NASCAR 2001 on the PS2 looks decent, and the physics model is probably the best EA's done yet for the series. Unfortunately, this is an arcade racer passing itself off as a sim. That's fine for the casual fan, but I wish EA would start taking this sport more seriously. This is like releasing NFL Blitz and calling it Madden 2001: Football fans would set the EA building ablaze. I want a 43-car field, not the paltry 20 in this game. I want a pace car that actually has roof lights and dives onto pit lane on a restart, not just one that disappears when they drop the green. I want all the drivers and all the tracks, not just a collection of the top names. I want to adjust the tire pressures on my car. You get the idea. Don't get me wrong, I still have fun with this game once in a while. Especially when turning the difficulty all the way up and running for a few hundred laps on a short track. You really get the bumper-to-bumper feel. But it would be so much better if EA left the arcade setup alone and concentrated on making a sim NASCAR fans everywhere would go nuts for. Outside of that, EA Sports need only do two other things for next year's edition to be great: Get rid of the weird interlaced slowdown—and for the love of God—commission some better tunes for the game. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're looking for an arcade racer with familiar drivers and tracks, this is it. If a sim is what you want, look elsewhere.
Greg
Rating:6.0
With some sports games, you can get away with throwing a whole bunch of famous players into a title with sub-par gameplay and still sell folks on the name recognition. Sorry, EA—it doesn't work with racing. Aside from looking uncannily like a PS one game (equip the rearview mirror and the whole game falls apart graphically), there's not a lot of driver involvement. Only on the more advanced tracks do you have to start worrying about skidding and braking through turns at all. The cockpit view is a nice feature, though, and the several optional perspectives should suit most any racer. But overall, you're much better off with Ridge V.
Jonathan
Rating:4.5
NASCAR 2001 has a few cool things going for it, but once you add up all the so-so stuff, it's a little weak. I can't warm up to the handling characteristics—the cars don't feel heavy to me. The adjustments help somewhat, but overall they still feel loose, especially on the road courses. The sensation of speed isn't the best I've seen either. Some of the track textures are so smooth and non-detailed it hardly looks like you're moving. Then there's that strange interlacing thing as well. On the upside, the sound is very authentic and the car models are good. Other than that, I didn't have much fun with the game. Worth renting for fanatics, but few others.
Dean
Rating:5.5
NASCAR 2001
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Sports
Featured In: EGM #132
Players: 1-2
Supports: None
Best Feature: Great car and track models
Worst Feature: Feels like NASCAR Lite
Web Site: www.easports.com
Visuals: 6
Sound: 6
Ingenuity: 5
Replay: 7
