• Font Size    

In Case You Missed It ...

RAW VIDEO: 100-Mile Police Chase
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Review: NASCAR Racing Gets Wacky On The Wii

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
May 12, 2009 7:00 am US/Central

Review: NASCAR Racing Gets Wacky On The Wii

NEW YORK (CBS 11 News/AP) ― When it comes to high-speed driving on Nintendo consoles, the action pretty much begins and ends with one name: "Mario Kart." The Wii version was last year's best-selling game worldwide, and no one has made a serious effort to challenge its dominance in the genre.

Take a look at some other Wii racing titles. Games like "Emergency Heroes," "Cruis'n" and "Wacky Races: Crash & Dash" are among the worst-reviewed products on the system. And if you prefer more realistic driving, forget it. There's nothing like Sony's "Gran Turismo" or Microsoft's "Forza Motorsport" on the Wii.

Even when the real sport of NASCAR is brought to the Wii, it's done so in a stylized, cartoonish way.

"NASCAR Kart Racing" (EA Sports Freestyle, for the Wii, $39.99): This game is pretty freaky particularly if you aren't expecting to see Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon or Carl Edwards as giant-headed homunculi. It's an odd strategy, sticking real-life stars into a fanciful version of a sport, but it will amuse younger NASCAR fans.

The usual kart-racing gimmicks are here, with plenty of rockets, oil slicks and other nuisances you can fling at your opponents. And the tracks are far more creative than your typical NASCAR oval, with a variety of jumps, shortcuts and alternate routes to keep you focused.

"NKR" places an unusual premium on team racing; keeping close to your teammate helps both of you charge up your turbo engines. NASCAR's dependence on advertising is also faithfully reproduced, with corporate logos popping up all over the game (even on its cover). It's not as deep as "Mario Kart," but it's far more entertaining than more realistic NASCAR sims have been. Two stars.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Popular Slideshows On CBS11TV.COM

© MMIX, CBS Stations Group of Texas L.P. All Rights Reserved.