The evolution of NASCAR games

The evolution of NASCAR games

Apr 30, 2021 1 Min Read Posted by OverTake Team
BILL ELLIOTT'S NASCAR CHALLENGE (1990) The first NASCAR game ever was off to an early start: developed and published by Japanese studio Konami, "Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge" hit the market in 1990. In that time well before the Windows era, fans of the racing series got to play the new release only on DOS. It was one year later that the pixel-y races on Daytona and co. made their way to the NES and Macintosh systems. For Konami, this game remained the only NASCAR title on their development record, as the franchise was afterwards handed to Papyrus and EA. NASCAR RACING 2 (1996) The NASCAR game series only began to grow to its current popularity after developer Papyrus was handed the baton for the NASCAR Racing franchise. With its first release in 1994, sequels and spin-offs entered the market every few years until NASCAR Racing 2003 season concluded Papyrus' era in the same year. NASCAR Racing 2 in 1996 was the first game of the series to be playable on a Windows PC. Papyrus was originally meant to also publish for PlayStation and did so with NASCAR Racingin September 1996. After that, however, the license went to EA, who largely covered the console games of the franchise until the early 2000s. NASCAR 2000 (1999) After the global release of the first PlayStation in 1995, EA Sports was chosen to bring NASCAR to the newly discovered console world. This meant green light to NASCAR 98 which was released in August 1997. From there on, EA's NASCAR games made it a habit to precede the real-life season they would deal with by several months. The first EA NASCAR titles were PlayStation exclusives, and this only changed for special games such as NASCAR 2000. The game at the turn of the millennium found its way not only to the PlayStation, but also to the N64, the Gameboy Color and of course, Windows PC. NASCAR THE GAME 2011 The NASCAR game series clearly made its most significant leap in terms of graphics as Eutechnyx went about developing it. The first release developed by the studio was NASCAR The Game 2011 and was a cross-gen game, including not only PlayStation and Xbox, but also the Nintendo Wii in the series. While Electronic Arts' last release NASCAR 09 was no visual catastrophe either – and not at all for the time – its successor by the new studio definitely set a new standard. Eutechnyx sat in the driver's seat of development until 2015, when the series continued as Monster Games' NASCAR Heat. NASCAR HEAT 5 (2020) The fourth notable developer having a hand in the NASCAR game franchise is Monster Games. Their series NASCAR Heat launched back in 2000 and ran in parts simultaneously to the main NASCAR series. However, it was only in 2016 that releases from the main franchise stopped and only NASCAR Heat remained – making Monster Games the sole current developer of the series. The latest game NASCAR Heat 5 is unsurprisingly the most advanced in terms of graphics and variability in game modes – proving that the franchise has really come a long way since its chunky first release in the early 90s. IRACING (2009) Despite the long history of the franchise, the first game that fans of the NASCAR series think about today is of course iRacing. And not without reason: The online sim racing game took over for the main franchise in 2009 and is today's official esports racing game of the eNASCAR series. Albeit being NASCARs number one platform for esports, it is not where the game series' roots really lie – as those go over numerous titles and consoles, all the way back to the DOS and Konami's first NASCAR game.

NASCAR in virtual racing is not as old as its real-life equivalent – but has likewise come a long way.

Photo credit: NASCAR Heat 5 on Steam

Too many cooks spoil the broth – but not for NASCAR games! Over the years the franchise has passed through many hands – or namely, developer studios – with each of them adding to the series. To date, the franchise has come a long way technology-wise, but also its popularity hasn’t shrunk. As players’ enthusiasm grew, so did the quality of the games. Let’s have a look at how far the franchise has really come – and who had a hand in its evolution:

Which NASCAR game is your absolute favourite? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!

Tags:
OverTake Team
View More Posts
Creating a brand-new platform for esports racing comes from a necessity the community was lacking. Because esports racing has taken the whole world, it deserves a proper stage to shine. With fans all over the globe, OverTake is here to unite them all in one place – a bold move that we’re up to achieve together with the community.