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NASCAR Kart Racing Review for Nintendo Wii

NASCAR Kart Racing Review for Nintendo Wii

NASCAR is, not surprisingly, a pretty niche sport (although frankly, I can’t imagine why a sport involving amazingly fast cars zipping around a track at hundreds of miles an hour doesn’t have more universal popularity). Electronic Arts has the rights to NASCAR, but rather than churning out a traditional racing game in the spirit of NASCAR, EA instead opted to create a more family-friendly racing game for the Wii in the form of NASCAR Kart Racing. While NASCAR fans will likely be disappointed, this is a surprisingly solid Mario Kart clone. Don’t expect anything groundbreaking or innovative from the title, but at the very least it’s a respectable game.

NASCAR Kart Racing screenshot

It goes without saying that when a kart racing game is released, there’s a really good chance that it’s going to be a Mario Kart clone. The problem with this, of course, is that even when your rip-off is done well, it’s still just a rip-off. Ultimately, that’s probably the biggest problem with NASCAR Kart Racing. If this game existed in a vacuum, it wouldn’t be difficult to recommend. But, compared to the likes of Mario Kart Wii, it’s difficult to justify spending money on this game.

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Not surprisingly, NASCAR Kart Racer pretty much does away with what you would expect from a traditional NASCAR game. There’s nothing about this game that works as a racing simulation, and instead it plays as a much more hectic, over-the-top racer. Much like Mario Kart, it features unrealistic gameplay mechanics like boosting, power-sliding, and items that affect the outcome of the race.

As you race, you’ll pick up a variety of different items that can be used to the benefit of yourself or the detriment of your opponents. For example, you have rockets that you can fire at other racers or oil slicks that cause opponents to spin out. There’s even a shameless Mario Kart rip-off that is essentially identical to the Lightning Bolt, which causes every other racer to shrink in size. Frankly, the items are one of the weakest components of the game, just because there’s nothing there that you haven’t already seen a million times.

NASCAR Kart Racing screenshot

One of the truly interesting things about NASCAR Kart Racing is how you’ll go through each and every race with a partner, rather than taking down the competition on your own. You and your partner have combined stats, and more important is the fact that you’ll be constantly working together throughout the race. You’ll work with your partner to take down rival racers, which is neat. But, the coolest part of the partner system is that when you and your partner are close together, your boost meter will fill up quickly. When it’s full and your partner is still around, you can launch the Slingshot technique which, true to the name, essentially flings you further up ahead. The cooperation aspect of the game has been well-developed and, even better, it’s not a common implementation in racing games.

The tracks are also surprisingly well-done, ranging from a single traditional NASCAR circuit to much more interesting, varied tracks made specifically for this game. The tracks are actually a lot of fun to play, with lots of turns, jumps, and shortcuts. Admittedly, there are only 12 tracks in NASCAR Kart Racing (compared to Mario Kart Wii’s 16 tracks). However, each of these 12 tracks can be played in both directions, which essentially doubles the number of tracks. The second half of the tracks aren’t entirely new, because you have seen the environments before. But, for the most part, there’s enough interesting driving to be had on each of the tracks that playing a course in the reverse direction feels like a new racing experience.

NASCAR Kart Racing screenshot

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  • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
  • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
  • 4K+ Infinite display
  • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
  • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
  • Library of over 500 titles
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

There’s also a variety of control schemes, which not surprisingly are essentially identical to those offered in Mario Kart Wii. You can use tilt control with the Wii Remote and, of course, you can also use the Wii Wheel peripheral. The controls are intuitive and simple, which is certainly fitting for an accessible, family-friendly racing game.

NASCAR Kart Racing is obviously a family-oriented game, but there are some issues with the difficulty, especially when you consider this game’s intended audience. For example, NASCAR Kart Racing employs the much-hated “catch-up A.I.” where your opponents seem less worried about getting and maintaining a lead and more concerned about keeping up with you. That said, there will also be instances where the opponents pull off victory after victory, while in some cases the other racers are pushovers. This inconsistency in difficulty is really annoying.

NASCAR Kart Racing screenshot

These A.I. issues wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for the placing system that NASCAR Kart Racing implements. The only way to progress through the game is to come in first place in every race. When you combine this with the inconsistent A.I. issues, the opportunity for some really frustrating scenarios presents itself. At its core, NASCAR Kart racing is a fairly light-hearted, pick-up-and-play racing game. But, these difficulty issues aren’t really consistent with that goal.

NASCAR Kart Racing also features a multiplayer mode, which is definitely a big plus. The game is certainly conducive to multiplayer action, and the head-to-head mode is enjoyable. However, something that came as a surprise was the lack of cooperative play. After all, this cooperation mechanic really feels like the crux of the game and is the one feature that sets the game apart from its competitors. Plus, if you’ve played Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, you know how much fun cooperative racing is in games like this. The lack of cooperative multiplayer really feels like a missed opportunity on the part of the developers.

Visually, NASCAR Kart Racing was better than I expected. The environments, karts, and racers are all colorful, though the lack of distinction between racers is a little disappointing. The game moves along at a solid 60 frames per second, and there was virtually no hiccups or graphical problems. Admittedly, the game isn’t particularly challenging in the graphical department. But, NASCAR Kart Racing keeps things simple and, as a result, performs relatively well in the visual department.

NASCAR Kart Racing is a solid kart racing game, but its biggest flaw is just that there’s so little to make it stand out. It’s so amazingly similar to Mario Kart Wii, and the latter is a better, more memorable game in every way possible. This game won’t even particularly appeal to diehard NASCAR fans, because the license has been used in a very non-traditional way. If you want a fun, exciting kart racer with solid multiplayer, Mario Kart Wii is the way to go. So, while NASCAR Kart Racing is a fairly good, there’s just no compelling reason to check it out.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.5 Graphics
The game doesn’t tax the Wii in the graphical department, but everything still looks crisp, clear, and colorful. 4.2 Control
There are a variety of different control schemes, and each one of them works quite well. 2.9 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The game’s music is boring, generic, and forgettable. 3.3

Play Value
There are plenty of tracks and a solid multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, the game is very similar to Mario Kart Wii, though that game is significantly better.

3.4 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Race as your favorite NASCAR driver and compete against friends and family with four-player split-screen action.
  • Yellow-flag the competition, throw an oil slick, launch a rocket, and more as you work your way past the competition.
  • Fill your boost meter to trigger a speed burst or slingshot around the track with the help of your teammate in a race for the checkered flag.

  • Meta Quest 3 128GB - Asgard’s Wrath 2 Bundle
    • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
    • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
    • 4K+ Infinite display
    • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
    • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
    • Library of over 500 titles
    We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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