NASCAR 2001

by Electronic Arts, Inc.

Product Details

• ASIN: B00004U5VP
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,849 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Product Description

NASCAR 2001 has been completely redesigned for the PlayStation2, which means that the gameplay has been as drastically improved as the graphics for this long-running racing franchise. For starters, independent artificial-intelligence routines mimic the real driving styles of the 35 professionals in this game. You'll find that some of the drivers are constantly nipping at your heels, while others are pacing you as they wait to exploit your first mistake. Polygonal damage effects and high-resolution texture maps make every wall scrape and car collision believable, while special particle effects like smoke, fire, sparks, and skid marks only add to the realism. NASCAR 2001 offers 14 tracks, including Daytona.

Product Description

This is the game NASCAR 2001 for the Playstation 2. This game may not come with the original case and instructions. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for you.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lot of good, but a few surprising omissions, November 13, 2000

By 

punkviper (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: NASCAR 2001 (Video Game)

First off, just like role-playing games, there will be a segment of the game-buying populous that will buy this game the week it is released, and a portion that will avoid it like the plague. It really depends on whether or not you enjoy Nascar. I have played EA's Nascar series for a few years now, and have always been pleased by their treatment of America's fastest growing sport. As for this rendition, there is a lot of good, as well as some question marks.

First off, the good: The graphics are WOW good. The cars, tracks, periphery, and especially pit stops look incredible. The sense of speed is fine. The amount of cars on the track at one time has increased to 20 (up from 14-16 previously.) The driver roster is diverse, and includes Richard Petty (as well as Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin.) Control is spot on, and you will need it to be. There are a few pre-sets to use in certain modes so if you aren't really big on endless tweaking, you can pick one and race.

Now the interesting stuff: The track list had been reduced to 14. No Las Vegas, Texas, Michigan, Homestead, Dover, Pocono, New Hampshire, or Phoenix. Although there are several instances of visiting the same track twice under different lighting (day/night,) the missing tracks do hurt. Not to mention there are no fantasy tracks, which were fun to race when the standard ones got old. This smells of a rush-job, and wouldn't be surprising, given the fact that Knockout Kings 2001 got pushed back to early 2001, and that NHL 2001 also seemed a bit hurried and not fully planned out.

The main other issue I have is with the general difficulty. Even on Arcade/Rookie, this game puts up a fight. Being a veteran of these games, I tried to jump in at Simulation/Veteran and got shellacked by the competition. Not that the difficulty is a horrible thing, I was just very surprised, given the relatively easy nature of the previous iterations.

There is some frame-rate drop at certain points in the race, and though I love the new real-time damage to the cars, the actual visuals for this effect leave a bit to be desired. The menus are very sparse, and this time around the commentary is almost exclusively done by Bob Jenkins, with minimal input from Benny Parsons, who is always a treat ("This track has the best food!" for EVERY track in Nascar 2000!) Though now your spotter and crew chief are a lot more vocal.

But even with the annoying leave-outs, and a few irritating in-game features, this still manages to come out as another quality Nascar title for EA Sports. Like I said, many will either be running to the store, or ignoring it altogether, so reviews won't change a lot of minds in this case. Let's just be glad that it's a first-effort for PS2, and can only get better from here.

P.S. Did I mention how GREAT it is to creep up on the #3, ride his bumper, give him a little tap, and watch the tire-smoke billow up as he takes a hard right into the wall? You hafta see it to believe how cool the wrecks are!

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars EA Sports should be ashamed of themselves for releasing this, December 7, 2000

By 

NEO-CS- "Cyber Soldier" (www.cybersoldiers.us) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NASCAR 2001 (Video Game)

This reviewer is a die hard Nascar fan and has been for over a decade now. When I first heard that Nascar 2001 was coming out for the PS2, I was quite excited. Unfortuntately, although this game is pure eye candy, its rather disappointing when playing its previous version Nascar 98, 99, 2000, and 2001 on the Playstation.

EA had to rush this game and must have cut a whole lot out of it in order to ship it in time. What is missing is several tracks on the Winston Cup Circuit, Including Homestead, Michigan, Phoenix, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Pocono and Dover.

A second problem is the inability to set your car the way you like it as you were able to in the previous games. You have the ability to set your car up one of three ways, Loose, Tight, or Neutral. No tweaking the tire pressure, spoiler angles or Wedge in this game.

Players can choose a quick race, no track or car selections, A single race, in which you can choose driver and track, or Championship, where you can try to win the Winston Cup Championship in a series of races on the 14 tracks in the game.

Nascar 2001 for the PS2 isn't all bad. The tracks and cars look better than they ever have in any other home console version of this game. Cars seem to wreck in front of you more often than ever before, and its not uncommon to see a car start to smoke up ahead leaving your visability on the track to a virtual nil. These features have to be seen to be appreciated.

I tested the collison detection by running a polish victory lap, a.k.a Alan Kulwicki, during the race I was running at Talladega. The end result was a pretty cool collision with cars turned upside down on the track, and tires and debris all over the infield.

The cars in this game seemingly have a more arcade style feel, are easier to drive, and look great. The problem with the graphics lies in the two player mode, where it breaks down badly, and when you turn on the real view mirror in single player mode. This really breaks up the frame rate and it is very noticable.

The bottomline on this game is this, if you have to have an Nascar style racer on your PS2, then this is your only choice. If you have previous versions of this game on your Playstation, save your money until EA Sports releases a respectable version of this game.

Not recommended by this Nascar fan!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Nascar Heat for PS2, August 10, 2001

By 

Jared (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NASCAR 2001 (Video Game)

This game is HIGHLY underated on this site from people who dont like nascar. I am an average Nascar fan. Most people that have reviewed before have NOT been nascar fans. This game delivers a real bumper to bumper feel. The cars are very realistic and they still have Dale Earnhardt because he passed away after this was made. They have most of the tracks including Daytona. If you like to crash cars than this game would also be very good for you because the physics are awsome and make you spin and fly in the air when you hit hard, and they spinout when you get a medium hit. One of my favorite things to do is just turn around and hit cars headfirst, then peices fly around the track and stay there for about a lap, thats cool. You have to time your pit stops as the same time as the other cars. Graphicaly this game will break down occasionly but it does not take away from the fun at all. The sounds that the cars are very authentic and represent Nascar very well. The cars in this game are very detailed and have all of the logos that the cars in real life have. I feel that the people who made this game were true Nascar fans, and its a shame that the people who have been reviewing it havnt been. So if you like Nasvar AT ALL than this is definatly the game for you. Oh yeah, theres one thing i forgot, the drafting model in this game is the best yet and makes all the difference in the races. (P.S. I have played Nascar Heat 2002 for PS2 and although it is a fine game with a little better graphics, this game is more realistic and fun)