Mr. Tea's Nascar Legends Review
posted at 3:32 AM on Friday, July 7, 2000
introduction
| Manufacturer: |
| Sierra (www.sierra.com) |
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| System Requirements: |
P166 MHz
32MB RAM
80MB HD space
2x CD-ROM
SVGA 2MB video card or greater
Windows 95/98
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| Reviewed Using: |
PIII 550 Mhz
96 MB RAM
36X CD-ROM Drive
3dfx Voodoo 3
Creative Sound Blaster AudioPCI 64D
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Ever have that urge to pop in a classic tape of NASCAR racing in the 1970s? Would you want to kick my ass if I called Darlington Speedway a piece of crap? Still wear that jacket with Richard Petty’s name emblazoned on the back? Good, cause I want to stay the hell away from you! But, in exchange for the loss of my friendship, you can pick up an excellent retro-racing computer game, NASCAR Legends and feel all right about yourself again. But, a warning: do you have NASCAR 3? This is really the same thing, minus 30 years and 30 mph.
Packaging and Set-up:
A box. It says NASCAR Legends on it. Got old cars on it. Average, but you know, we’re not looking for flare, just a straight up good ol’ fashion NASCAR driving time, so the packaging is on par. I encountered no problems during installation, so it’s all good there. Now, the manual, yes sir, the manual is great. Close to 200 pages of pure NASCAR Legends goodness. The manual contains everything you’ll need to get going, and then some. It actually mirrors the manual for NASCAR 3. Strange, if you ask me. Very strange. Almost like they cut some corners and added in the new details into the old layout.
For example, in NASCAR Legends you have this little blurb in the manual: "We’re scraping 132.5 mph now with the car; let’s make one more change to the screw jacks. Raise the left front screw jack to fully stiff; stiffer shocks generally give you more straightaway speed, and the temperature readings indicate that we’re nowhere near abusing the left front tire at this point. Put ten more maps in, just to make sure we can handle the stiffer suspension." And NASCAR 3 now: "We’re scraping 153.5 mph now with the car; let’s make one more change to the shocks. Raise the left front shock to fully stiff; stiffer shocks generally give you more straightaway speed, and the temperature readings indicate that we’re nowhere near abusing the left front tire at this point. Put ten more maps in, just to make sure we can handle the stiffer suspension." See what I mean? It’s all very odd. I almost want to follow their example and use my NASCAR 3 review and just replace certain things to fit with NASCAR Legends. But I won’t!
The Game:
Now, if you’ve played NASCAR 3, then you should know exactly how EVERYTHING is set up in NASCAR Legends. The menus are all the same. Save for a few minor things, the games are really identical. This makes the review tedious because it’s like I’m writing the same things twice. Therefore, I will not go as in depth as I did for NASCAR 3. If you want to know specifics, head on over to that review.
Well then, contained in this lovely game are 15 tracks, some of which include Darlington Speedway, Michigan Speedway, and Texas World Speedway. They are all classics, I’m told. When starting up NASCAR Legends you’ll be given a menu that allows you to choose either a single race, championship setup, multiplayer, driver history or the options. The single race is what it appears to be, a single race. You race once, then are forced off the track. Don’t go thinking you can race twice. Once that checkered flag drops, you’re off the track, there’s no sticking around buddy.
Furthermore, in the single race option, you are sent to a screen that has several choices. You can head over to the Garage and tweak your car or jump out onto the track and practice with your vehicle. The car set up (Garage) is really cool, and allows for a lot of customizable things… Okay, fuck it. I’m re-using my old review for NASCAR 3 just like the manual did! Here, NASCAR Legends (everything NOT italicized is new):
NASCAR (LEGENDS) is a great game alone, but with the Car Setup feature, it pushes the package to excellent. There are just so many options and ways to tweak your car; it will give racing fans a lot of freedom on how they want their particular car to perform. You can adjust just about everything and anything. Want to change the tire pressure of your car? Shorten the gear ratio? Increase the angle of your spoilers? Increase the rear weight of the chassis? Tighten your screwjacks? Go right ahead, chief. It’s all here for you, and much, much more. It’s important to remember that working in this cyber garage is not an exact science. Well, it kind of is, but most of the time your tweaks will need to undergo several trial-and-error runs before you are truly ready to bring your stock car into the big race.
Also, besides being able to mess around with the guts of you car, you can head over to the body shop and paint your car and design the outside how you see fit. This is a great feature, and though I didn’t spend much time with this as I would have liked to, my little experience with it was rewarding as I sped around the track with the official Corpnews.com car. Along with changing the paint on your body, you can change your pit crew’s uniform with the same tools. The Corpnews.com team looked slick, let me tell you.
A cool feature is the radio from which your pit crew chief talks to you through. When you’re moving up in the ranks, he’ll let you know. When there is a crash somewhere on the track, he’ll let you know where it is. If someone is passing you, he’ll tell you from which side the opponent is coming from. Overall, it’s very helpful and adds to the atmosphere. As well as the radio, you have the F1-F9 keys to communicate with your pit crew and to tell them what you would like done during the next pit. Through these keys you can get race information, gas mileage readings plus tell your race team which tires you want changed, how you want your cross weight adjusted, and so on.
Now, when you begin a single race or even a race in one of the three championship circuits, you’ll be given a screen with several options littered across the bottom. This is what I call the pre-race setup, and here you can make all your adjustments to your car or go out and take a practice run around the track for how long you’d like. After you have everything balanced out in your car and you feel you know the track well enough through practice, you can then move on and qualify for a spot in the upcoming race. You are alone on your Q-lap, and you must get around the track in the fastest time. The faster your time, the further up in the poll position you are for the race. There are usually around forty cars to a race, so initial position is very important.
After you qualify, you are given one more opportunity to practice on the track before the actual race. Use this time, because normally you would set your car up differently for the Q-lap than a race which consists of many, many laps. Make adjustments, do a little trial-and-error, and when you’re ready, head off to the race. It’s important to remember that all races do not start in a similar fashion. There are two main types of starts, standing and rolling. In the first, everyone is lined up at the start line, two rows of cars in single file. When the green flag is waved, you accelerate and the race begins. In rolling starts, everyone takes a lap around the track together, in two single file lines. You are not allowed to pass at this time, just follow the guy in front of you. When you cross the start line, then you can accelerate and begin making your moves.
Now is a good time to mention the three views to race with, though two of them may be neglected for the obvious option. The arcade telephoto view is the first view, and it gives you a behind the car camera position. Similarly, the arcade wide-angle view gives a behind the car view, but from a bit further back. Now, my favorite camera set-up is of course, the cockpit view. This puts you right into the action and delivers a solid NASCAR (LEGENDS) driving experience. The inside of the car is done extremely well and there are no major obstructions that would hurt your racing chances. All your gauges like fuel and RPM are located clearly in front of the driver. There is even a little symbol of the model of the car you driving in the right-hand corner.
During a race, you will have to pit for whatever reason. You may have to refuel, change tires, adjust temperature and anything else that may need fixin’ on the track. Don’t forgo a pit stop because you want to grab position. This is no good. You will pay for it later. Generally, yes, cars with less fuel do run faster because their weight is reduced, and while a car running on empty may be the lightest out there, it’s probably going to be the one being pushed down pit road by the team’s crew. Along the lines of pit crews and fixing things, accidents do happen. Quite frequently, actually. Usually, around turns, a car will begin sliding down the banking and hit another car, which causes one to spin out. Once you lose control of your car and you begin to spin, do not attempt to accelerate it into position. Just let the car spin and have it’s fun. Wait until you slow down or completely stop, then get back into the race. Trying to quickly get back on the track may cause even more problems and can possibly take you out of the race if you end up getting in other drivers’ way. If an accident does occur and you’re not in it, like mentioned earlier, your crew chief will notify you via the in-car radio.
All in all, the racing is a whole lot of fun. Most of the effort you put into the garage and your car during the pre-race tweaking will pay off in the long run. It’s rewarding to race well and know that you just didn’t press a key and win, there were many slight details that you took care of in your car which allowed you to race well.
Okay, well, that should have taken care of several things. I hope my blurb from NASCAR 3 has helped you understand how the Garage, in-car radio, Single Races and Championship races work in NASCAR Legends. Honestly, everything above this applies to both games. Amazing, huh?
Oh yeah, I almost forgot one major difference between the two games! In pit road in NASCAR 3, there is a speed limit. In NASCAR Legends, there is no speed limit! Okay, okay, it’s not that major, but at least it’s a difference!
Graphics/Visuals:
Here’s where we encounter our true differences between NASCAR 3 and NASCAR Legends. First, from a neutral standpoint, this game has excellent graphics and everything looks superb. Cars have that 70s look, and it really is cool. They have the SUPER-high spoilers and that pointy weird look to them. Very good job on the cars, guys. The tracks look nice, though I still wish for a better crowd! Also, we need more pitstop animation. More things should be going on. I want to see the other teams running around, not just mine.
Generally, the game has the feel of old time racing, but after playing NASCAR 3 for so long, it just looks the same. Sure, the tracks are different and the cars are different, but while racing, it just seems like I’m playing the same game.
Audio:
BRRROOM! The loud, low rumble of the cars sounds excellent! They sound like an old man gargling motor oil without his dentures. Beautiful sound. The crew chief on the in-car radio sounds like a real crew chief, though strikingly similar to the one in NASCAR 3! Other than that, there are not many other sounds to comment on because there need not be, but the ones that do exist sound wonderful.
Conclusion:
If you’ve got NASCAR 3 and are looking for another racing game, then look elsewhere. Unless, of course, you are a hardcore racing fan that loves the old days. Really, the two games are very similar and buying Legends when all you want is a whole new racing game is really not the smartest move. But, as far as a game on it’s own, it’s a very good game.
Visuals: 4/5
It looks like NASCAR racing from eons ago. Cars looks great, tracks look nice, everything is well done. It also feels like NASCAR of today.
Sound: 4.5/5
Cars rumble like thunder, slam against walls and swap paint with excellent sound.
Gameplay: 5/5
If you love racing, than pick this game up. Wait a minute, hang on. If you love racing, don’t have or plan to buy NASCAR 3, or are a hardcore racing fan. pick this game up. On it’s own, this game is a great racing game.
Value: 5/5
15 tracks, championship racing, solo racing, a garage. You’ll be coming back for awhile.
theVerdict: 4.5/5
I think I’ve said it enough times. This game is NASCAR 3, just altered slightly. But, if we imagine there is no NASCAR 3, Legends is an excellent game.
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