NASCAR Arcade Rush Review

When was the last time you played a good NASCAR game? Has there truly ever been one?

We’ve been racking our brains and have only managed to drag up memories of Daytona USA in the arcades of the 1990s. But aside from that? No, we don’t think there has ever been a properly good NASCAR game. 

Which is strange really, especially when you consider the love for the sport; particularly from the North American audience. God damn, they’ve tried, and over the last few years it’s been the NASCAR Heat games that have attempted to replicate the real-world oval racing. They’ve ultimately failed. 

And so it comes to GameMill Entertainment and Team6 Game Studios to instead turn their attention to a more arcade-styled racer. One that totally forgoes any form of simulation to deliver some super fast NASCAR racing action. It’s with that in which NASCAR Arcade Rush comes about. 

For as fun as it can be though, once again the NASCAR masses will be left wanting with this Arcade Rush. Perhaps it’s time to start paying more of an interest to other forms of motorsport…

NASCAR Arcade Rush is the most simple of arcade racers. In fact, with just twelve tracks, a Cup Series, quick races and Time Attack options, there’s absolutely nothing here that will come as a surprise. It’s like the devs have taken what every single arcade racer from the last twenty years has tried, and just chucked it in. And if you then decide to include some multiplayer options, again you’ll be left unshocked. 

So what have we got? Well, nothing spectacular, with the Cup Series allowing you to play on Rookie or Elite levels, with four races making up each cup. Win one and you’ll unlock the next, and the next, and so on. You’ll find yourself flying through the Rookie season without a care in the world, with AI fairly slow throughout. Intensity ramps ever-so-slightly if you up the ante to Elite, but again, NASCAR Arcade Rush is still a fairly simple game to grab podium finishes in. 

There are a decent amount of Cups included, with twelve different locations playing host to the racing. It’s nice that there’s been some implementation of real-world locales too, massively reimagined in order to try and provide some excitement. We’re not sure we’ve ever seen the Daytona International Speedway, Watkins Glen, Richmond Raceway and the likes quite in the same light.  

We’re also not sure we need to go too deep into the Quick Race and Time Attack game modes. These do exactly as they say on the tin, with the only real excitement coming from whether you can smash some bronze, silver and gold times in the latter. 

And NASCAR Arcade Rush doesn’t only leave you to play alone. GameMill and Team6 have added in some split screen racing for local friends to enjoy and some online opportunities to accompany that. The problem is, the gaming masses have obviously not yet been drawn to NASCAR Arcade Rush (the high asking price certainly doesn’t help!) as it’s nigh on impossible to get any form of online matchmaking going. That means, unless you’ve some friends willing to sofa surf or buy their own copy of the game for online races, you’ll be left to tackle the AI in NASCAR Arcade Rush and nothing more. 

And we can probably guess another reason why the online racing is dead too – NASCAR Arcade Rush isn’t a very good racer. 

However you play, NASCAR Arcade Rush urges you to nail the throttle, rarely ever needing to then let go. From there, racing comes across as a super twitchy affair, as you bang from barrier to barrier, attempting to point your bonnet in a general direction. Get into the flow and things feel good, but all too often NASCAR Arcade Rush prefers to have you cantering off edges, respawning before you even get a chance to save the situation. You’ll find yourself spinning around after landing jumps too, whilst gathering up any form of sensibility as you try to weave between other racers and edges of tracks is a lesson in frustration. 

Thankfully it’s here where the nitro boosts come in. For a game with Rush in the title, it’s this which is the main focal point of this NASCAR scene, as you utilise in-car nitros along with various track-based pads and strips. Get a boost going and NASCAR Arcade Rush comes alive, but lose it, left to pedal at standard speeds, and you’ll find that it all feels very pedestrian. 

What this means is that throughout your time with the tracks of Arcade Rush you’ll be found slamming the A button to initiate a bit of boost, pushing you along as you hunt various pads; yellow for a speed boost and addition to your in-car nitro levels, blue for a quick hit. There are pink ones too, for, well, we’re not sure really – perhaps we blinked and missed it but the we think it’s a bigger boost again. With no set ‘speed gauge’ ever showing, we can’t be sure. Basically, see a speed boost pad, hit it and hope. It’s going to make you go faster. 

It’s this nitro system that adds a small bit of strategy to NASCAR Arcade Rush. That is no more true when you consider that taking to the pit lane at any time will fully refresh your in-car nitro levels. It’s just, as that is filling up, your overall speed is diminished. Reckon you can stay ahead whilst others hunt you down on a last lap showdown? The choice is yours…

Tracks are well-designed, full of twists and turns, rollercoasters and undulations. With boost pads aplenty, and some decent nitro found onboard your race car, NASCAR Arcade Rush is a fast, manic, racer which hardly ever calms down. But that speed brings problems. 

There’s a bit of a visual stutter in racing, rarely ever allowing for a smooth match up, whilst the camera position sits super low behind your vehicle, stripping any opportunity to read the track ahead. In fact, until you fully learn each circuit, you’ll never know if you’re meant to be going left or right after a dip or climb, unable to gauge track limits. When you’re going at speed, with just a millisecond to decide on the turn of your wheel, rarely does it provide too much fun. 

You’d think that would be an annoyance, and you’d be right. We’ve found ourselves flying off ramps and banked curves, reset back onto the track behind the pack. We’ve also smashed headlong into barriers, spun around, left to drive the wrong way around the track for a few seconds before getting bearings. It’s a shame really too, as the circuits themselves could well be seen as decently designed, fast and flowing. But with that camera angle…

Thankfully, play on Rookie level and no matter how many times you find yourself going the wrong way, rubber-banding is so strong you’ll be back up with the pack in a matter of corners. It’s so off that keeping pace with any pack of cars, saving up boost until the final straight is normally enough to see you take a top podium spot. You certainly won’t need too much skill in order to win in NASCAR Arcade Rush. 

Win or lose, you may well want to switch your ears off as you race. There’s nothing to write home about in terms of glowing audio references, with the drone of a car engine and smash of metal on metal being about all you’ll hear. And don’t get me started on the absolutely atrocious podium scenes after a race. It’s like something out of the early 1990s – and not in a good way. 

Consider that NASCAR Arcade Rush is plentiful in terms of cosmetics, customisation and the like, and there may well be something to enjoy away from the track, with a host of new items chucked your way on the regular. There are even a plethora of different emotes to hand too, but we’ll leave those for a more specific target audience. You see, we’re here for the racing – and it’s that which is ultimately the letdown with this latest NASCAR experience. 

We thought that doing away with boring ovals and chucking in nitro pads could well have opened up a new pathway for the NASCAR racing scene. But NASCAR Arcade Rush is not a game that will be fondly remembered. It may be fast, it may have boost pads aplenty, but a tedious affair still races to the fore. An atrocious camera angle, poor presentations, limited game modes and a multiplayer scene that is dead on arrival sees this one going round in circles. 

NASCAR fans may continue to look for the chance to breakaway from the pack, but they won’t be doing it with NASCAR Arcade Rush.