NASCAR Thunder 2004

Other products by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Grudges & Alliances: Emotion comes to a racing game for the first time as CPU drivers remember your every move and aren't afraid to pay you back.
• Pick up & Play controls help new fans navigate over 60 events including all real world NASCAR races, plus 12 winding road courses.
• NASCAR Thunder 2004 goes online with peer-to-peer racing on the PlayStation2 and 16 player races on PC.
• The most extensive Career Mode in a NASCAR video game just got deeper and easier to navigate!
• The deepest NASCAR game ever created with over 70 drivers and 175 authentic cars and the first game with a full pack of 43 Cup Series cars.

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00009X3VM
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 5.4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 17, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,509 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Xbox

From the Manufacturer

The green flag has dropped with NASCAR Thunder 2004. From 200 MPH super-speedways to hairpin turns on 11 fantasy tracks, tuning your car and finding the line is no longer enough. Now you're running to the edge against 42 other unique NASCAR personalities every race, drivers who remember your every move and won't think twice about paying you back. Out-smart and out-drive them as you battle three-wide from green to checkers. Online or on your own, racing just became a contact sport.

Product Description

MODEL- 14648 VENDOR- ELECTRONICS ARTS FEATURES- NASCAR 2004 NASCAR Thunder 2004 puts gamers behind the wheel in a world where grudges and alliances mean the difference between victory lane and disaster. You are no longer just racing a track you are racing a pack of 42 real world stars who think for themselves remember your every move and arent afraid to pay you back. Revenge may be around the next corner or at the next race as you scream through 23 authentic tracks or hone your road racing skills on 11 fantasy tracks. The key to success is building alliances that carry from race to race and season to season in an improved career mode that challenges drivers to manage sponsors teams garages and crews while building a 20-year racing legacy. Online or on your own racing just became a contact sport. * Intense Rivalry: Competitive AI reacts to your driving behavior No more grinding your way through corners. In this race or the next aggressive driving will result in retaliation. * NASCAR Thunder Speed Zone: Hone your driving skills with a host of mini- games that focus on skills needed on the track including passing split time challenges drafting and holding position. * Spectacular Wrecks: Avoid wrecks as cars bounce of the walls and back in your path with more flipping sparks smoke and fire trails. * Enhanced Career Mode: A new dynamic interface and visual cues to guide you through up to 20 successive seasons. The four major components to develop while building a racing career include sponsorships team management car construction and research and development. * Lightning Challenge hosted by Daytona 500 champ Michael Waltrip: 40 new challenges from the past year allow you to relive some of the greatest moments in racing. Each challenge is brought to life with MRNs actual radio calls of the race. * Thunder License: Learn from the pros as NASCAR drivers dynamically instruct players on the driving lines brake points and other nuances of all 23 NASCAR Cup Series tracks. * ...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Potential gone to waste, November 24, 2003

By	Hossmann "The Mann" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

When NASCAR Thunder 2003 came out, I thought I saw a game with serious potential to be as well known as Madden or NCAA, but this year, I am beginning to think that EA has put it on cruise control, realizing that this is the ONLY option on the Xbox

Gameplay: This is what I am highly disappointed with. The gameplay from 2003 was good, but not great. And I was looking forward to the gameplay tweaks. But I was wrong. The physics many have complained about have gone from bad to worse. EA Sports overemphasized the "realistic" physics engine. So basically what I am trying to say is that it is much more difficult to master than last years version and if you are not racing in Daytona or Talladega, good luck. The physics engine will make you skid out of control if you go into a corner too fast. A good attempt to improve the game was the in-game rivalries in Career mode. Unfortunately, with the horrid physics, you will most likely do a lot of bumping + grinding with opponents, therefore making many enemies in the locker room, which means you will have an early exit in most races when your enemies come hunting you down.

Career Mode: It practically remains unchanged from last year. But this isn't NHL 2003 were taking about here. Last year, it had one of the best career modes available. And I can accept that. There were a few tweaks to polish the overall performance. Like a guide to newcomers and the R+D has evolved letting you choose what you research. But I'll be looking for some improvements in this area next year.

Graphics + Sound: These two things remain unchanged from 2003, but these were pretty good last year also so they dont have to worry about that, there are more teacks on the game, but these basically have to do with Alternative Rock, but if your not a fan of Alternative, this game does allow for custom CD's.

Final Verdict: I am rather disappointed with this game, I was looking forward to a good game this year, but itll have to wait till 2005. If you are interested in 2004, rent it first. If you like it, then buy it. If not, there will probably be a 2003 version available for 20 bucks, so invest in that then.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Challenge In Career Mode - Take charge of your team, July 12, 2004

By	Hawkman (United States) - See all my reviews

Alot of the reviews are not good for this game. However, if you ever watched a nascar race on tv, that is all they do is go round and round. So that aside, in career mode you are responsible for signing sponsors, hiring your crew, and developing your race cars without breaking the bank.

It is a strategy game in a sense that you have to make money in the races in order to rebuild your cars and buy shop equipment. It isn't easy to race without hitting others, but you can make up some track time by taking on 2 tires instead of four. I run the races at about 10-15 laps so I don't get bored. The super speedways are the best, but if you dont like a particular track, you can simulate it and skip it.

I rented it for 2 weeks and will prob buy it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NASCAR Thunder 2004, October 19, 2003

By	J. Kimbley - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nascar Thunder 2004 is an improvement over last year's game Nascar Thunder 2003. A new feature that EA Sports has decided to put in this year's version is the grudges and alliances during the race. With this new feature it makes the game feel more realistic when you race at tracks particularly at short tracks like Martinsville or Bristol where rubbing can be expected. If you don't race clean with the other drivers you can expect a rivalry between you and that driver or drivers that you got a rivalry with are sure to get some serious payback from them if they reach -60 or more, so you better race clean.

Another feature that EA decided to put in this game is the Speed Zone to teach you about passing, drafting, time trials, and blocking out on certain tracks, not only that there are also videos to help you become that better racer in NASCAR Thunder 2004. There are some game modes/features that are making a return for this year's game like Career, Lightning Challenge, and Thunder Plates. You still have to earn Thunder Plates to unlock Busch Drivers, or Legends such as Alan Kulwicki, Bobby Allison, and Richard Petty.

It's a good thing that this is the only NASCAR game this year because everyone should own it. Finally, EA got things right with the game. The new 'feelings' all the drivers have are great. You can get them to like you, or you can get them to want to bash your car into the ground. If you are like me, you'll love to take out the other cars as you passed them in previous games...but now I don't know if I should every time.

The control is a bit shaky as if you were actually driving a car. Gone are the days when you hit someone on their side and don't loose control a bit. Granted you can save the car most the time but at least you have to save it now. The graphics are much better than ever before. The faces of the drivers look like the drivers now. And the cars and tracks are very smooth.

If you played the previous games, you probably had limited damage on and every time something bad happened to your car you could just hit square and repair it right away. The damage control on this game is much pickier. So don't go wall bumping like I used to do as well. I actually hit the brake button for the 1st time when I bought this game...WOW!!! If you're not a big fan of braking though don't worry, you may get lucky on the short tracks and have a car on your right side the whole time...not likely, but possible.

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