I know it's strange to say, but at one time, EA actually excelled at Racing games. Long before they became a beacon of mediocrity and loot crates, EA was capable of making some incredibly fun and creative titles like Nascar Rumble. Nascar Rumble is what you would get if you took Mario Kart, combined it with EA's yearly released NASCAR racing games, and added the shortcut-ridden tracks of Need for Speed III: Hot pursuit. Nascar rumble is a nascar take on the Kart racing formula. This game isn't a Kart racer, it's a stock-kart racer.
The Mario Kart influence is obvious in Nascar Rumble. While racing you can hit powerup icons which give you offensive weapons to fling at your foes; ranging from the freeze which freezes your steering in whatever position you were holding when it hit you for some truly nasty results; the typical oil slicks which make your stearing slippery; the Joker Icon which will either give you a random powerup to help you, or usually just give you bad gas or an oil slick (in fact you have a better chance of getting something good out of an EA loot crate than getting something good out of the joker powerup); to things like the hammer and the shock-wave where upon landing a hit send your opponents flying through the air; to a storm that blocks your view and messes with your steering capabilities; and variety of others to be used against your unsuspecting foes including the most epic, and iconic powerup that is, rightfully, the most fondly remembered, the tornado powerup which allows you or your foes to send a devastating tornado up the track which sends everyone flying and tumbling through the air. Add in unlockables like new vehicles and tracks, tracks chock full of hidden shortcuts to find, and a great sense of speed onto all the satisfying powerups and you have the formula for one of the PS1's most fondly remembered alternative racers. This game is just a blast to play.
The name of the game in Nascar Rumble is fast, fun, mayhem where the kart-racing powerup racing and sense of speed lead to some truly thrilling racing where you are battling your foes while trying to hit all the shortcuts in each track. It's chaotic fun where some races bog down into cars flying everywhere around you, as you navigate through, sometimes being caught into some spectacular crashes yourself. The triangle button is the reset button to put you back on the track, and you'll be pressing it a lot in this game. There's nothing quite like narrowly avoiding a tornado that is chasing behind you by ducking into a shortcut just off the main track. This game can be truly exhilarating in it's racing. It can also get extremely crazy if you set the powerups to mayhem, meaning there are extra, extra pickups in each map for maximum amount of chaos possible. Powerups can also be turned lower, or off altogether.
As in Mario Kart, you progress by beating six racing cups of three tracks, with the option to play the wildcard cup which has random tracks, and the EA cup which requires you play through six races. One you beat the main cups in the rookie class, you onlock the Pro class where the cars are faster, and your AI opponents are tougher. Upon beating the same six in the pro class, you unlock the Elite class where the cars are even faster, and the AI opponents hit every shortcut, hit you with every powerup possible, and definitely cheat to beat you.
The difficulty curve is gradual with each cup, but the elite class opponents are totally cheaters, able to catch up to you very quickly. There's nothing quite like getting hit with tree storms in a row, then two tornadoes, a freeze, and then two opponents with hammers that catch up to you quickly. When this game cheats, it cheats good. You don't have to go it alone, because the game lets you play the cups either by yourself, or in a racing team with one other teammate who is either controlled by a second player, or an AI friend which is a cool idea.
There is a lot of racing to be had if you plan on unlocking everything in the game. Not only do you have to play through the racing cups three times for each difficulty. There are three extra tracks to unlock, like circus minimus which is best played with Mayhem level powerups for one of the most hectic racing experiences you'll ever have. One top of three extra tracks to unlock, there are hidden areas in various maps that contain wrenches, collecting which unlocks a special vehicle like an RV, a golf cart, a rocket car, and etc. So not only are the maps honeycombed with hidden shortcuts, but those shortcuts have even more hidden areas to unlock new vehicles. This game has secrets within it's secrets. There is a lot of racing and unlockables in this game. I guess you could always just put in a cheat code to unlock everything, but it's more satisfying to hunt down each secret on it's own.
Graphically, the game looks great by PS1 standards. It may not look like much on a modern display, but what looks like weird dithering on a modern display is actually blended on a CRT TV to give each car a glossy, freshly polished look. You can still see it a little on a modern display, but it makes the cars have a glossy look on a crt which looked great for the time.
Nascar Rumble also has a great sense of speed, even for a console as old as the PS1. Whether playing on the PS3 like I am here, or on the PS2 like I am here, the game moves fast which helps add to the feeling of chaos in the game. The game runs well, but the extra sense of speed does make the controls feel a bit slippery, and jittery overall, granted, I do play this game with the D-pad, because it just feels natrual to me, not owning a proper dual shock till I got a PS2.
This is this is far from a sim racing game that punishes you for rubbing on the side of the wall, and you feel less like you are turning than sliding around the corners the whole time making the oil slick power up a lot less impactful. I generally found myself rubbing the wall in most turns, but without the normal punishment to my speed for doing so. There are times where clipping a wall can stop you in place, or even knock you backwards. Luckily, the fast reset button has, wisely, been mapped to the triangle butting, because you'll be using it a lot in this game. Overall the controls are responsive, if not a little slippery feeling overall.
The engine sounds in the game sound great, as do the effects. The game does have an annoying, pointless announcer who's dialog does get old pretty fast, but you can go into the options and mute him. The music consists of generic sounding southern rock style tracks, and is by default set too low to hear under the sounds of the engines. You can also turn the music volume up. I usually just leave it at the default setting myself, but the option is there if you want to hear the tunes in the game. The sound design is OK overall. Some people may find the announcer to be incredibly annoying, I've just learned to tolerate him, because I'm always too busy focusing on the racing. I will say, one cool aspect of the sound design is that when you are going through a tunnel, even the announcer sounds like he's in a tunnel, it's a small thing, but it's a really neat touch.
The bottom line: Even if you hate Nascar, Nascar Rumble is still a must-play alternative racing game on the PS1. Part nascar, part Mario kart, all fun. The racing is chaotic, and fun, the powerups are inventive, the tracks are well designed, and reward exploration with shortcuts. This game is just full, chaotic, tornado full of fun. The PS1 has some great cart racing games like Crash Team Racing, but if you want to play the PS1's best Stock-kart racing game, look into Nascar Rumble.
And if Nascar Rumble interests you, EA did develop a PS2 sequel without the Nascar license called Rumble racing, which improved upon the original in a number of ways like improving the powerups, improving the handling and controls, which are still a little slippery, but not nearly as much; and the best addition: borrowing the stunt ability from rush 2049, where you could spin your car around and do some cool mid-air flips, and giving the player a turbo boost for successfully landing said tricks. Rumble racing is still one of the best alternative racing games on the PS2. If you're looking for great PS2 racing games to play, look into Rumble racing.
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