Get ready for the new NASCAR Arcade Rush, with a new twist to the popular racing game. NASCAR Arcade Rush is an arcade-style racing game that still delivers petal to the metal heart-pumping action but with a reimagined twist on NASCAR’s most legendary tracks and iconic cars.
NASCAR Arcade Rush from GameMill Entertainment was released on September 15 for the PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox X|S, and Xbox One.
You can customize your car and your driver’s suit with thousands of combinations, making yourself and your race car a reflection of your NASCAR racing spirit. Once you are all suited up and detailed, you can get ready to race NASCAR’s well-known tracks like Talladega, Daytona, Darlington, Martinsville, and Homestead-Miami Speedway, but in reimagined arcade style. Twelve tracks in total are based on the real NASCAR tracks. For NASCAR lovers and players of previous versions, such as NASCAR Heat, this game may or may not be for you. Don’t expect to recognize the reimaged tracks; enjoy playing NASCAR, arcade-style.
NASCAR Arcade Rush features unheard-of things such as twists, jumps, nitro boost pads, hair-raising turns, and other surprises at the finish line. The game also has several game modes to choose from, such as NACAR career, online, and local multiplayer.
After a pretty cool and loud game introduction, which gets annoying after restarting the game a few times since you cannot skip it, you will have the choice of playing solo or head-to-head multiplayer, two-player split screen, or online with up to 12 players and multiple difficulty options. Note that local multiplayer is not available on Nintendo Switch.
Solo players can play a quick race, Cup Series, or test their skills in a time attack. You need to play the 4-race series and gain enough XP, depending on what position you finish in, to unlock the next 12 series and other awards. The game features a lot of unlockable content. You begin at level one and will max out at level 100.
The gameplay, however, seems to be a little unbalanced. You can hit nearly every blue or yellow boost, using the boost (A) sparingly, and make the perfect lap, yet your rivals always seem right on your bumper. While it’s fun keeping your “rival” close, it’s not as gratifying as the feeling you get when you run away from the rest of the field.
NASCAR Arcade Rush offers a stable framerate, detail, quality effects, smooth controls, and decent audio effects in the game. If you plan to use the keyboard, you will be limited, and the game works best with a gamepad.
Besides the limited control options, we believe that the price on Steam at $49.99 for the base game and $64.58 for Projext-X is a bit pricey for this game. It was released on Steam on sale (until Sept 22) for $39.99 or $50.58 for the NASCAR Arcade Rush Project-X Edition.
At that price point, you must compare it to the higher-quality racing games, which may fall short for many racers. But don’t let the price point deter you from the game. The game is surprisingly an excellent, well-crafted arcade-style twist on a NASCAR racing game.
Pros:
- Very responsive and intuitive controls
- Fun suit and car customizations
- Unique track twists
- Lots to unlock
- Multiplayer
Cons:
- Lack of players
- Lack of control options
- Price
- Camera angle restrictions
You can get more details on the game at NASCARArcadeRush.com
If you want more content, you can purchase the NASCAR Arcade Rush Project-X Bundle, which includes the base game and bonus content. You get a hovercraft car model, Project-X paint scheme for the rims, wheels, and spoiler, themed driver suit and helmet, team sponsorship option, vehicle FX package, and four additional in-game emojis to showcase your style.
