possible outcomes and creativity, with oppresive liscensing monopolies for large publishers to boot. 2. games cost a lot more. sports games typically (they dont necessarily NEED to) come out every year. in modern times games take a long time and a lot of money to make. this incentivizes reskins, safe bets, and hastily churned out games. creativity is put on the backburner for just getting these games working, even if that isnt achieved most of the time either. any negative feedback will bounce directly back to the brand, and sports leagues are scared of that. anyways, cool video. i know its 3 years old but anything else like this would be nice. even if not about nascar. cheers
I don't know if I was the only one, but Heat 3 made road courses hilariously easy. You could enter a corner at max speed, turn in sharply and the game would slow you down and point you in the right direction. This stopped in Heat 4. Personally the Heat series are decent due to the feeder series, although looking at it via a trophy hunting perspective (which is why I played them) Heat 5 was annoying as it forced you to stay in the cup series, while 3 and 4 allowed you to race in the dirt series until you finished 10 seasons.
Tbh nascar inside line 2012 has the best paint scheme booth in a nascar game the crash physics were insane if you wreck someone the whole field goes with them sometimes mostly at short tracks and you could race exhibition races although I do get what mean ai brake checks when there going to pit road but I didn’t grow up with the ones before 09
You would think the wii would have great racing games but they really stripped the features down :( that said the foundation wasn't too great to begin with
My first NASCAR game was NASCAR 14. I went back and played NT04 and NR2003, and I couldn't go back. I just ended up getting NR2003 mods and played that.
Well it is now 2024. Thanks for your video and opinions. I still like Nascar Racing 2003 by Papyrus and had great times online with the "FREE" Sierra Servers. I even did 3 private leagues for few years. Then IRacing came along in 2008 and those Servers closed down. I never did IRacing because of subscription fees. I do have NR2003 installed on my Windows 10 PC and still works OK. Have several tracks and mods to make the game interesting. We shall see if this new proposed Nascar PC game coming out in 2025 by IRacing and another group will be our next good Nascar game to have fun with since IRacing now has the licenses to do so. Time shall Tell.
Hey guess what I also have the Wii version of NASCAR 2011 the game and I had a little fun, mainly because I was using the wii wheel to control the game. And it actually felt like I was steering the car.
Currently playing Heat 4. I also hate the wiggle during turns. I would love to see a NASCAR game that spans multiple generations of the sport, because I want to go back and stop Dale from dumping Terry at Bristol in ‘95 and then stop him from hitting the wall in ‘01. I miss old NASCAR.
The NASCAR arcade game EA made is fantastic. The graphics are actually really good for a game of the time (and really in general), the physics are actually good, and the handling is very fluid and very fun (altho sometimes the force feedback gets cranked waaaaay too high and makes it impossible to even go in a strait line, and there's nothing you can do about it), and the music playing actually kicks ass. I wish I could find the source code for it online somewhere because the place I always went to recently shut down and I can't play it anymore, but overall the game is S tier
It sucks with arcade-only stuff because all it takes is the local place shutting down or selling the machine and you're S. O. L. . My Dave&Buster's had a corner with Daytona USA (all 8 players), a remote-controlled NASCAR racing game, and EA Sports NASCAR Arcade. In the span of a few months, ALL OF THEM WERE GONE!
21:26 which nascar game is this? With these weird cars? I remember playing this a ton but can't find which one it was. Was it Thunder 2004 or earlier than that?
@@AboutThatTime420 Oh the one where the drivers are sitting infront of a green screen before it cuts to an on-board shot that's facing backwards? That's NASCAR Heat for the PS1, based on the 2000 season of the Cup Series. I talk about it in another video if youre interested lol, "The Rise of NASCAR Gaming"
One of my biggest problems with 06, is certain contracts either scoring me twice, or just crashing the game. And 08 is just so so bad, especially the rendering. Objects that usually would get rendered in in an older title from a far distance don't exist from that same distance, and then there's David Reutimann's Domino's scheme.... I don't even wanna think about that monstrosity.
I felt old watching this......series? (idk what you'd call a 2 video playlist) Playing the original heat and ea games as a toddler, and getting pissed off at nascar 09 as a kindergartner due to missing manufacturer decals. Then getting so pissed off at the etx games that I bought NR2003 on ebay....(weird story there) I uninstalled the first 3 heat reboot games within a week, and still actually play heat 4 and heat 4.5 occasionally. I don't really know what I expect from Motorsport Games at this point. It's obvious from the announcements of the past few months that it's probably going to be a sim of some sort, but I feel like it's going to be a bare boned one at that since Studio 397 only acquired Cup car data for rFactor. Also that EA Arcade game was my bitch at chucky cheese's back in the day, I was the only 7 year old there that could use the 4spd manual mode. 😎
Yeah as far as the very first game from Motorsports Games, I'm sure they just don't have enough time to add that many features. All I'm gonna judge this first one on is straight up gameplay. Handling, AI, and being VERY STABLE (no caution glitches and all that). Man I felt pretty old making it lol, I didn't rank anything from the last 14 years above the very bottom of B-Tier. I put fuckin NASCAR Heat on PS1 above NASCAR '15, I have to be legit insane.
I got NASCAR 09 for the PS3 4 years ago and I'd say it's at least a little better than NASCAR 08 since the steering problem from 08 where you get loose the moment you steer is gone in 09
I liked Nascar inside line because of the driving aids and the steering, I thought it made the game seem more realistic, but nascar 14 and 15, not so much on the steering in the cockpit view, turn the wheel just alittle at Martinsville, your gonna make the turn, Inside line; you gotta turn the wheel all the way to the left to make the turn, and a good decent damage model, unlike nascar heat evolution, 2, 3, 4, 5, no wheelmarks or wall marks or not a good damage model
That's a great point, I didn't ever mention the driving aids and that does massively impact the experience. But I literally never use assists on NASCAR games, so I didn't wanna talk about them cause I'd sound like a dumb lol I'd imagine assists would help me appreciate some of these games a bit more
@@the54car when heat 4 and 5 featured driving aids, it was really cool, but it makes the car very lose and unable to drive at some tracks, mostly short tracks and road courses, driving with the expert settings on those games are impossible to save the car without turning a hard right or left and flipping your car. Inside line had the best driving aids in my opinion. It made the ultimate driving experience in driving a stockcar at intermediate tracks like Atlanta, the tire fall off is decent and it makes the car harder to find grip, the thing I like mostly about is how you turn the car, and have to turn the wheel all the way to the left to make a turn at Martinsville, which is really realistic in my opinion, but the 14 and 15 game are bad about the steering, you can slightly turn the wheel to turn into a corner (the same thing we deal with till this day) I mean, the steering in inside line makes it feel in a good type of lose, but with 14 and today, it makes it look up tight and not look realistic, I struggle to qualify good at the superspeedways even when I'm turning very smoothly and have the foot to the floor, I race in the cockpit most of the time in the heat series and thats why I am explaining it like I am.
I like NASCAR 08 on the PS2 But the problem for me is how they recycled some of the sound effects from NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for example that sound effect when you exit a post race menu or quit the race.
![Ranking EVERY SINGLE NASCAR Game [The Rise]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/e69j2CiP-pI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Escaping the Shadow of Mario Kart [NASCAR Rumble]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sxJBUDlt1to/mqdefault.jpg)
“I WANNA PUT MY FACE BETWEEN YOUR T H U N D E R P L A T E S” absolutely made my day.
That part nearly killed me 🤣🤣🤣
@@backbayproductions9508 same
@@backbayproductions9508NASCAR HEAT 4 & 5 should've been ranked "CRAP".
@@nascarfan0331NASCAR 06 for me is as amazing as 05.
And now NASCAR 21: Ignition has brought the series to an even lower bar than the HEAT franchise. I honestly hope Codies gets the NASCAR and Indycar licenses so they can churn out F1 quality simcade racing games with EA's funding
I hope we can ditch Motorsport Games asap, but they bought 704 Games and their exclusive license which lasts until 2029, so I'm not sure if its even possible...
@@the54car Now, motorsport games looks like they won't last the year
Hey the heat games were amazing until 200
@@drew_on_drums Glad you enjoy the Heat games.
Evolution was a dumpster fire back in 2016, even compared to the ETX games that I actually kinda liked. Heat 2, 3, and 4 were all small improvements on the game with improving levels of polish.
Heat 5 and NASCAR Rivals are minor reskins of Heat 4, but even at its best I don't enjoy the driving physics of the Heat games. The AI feels far too artificial (doesn't get loose correctly on contact is the largest issue for me). The crash physics are also so bland compared to early 2000's NASCAR games.
I also find the presentation of the Heat games lacking. In many of the older games races started with a commentated intro for the event with overhead cameras, flybys, and a general race day vibe. They also had caution periods where you were driving and got to see what other drivers were diving into the pits so you could make a decision. This might seem minor, but in Heat when a caution comes out, pressing "pit" and finding you lost loads of places or not putting and finding you're in first just feels shallow.
Speaking of feeling shallow: the pause menu. In most other games, when you press the pause button you have the ability to change your graphics settings, audio settings, gameplay options (at least view them), and usually keybinds (or at least look at them). Heat games have a pause menu that looks like a generic Unity asset rip shovelware game with (cancel, restart, and exit) being the only choices. I know console gamers aren't as used to messing with settings etc (especially on games that don't have PS5/Xbox Series "performance" and "quality" options), but as a PC gamer who usually has a controller, wheel, pedals, and/or HOTAS plugged in at any given time I somewhat frequently have to fix keybinds and loading into a race, testing, backing out, and repeating till everything works right is a pain. Same with changing graphics settings or gameplay options if something isn't set correctly.
Tl;dr: I'm glad you enjoy the game. Personally I feel like NASCAR franchises peaked before just before the EA Exclusivity contract in 2004 and each subsequent franchise has been a bit worse than the last.
@@UnHappyHarvickMotorsport Games cant even last 1 month due to how bad NASCAR 21 actually is.
The production quality here is absurdly high for a channel with 350 subscribers, fantastic work!
It really is, his videos feel like something from a channel with well over 100k subs
Should've been 50000 subscribers.
Many still love all PS2 and 1 NASCAR games.
I'm legit blown away that you have 350 subs. If you keep this up you'll be very popular. Glad to see you from the beginning good luck!
Should've been 6000.
NASCAR 21 IGNITION: WE ARE THE WORST NASCAR GAME EVER!
NASCAR HEAT EVOLUTION: Am i a joke for you?
0:27 Just discovered your channel today and I see you might be a fan of Scott the Woz, that's awesome dude!
Hey all! Might be 👀
So fun fact: NASCAR for the PSP was the first NASCAR game to feature the interactive scrolling ticker in the race menu, and I'd say it was the basis for NASCAR 08 since they both are eerily similar
But he's not ranking it as he said he wouldn't rank handheld games like that or Bill Elliott's NASCAR Fast Tracks
@@cubingclassroomfan4323 i was just pointing something out bro.
@@cubingclassroomfan4323NASCAR 06 & 07 are for me the last good NASCAR games.
These 2 videos were amazing, really enjoyed both of them
really glad to hear it 👍
I'm trying to get a 3rd one made but the subject matter is uh... grim... so its hard to keep working on it lol
You hit it on the head my dude 👍 We grew up with those early Nascar games. It's that rush of nostalgia and memories that we long for with the new games. But somehow it just isn't there. For me growing up, it was 05' Chase for the Cup. I played the hell out of that on PS2. I remember how magical it was to play that with my old man as a kid. It was the most crazy, exciting, fast pace, foot to floor, thing for a kid to experience. Those were the days. The new games just don't capture that feel. So we'll hang on to what was and the memories we had. And everytime we'll smile when we think back and that wave of nostalgia comes over us.
Anyways, great video man 👍 Really enjoyed it thanks. 😎
Me too grew up with all PS1 NASCAR games from NASCAR RACING 1996 to Thunder 2004!
this video is amazing! i didn't know about this channel until you commented on my robin video. You deserve so much more subs and views. It felt like you were reading my mind with the things you said in this video lol.
Means the world man, thanks! I'm really excited for my future on UA-cam and yours, good days ahead just you wait!
One of the things I really liked about nascar chase for the cup is the fact the drivers switched teams over time.
Yep. Even Swapping Cars in 06 & 07.
Not to mention the last two ea games did not put the manufacturer’s logo on the COT
Your channel is amazing, i love your style
Only a matter of time before you blow up and get super popular, keep up the great work!
bro i can't cry in public come on
you need more subs, very good at making videos, and this is hilarious and informative, love it
i had a 98% complete save going on 06, which i guess makes me a madman for being so okay with the physics, but when you join kevin harvick racing in the busch series your career freezes itself at the start of the next season. so i had to go back to my 90% complete save where i was still in the truck series, and then saw that one of the challenges needed to get a 100% save is ‘sign with kevin harvick racing in the busch series.’ so having a functional 100% save is impossible. now i’m signed with roush for a second year in the truck series so i can get enough prestige to sign with chance 2 next season
My game progress in 06 also went back to 0% as well.
Seeing as you brought up Sonic near the end, NASCAR gaming since the late 2000s and onwards have been stuck in a dark age. NASCAR gaming has yet to have its own Unleashed, Colors or Generations-esque title that can reassure to fans that NASCAR games can still meet the standards of the Thunder and Heat series, which are (imo) NASCAR gaming's own Sonic Adventure-esque titles.
Yeeeeeah... I guess it comes down to the nature of sports games in general.
Every new Sonic game can be a total departure from the last and still be a success in some way. And Sonic games LOVE being wildly different from each other!
But with NASCAR we've only REALLY had a few games come out in the last decade or so because the majority of titles have just been upgrades to existing games :/
It's less likely to have some breakout success that can recharge a franchise when you really only get one shot at that every 5 to 6 years.
hot damn man. Great production value here. Keep your nose to the grindstone. Youll get the recognition youll deserve one day if you keep this up.
For those who are watching this video now, from April 7th, 2022, and beyond, you know how well the ending aged...
oof lol
NASCAR 06 had some of the worst handling ever. The car felt so stiff that when you went into a corner, the thing would just sail into the wall and like a magnetic force it would latch onto the wall and never let go. And don’t even get me started on the apron physics. My god the apron physics. You literally have to run 2 lanes above the track in order to avoid spinning like a top. Like WTF is that? Heat Evolution’s physics were ass. Nothing like playing NASCAR Pin Ball. “Motorsport Games you have the chance to put us on the right path.” This comment aged horrendously.
I hate how they pack race even at Watkins Glen...that's so unrealistic!
@@PaperBanjo64Same also on Sonoma Raceway.
@@DamarFadlan25 yeah pack racing on road courses is not realistic at all
14:38 this part nearly killed me 🤣
NASCAR HEAT 4 & 5 for me are ranked "Crap" along with many others.
Well with the news that Iracing (which is built off Papyrus's old NR2003 engine and has the NASCAR cup cars and many cup tracks) will be developing the next NASCAR console game; there is some hope with a competent developer with an established track record of quality. Whether a sim company will be able to deliver a simcade experience to rival the Thunder games or Dirt to Daytona is yet to be seen
these 2 videos are fantastic, keep it up man
It's fascinating hearing other perspectives on NASCAR 06 which was my first NASCAR game and the one I compare all others too. I'm totally used to the slippery controls and hate the Heat game's driving by comparison. Heat feels like the cars are glued to the track and it's virtually impossible to get wrecked or wreck other cars even with the option on that makes them easier to wreck. In 06 you could just casually tap a guy in the rear quarter panel during a turn and watch them slide up sideways into the wall. It made you feel like you're Dale Earnhardt showing em' who's boss! A wonderful feeling that's totally gone in the modern games.
NASCAR 06 still way better than Heat games from HEAT EVOLUTION to 5 and NASCAR 21.
In conclusion I should be looking for nascar thunder 04, nascar racing 2003, nascar 07 or dirt to daytona
Dont forget 06, LAST GREAT NASCAR GAME. It should've been A tier like NASCAR 07.😅
Oh my God the fucking wii port of inside line killed me
I wonder if one can attribute some of the drop in the popularity of NASCAR with the simultaneous drop in quality of NASCAR video games
Thanks for sharing your experience
i personally like oval races in NASCAR Heat 4 more than road courses, i guess to each their own
Boom now we have nascar 21 ignition.....
Yeah, we were definitely spoiled by the early and mid-2000's NASCAR games. But I won't lie, I had a lot of fun re-creating paint schemes in Nascar 14
Highly recommend nascar rumble for the ps1. One of the funnest arcade/kart racer for the system
True. Still is very fun till today.
Just subbed rn, great quality of content.
THIS VIDEO NEEDS MORE VIEWS!
12:34 this part cracks me up!
Nascar 08 was my first video game, ever. My dad managed to get a used silver PS2 slim (a console I might have put more than 10000 hours on by now) in like 2009, when I would have been like 6. He saw nascar, grabbed it, and that was my only game for a while. The disk scratched after a bit, so I got some more, and eventually I got every nascar game for the PS2 except for thunder 02 I think. Eventually, I settled into rotating between 04 and 07 (which is the one I hold the most nostalgia for). Since I got my own computer for college, I managed to jerry-rig NR2003 on it, and oh my god I've been in love for almost 2 years now.
Bwahaha I thought you had at least 100K , great work !
I grew up on NASCAR 07 and enjoyed every second of it glad to see it have some praise
Setsuna Yuki, Ayumu Uehara and Shioriko Mifune also loved NASCAR 07. Also the last ever NASCAR game to have Dodge Challenges.
Awesome stuff man. Love your videos!
Thanks so much guy! Should have some more in the next couple weeks, I think we'll all get a bit of a kick out of the next one 👍
iRacing is probably my favorite NASCAR game and the one I play the most, still leaves a huge hole for me though since I'm craving that classic single player career experience like 2004. Really hopeful though for NASCAR 21 with the RFactor devs working on it!
Me too man.
After watching your whole series, my ideal NASCAR game would be a game with fun but not crazy physics and very accurate damage models like you would see in BeamNG or Wreckfest.
And Wreckfest specifically has SUPER fun driving physics, I honestly should own and play it yet here we are :/
But I HAVE played Flatout on PS2 which was a predecessor of Wreckfest, and really both of them hit the sweetspot for handling. Just gotta get that in a NASCAR game, we'll see!
@@the54car the Devs for those games should do a licensed NASCAR game
My favorite NASCAR games from the fall era are the first 2 Eutechnyx NASCAR games. 2011 & Inside Line. Due to the advancements they made such as the graphics, physics, especially the 360 degree full paint booth.
7:59 nascar psp is the same for anyone reading this just no team control or proper custom cars
NASCAR Thunder 2004 was absolutely the pinnacle and it was because of the golden years of EA Sports games, also known as 2003-2005. It wasn't just NASCAR, NCAA Football 2004 is the greatest sports game of all time, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is the best golf game, NHL 2004 is a Top 3 hockey game and still has a dedicated player base that upgrades rosters every year, Madden 2004 and 2005 are known as stone-cold all time greats, Fight Night was an incredible boxing game and even NCAA March Madness was fun to play. NASCAR Thunder though, oh man, those games were so good that they made me a lifelong fan of the sport and I'm always glad to see them get the recognition that they deserve.
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup is such a tease of a game. It has a bunch of content but the lack of tire wear for the A.I. kills the game for me. I mean it's playable but one has to compromise the settings so much just to make it not suck.
That's such a good point because like, yeah you caaan just turn off wear and have a good time... but once you start having to actively avoid using certain features because they break the game it really dampens the mood :/
11:23 every time I play this at a Arcade I'll be jamming out to this song 😂
NASCAR 06 Is Bad
Sonic 06 I Feel You Buddy
Nascar 09 ps3/x360 is actually very well put together, especially back when online was around. Custom paint schemes ala iracing, great physics, ranked lobbies. The single player experience was lacking though
NASCAR 2005 was a big step down from Thunder 2004, yes, BUT it arguably has the second best soundtrack by a nose behind Thunder 2004. We're talking as class as Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven.
12:30 seeing the GT logo i got excited b.c i raced THE FUCK OUT OF nascar on 5&6 then you skip it lolol
Nascar 2005 solution-make car tight af and will go as fast as you normally do till tires are very worn
As a iracing user I feel bad for the console/casual nascar game fans.
Ea sports nascar racing is one of the arcade games I have multiple high scores on it’s one of those nascar games for you to sit down and have fun quickly for a little while
My favorite NASCAR game is NASCAR Thunder 2002.
It’s a sad thing that the popularity of NASCAR games has fallen down after NASCAR 08, it was a very wrong decision for EA to collapse this amazing franchise. Rest in Peace. (1996-2009)
Imagine a NASCAR game with the amazing modes and features of Thunder 2004, but graphics of Heat 5
I found NASCAR 06 handling to be the most stable. I race using the roof cam which really helps me hit my marks on the track.
a little late but here my story with heat 5, I was wanting to play a nascar game on my ps4 so I've brought heat 5 in a sale, and my god, what were they doing? a tire wear that until it hits 90% it runs fine, but when drops below 90% (so the tire is still brand new) you start to slide and can't control the car just like your car has worn tires, I even got heat 4 and the difference in tire wear is enormous, thanks god we still have nr2003
nascar sim racing 2005 was really good. kinda like NR2003 but just less enough that NR2003 comes out on top. tbh only good thing about Sim 2005 is the better stock graphics and slightly better wheel support, but then again thats if you can get it to run..... also thunder 2004 is goated
Nascar 06 was the nascar game I grew up with. I thought I was just bad at it until I started replaying it recently and my god you really gotta be careful around tight turns. You try turning and the wall turns into a bumper magnet.
I never finished it but I'm trying just for the sake of completion now.
And now we have nascar ignition 21 :|
NASCAR Heat 3 burned me on recent consoles and NASCAR games, bought the game about a week after it's release, thinking "hey, NASCAR Heat 2 was a significant step up from NHE, why not spend lots of money on a brand new game." I was at Target, and bought it for 40-60 dollars (I don't really remember lol) drove home, popped it in the XBOX ONE I had bought a month prior, for other games. Spent an hour of my time installing the game (had to buy a Wi-Fi router for the XBOX, damn thing wanted internet) popped it in, played and was entertained (i'm easily entertained) didn't wanna do 100% Dirt races because I didn't think the fuel and tire wear would work out well with no pit road. I made it to the Texas hot seat, finished 2nd, turned off the console, went to sleep. When I got up the next morning and turned in the console, the disc wouldn't read. So I uninstalled and reinstalled the game at least 20 times. That didn't work... I had downloaded all the extra DLC that was free, and I had wasted my money on a game that didn't last a week. Maybe I shouldn't blame the game for my console's shortcomings, but it wasn't anywhere near the caliber of NT2004, which I had the pleasure of playing for a month before my old PS2 finally bricked (bought it, 2005, and 07 on Amazon, all of them performed exceedingly well) even though I was stomping the competition on Legend by the end of that month, the racing was fun. (even if the lapped cars blocking me got a little annoying) Sorry for the essay lol.
older sports games are better in large part due to two things: 1. lack of official sport interference, because sports games were less of a major brand pillar back then and leagues didnt realize what they had. they now understand the impact games have on the image of their sport. this causes a flattening out of possible outcomes and creativity, with oppresive liscensing monopolies for large publishers to boot. 2. games cost a lot more. sports games typically (they dont necessarily NEED to) come out every year. in modern times games take a long time and a lot of money to make. this incentivizes reskins, safe bets, and hastily churned out games. creativity is put on the backburner for just getting these games working, even if that isnt achieved most of the time either. any negative feedback will bounce directly back to the brand, and sports leagues are scared of that. anyways, cool video. i know its 3 years old but anything else like this would be nice. even if not about nascar. cheers
I don't know if I was the only one, but Heat 3 made road courses hilariously easy. You could enter a corner at max speed, turn in sharply and the game would slow you down and point you in the right direction. This stopped in Heat 4.
Personally the Heat series are decent due to the feeder series, although looking at it via a trophy hunting perspective (which is why I played them) Heat 5 was annoying as it forced you to stay in the cup series, while 3 and 4 allowed you to race in the dirt series until you finished 10 seasons.
3:10 Link from the Zelda series of games 😉
3:55 Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean.
The one with Kevin Harvick was my favorite and last Nascar Game
13:27 I also have the Wii version of Nascar The Game: 2011
14:38 I also have Nascar The Game Inside Line on the wii
16:17 Hey thats @SimRacing Miscellaneous
8:03 *GOOD* because well....
*It's even WORSE then the PS2 version... Both 08 and 09...*
NR2003 and Thunder 04 are pure gold
Tbh nascar inside line 2012 has the best paint scheme booth in a nascar game the crash physics were insane if you wreck someone the whole field goes with them sometimes mostly at short tracks and you could race exhibition races although I do get what mean ai brake checks when there going to pit road but I didn’t grow up with the ones before 09
Also do you know by chance how to get nascar racing 1994 by papyrus running on a newer windows computer because I’ve been trying to figure it out?
What was that song during the relaxation break?
Dire Dire Docks from Super Mario 64 👍
I actually play Nascar 08 and I think it's great
Eutechnyx had good games in terms of graphics and sound design
You would think the wii would have great racing games but they really stripped the features down :( that said the foundation wasn't too great to begin with
I played NASCAR Unleashed and it's pretty much rumble without most of the fun shit
My first NASCAR game was NASCAR 14. I went back and played NT04 and NR2003, and I couldn't go back. I just ended up getting NR2003 mods and played that.
Chase for the cup 2005 was my shittttttt tho
Side note: There should be dirt road courses in real life.
I actually enjoyed that goofy Wii kart game. I found the text-based cutscenes humorous too.
I remember being hyped for heat evolution in 2016
Well it is now 2024. Thanks for your video and opinions. I still like Nascar Racing 2003 by Papyrus and had great times online with the "FREE" Sierra Servers. I even did 3 private leagues for few years. Then IRacing came along in 2008 and those Servers closed down. I never did IRacing because of subscription fees. I do have NR2003 installed on my Windows 10 PC and still works OK. Have several tracks and mods to make the game interesting.
We shall see if this new proposed Nascar PC game coming out in 2025 by IRacing and another group will be our next good Nascar game to have fun with since IRacing now has the licenses to do so. Time shall Tell.
after 05 and 06 i was worried you wouldnt like 07, and I have huge nostalgia for 07 so im glad its an A
NASCAR 08 trailer was realistic for its time
Eutechnyx made Ride to Hell Retribution.... need I say more?
Hey guess what I also have the Wii version of NASCAR 2011 the game and I had a little fun, mainly because I was using the wii wheel to control the game. And it actually felt like I was steering the car.
NASCAR 07 is SOOOOO fun and for me the last great NASCAR game.
Gran Turismo 4 music
*Chef's kiss*
Currently playing Heat 4. I also hate the wiggle during turns.
I would love to see a NASCAR game that spans multiple generations of the sport, because I want to go back and stop Dale from dumping Terry at Bristol in ‘95 and then stop him from hitting the wall in ‘01. I miss old NASCAR.
Fair enough. The wiggle during turns is not good.
The NASCAR arcade game EA made is fantastic. The graphics are actually really good for a game of the time (and really in general), the physics are actually good, and the handling is very fluid and very fun (altho sometimes the force feedback gets cranked waaaaay too high and makes it impossible to even go in a strait line, and there's nothing you can do about it), and the music playing actually kicks ass. I wish I could find the source code for it online somewhere because the place I always went to recently shut down and I can't play it anymore, but overall the game is S tier
It sucks with arcade-only stuff because all it takes is the local place shutting down or selling the machine and you're S. O. L. .
My Dave&Buster's had a corner with Daytona USA (all 8 players), a remote-controlled NASCAR racing game, and EA Sports NASCAR Arcade.
In the span of a few months, ALL OF THEM WERE GONE!
21:26 which nascar game is this? With these weird cars? I remember playing this a ton but can't find which one it was. Was it Thunder 2004 or earlier than that?
It's gotta be Dirt to Daytona?
@@AboutThatTime420 Oh the one where the drivers are sitting infront of a green screen before it cuts to an on-board shot that's facing backwards?
That's NASCAR Heat for the PS1, based on the 2000 season of the Cup Series. I talk about it in another video if youre interested lol, "The Rise of NASCAR Gaming"
@@the54car Oh shoot I meant to timestamp 21:16 my bad!
@@AboutThatTime420 OH no youre good youre good, those are "Whelen Modified" cars from NASCAR 2005 👍
@@the54car Awesome, I appreciate it!
One of my biggest problems with 06, is certain contracts either scoring me twice, or just crashing the game. And 08 is just so so bad, especially the rendering. Objects that usually would get rendered in in an older title from a far distance don't exist from that same distance, and then there's David Reutimann's Domino's scheme.... I don't even wanna think about that monstrosity.
I felt old watching this......series? (idk what you'd call a 2 video playlist) Playing the original heat and ea games as a toddler, and getting pissed off at nascar 09 as a kindergartner due to missing manufacturer decals. Then getting so pissed off at the etx games that I bought NR2003 on ebay....(weird story there) I uninstalled the first 3 heat reboot games within a week, and still actually play heat 4 and heat 4.5 occasionally. I don't really know what I expect from Motorsport Games at this point. It's obvious from the announcements of the past few months that it's probably going to be a sim of some sort, but I feel like it's going to be a bare boned one at that since Studio 397 only acquired Cup car data for rFactor. Also that EA Arcade game was my bitch at chucky cheese's back in the day, I was the only 7 year old there that could use the 4spd manual mode. 😎
Yeah as far as the very first game from Motorsports Games, I'm sure they just don't have enough time to add that many features. All I'm gonna judge this first one on is straight up gameplay. Handling, AI, and being VERY STABLE (no caution glitches and all that).
Man I felt pretty old making it lol, I didn't rank anything from the last 14 years above the very bottom of B-Tier. I put fuckin NASCAR Heat on PS1 above NASCAR '15, I have to be legit insane.
Bro really rated a top 5 oat nascar game B tier
I agree NASCAR thunder 04 is the best
I got NASCAR 09 for the PS3 4 years ago and I'd say it's at least a little better than NASCAR 08 since the steering problem from 08 where you get loose the moment you steer is gone in 09
I liked Nascar inside line because of the driving aids and the steering, I thought it made the game seem more realistic, but nascar 14 and 15, not so much on the steering in the cockpit view, turn the wheel just alittle at Martinsville, your gonna make the turn, Inside line; you gotta turn the wheel all the way to the left to make the turn, and a good decent damage model, unlike nascar heat evolution, 2, 3, 4, 5, no wheelmarks or wall marks or not a good damage model
That's a great point, I didn't ever mention the driving aids and that does massively impact the experience. But I literally never use assists on NASCAR games, so I didn't wanna talk about them cause I'd sound like a dumb lol
I'd imagine assists would help me appreciate some of these games a bit more
@@the54car when heat 4 and 5 featured driving aids, it was really cool, but it makes the car very lose and unable to drive at some tracks, mostly short tracks and road courses, driving with the expert settings on those games are impossible to save the car without turning a hard right or left and flipping your car. Inside line had the best driving aids in my opinion. It made the ultimate driving experience in driving a stockcar at intermediate tracks like Atlanta, the tire fall off is decent and it makes the car harder to find grip, the thing I like mostly about is how you turn the car, and have to turn the wheel all the way to the left to make a turn at Martinsville, which is really realistic in my opinion, but the 14 and 15 game are bad about the steering, you can slightly turn the wheel to turn into a corner (the same thing we deal with till this day) I mean, the steering in inside line makes it feel in a good type of lose, but with 14 and today, it makes it look up tight and not look realistic, I struggle to qualify good at the superspeedways even when I'm turning very smoothly and have the foot to the floor, I race in the cockpit most of the time in the heat series and thats why I am explaining it like I am.
This game is S tier if you have Mr. Clean as a pit crew
I like NASCAR 08 on the PS2 But the problem for me is how they recycled some of the sound effects from NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for example that sound effect when you exit a post race menu or quit the race.
NASCAR 06 for the ps2 had the ability to use a mic for voice commands
It was fuckin awesome
whats the game at 4:20?
That's the PS2 Version of NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona. A classic 🤌