''NASCAR Thunder 2004'' is a

racing simulator Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tir ...

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

, released on September 16, 2003 and available in separate versions for

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

, and

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. It features the 2002 champion

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

on the cover with a scowling look to represent the new Grudges and Alliances feature. It was the only game as of 2002 to feature the previous

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

Champion on the cover. The game had the most extensive soundtrack of the series up from four songs from the previous game. The game also has a career mode, season mode, Lightning Challenge mode, SpeedZone, as well as a tutorial mode featuring

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

. The game is an EA Sports Bio game, and is compatible with other EA Sports Bio games like ''

Madden NFL 2004 ''Madden NFL 2004'' is the 15th installment of the '' Madden NFL'' series of American football video games. Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is on the cover. Gameplay New features in ''Madden 2004'' include a new owner mode option ...

'' and ''

NCAA Football 2004 ''NCAA Football 2004'' is an American football video game released in 2003 by Tiburon. It is the successor to NCAA Football 2003 in the NCAA Football series. The player on the cover is former USC quarterback Carson Palmer. The game is available f ...

''. It is considered by many as the greatest NASCAR game of all time. This was also the last NASCAR game for the

Game modes

* Career mode returns from previous games in the series. The player takes control of a custom driver and races to get sponsors, equipment for his or her garage, and respect from other drivers. * Season mode allows players to take control of either a custom driver, or an existing driver for a season or more, with custom rules and schedules. * SpeedZone is a mode in which players can hone their skills in passing, blocking, drafting, as well as

time trials In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

. * Lightning Challenge is a mode in which the player takes control of a driver and race in a situation that occurred in the 2002 Winston Cup and 2003 Winston Cup seasons to that particular driver. It also includes a video with Michael Waltrip as the reporter, and beating these challenges unlocks new Thunder Plates, which unlock new tracks, fantasy drivers,

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

drivers from the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, as well as legendary drivers. * Another new game mode is Online mode, where players can race online if they have an Internet connection and adapter. Microphone support also was available on PC and PlayStation 2. This feature is not available on Xbox and PS1. * Thunder License, a tutorial mode featuring NASCAR legend

, in which the player chooses a driver and follows him along a

racing line In motorsport, the racing line is the optimal path around a race course. In most cases, the line makes use of the entire width of the track to lengthen the radius of a turn: entering at the outside edge, touching the "apex"—a point on the inside ...

around the track, with voice commentary by Petty. The racing line can also be toggled in Race Now mode.

''Grudges and Alliances'' feature

The main feature of the game is the "Grudges and Alliances" feature, which is based on the player's driving style and attitude. If the player drives dirty and bumps into other drivers, even if it was an unintentional bump, that driver becomes a "Rival", and will bump into the player if they happen to encounter each other later in the race. However, if the player

drafts Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

the opponent (a new feature for the game), that rival's level in grudge severity drops. If the player drafts a neutral driver long enough, that driver will become an "Ally", and at times will let the player pass. Conversely, if the player bumps into an ally, their alliance will slowly drop. The maximum severity value for both grudges and alliances is -100 and +100, respectively. Players can see their four highest grudges and alliances at the end of the race. In Season and Career modes, the grudges and alliances the player makes carry over to future races.

Reception

The game received positive reviews from critics, with ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' giving the PS2 version an 8.8/10, praising the sounds, "QuickSave", and microphone support. The main issue that ''IGN'' cited was that the driving model is somewhat unrealistic. ''IGN'' gave the PC version an 8.5, with the issue being the spotter's incompetence. The Xbox review was also an 8.5, and praised the framerate. ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' called the game the

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

or Madden of NASCAR, and gave the game an 8.8, with

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

giving it an 88. The more critical review came from ''GameZone'', which gave the game an 8.4.

Awards

The game received many top awards, the most notable was received at the 2003

Spike Video Game Awards The Spike Video Game Awards (in short VGAs, known as the VGX for the final show) was an annual award show hosted by American television network Spike from 2003 to 2013 that recognized the best computer and video games of the year. Produced by ...

, where ''NASCAR Thunder 2004'' won the award for 2003's best racing game. It is currently the only NASCAR game to win an award at the VGAs. ''NASCAR Thunder 2004'' also nominated for ''

The Electric Playground ''EP Daily'' (formerly ''The Electric Playground'') is a daily news television show that covers video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, collectibles and gadgets. Created and executive produced by host Victor Lucas, and his Vancouver, British ...

''s 2003 "Best Driving Game for PC" and "Best Console Driving Game" award, but lost to '' Need for Speed: Underground'' and ''

Project Gotham Racing 2 ''Project Gotham Racing 2'' is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox in November 2003. As in 2001's ''Project Gotham Racing'', the route to advancemen ...

'' respectively.

References

External links

* {{Image Space Incorporated games 2003 video games EA Sports games Image Space Incorporated games NASCAR video games North America-exclusive video games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 2 games Racing simulators Sports video games with career mode Windows games Xbox games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Spike Video Game Award winners Budcat Creations games