NASCAR Rumble

Nascar Rumble can be loosely described as a 'Mario Kart clone', though aside from its power-up system, this doesn't play at all like other kart racing games. For starters, this has a large selection of vehicles to choose from, with each one having a considerably different driving style. 12 of the vehicles in this game are unique enough to be considered their own experience, with each car having its own rookie, pro, and elite variants. The elite versions of each car drive quicker, handle sharper, and have a more extreme design compared to their lower class counterparts. This opens up more possibilities than most kart racers would offer, including a tiny speedy golf cart that can easily get punted around the track like a football. Or you can drive an RV and try doing the punting for yourself. The Jet Car is also available as an option for pure speed, though the best possible choice varies from track to track.

Tracks come in sets of three, including three freeway tracks, three beach tracks, three canyon tracks, and so on. Each group of three has an easy track, a medium difficulty track, and a hard one. The harder tracks are typically longer and feature many more awkward turns, as well as shortcuts that are more difficult to pull off without crashing. All of these tracks look nice, too. They aren't cartooney like in other kart games, but the attention to detail is impressive nonetheless. Swamp Romp is filled with dark blues and greens, while Night Flight is decorated with a lit up cityscape.

Some of these tracks end up being surprisingly difficult to get good lap times on, due to all the sharp turns and tricky shortcuts. Some shortcuts feel slower, but end up saving massive amounts of time when you drive through them cleanly enough. On the hardest difficulties, the AI can become surprisingly difficult to beat (especially without power-ups) and require the player to engage in precise stunt driving through narrow, obstacle-ridden side paths to have a chance at winning. It makes strategizing and executing clean laps an engaging process.

If that doesn't sound entertaining enough, Nascar Rumble has power-ups! The usual boost and invincibility functions are here. Besides that, anyone who has played this once will remember the 'tornado' attack, which is this game’s blue shell from hell that hits everybody on the entire track. It can only be dodged by hiding in a shortcut or by slowing down as it passes by. Next on the list is a 'thunder' attack that will blind the opponent and cause their steering to spontaneously jolt left and right against their will. The lovely 'freeze' attack completely disables the opponent's steering, leaving them helpless in the middle of the road. The battering ram attack does exactly what you'd expect. You hit your opponent, and they go tumbling through the air. 'Wild card' power ups are also present, which often end up downgrading your car instead, either temporarily lowering your speed or greasing up your tires’ grip. It's a chaotic mess, especially on shorter tracks, but a fun mess.

The 'Nascar' label has almost nothing to do with how the game plays besides the chaos that comes from crashing into other cars. Nascar Rumble doesn't even have a real speedway to race on (which honestly, it should)! With less of a focus on sliding and boosting, and more of a focus on precision handling and jumping, Nascar Rumble is a unique racing game experience in an oversaturated subgenre.