Days of Thunder

"awesome movie, crappy game"

I remember playing this game as kid many many years ago. At the time I thought it was pretty cool. Except I remember that I could never figure out the pit crew situation, funny thing is I still can't (more on that later). So anyway I found this game at my local independent video game store and being that it was only $1.99, I decided to buy it. Now I think I want my two dollars back...

Story:1
Not much of story here. It basically goes like this, you are Cole Trickle, from the movie, and you are trying to make your way up the Winston Cup Ranks. That's it.

Graphics: 4
These graphics are really bad. I'm even ranking them on the Nintendo level. This game was made near the end of the Nintendo's life, you would think it would look a lot better. The cars aren't very detailed and just slide across the track. The graphics of Cole riding up on his motorcycle aren't that good either. Also since when does an oval have 6 turns!?

Sound: 3
Not much of sound here either. There are not many sounds in the game. There is only about 4 seconds of music and that's when it is game over. Although the cars do sound pretty good. When you lose a race your crew chief says something but you can't tell because it is so muffled.

Gameplay: 4
You really have to master the art of braking in this game. As your tires wear down (about every 6 laps) your cars turning ability gets worse. You have to brake enough to get around the turns. Passing cars are tough too especially the lead car. In fact it is almost impossible to pass the lead car. When the time comes to pit (like I said about every 6 laps) you are treated to an over-head view of your pit area. In this mode you get to control your crew members. Sounds fun right? Wrong, you can only move them one at a time and they have to be in just the right spot to do anything. Your pits turn out to be around 45 seconds and if you are good maybe in the 20's. Of course if you pit in at first you place you are most likely to come out in last place (ninth). The computer never pits!

Replay: 1
Trust me after you play this horrible game you won't want to play it again. Well maybe once to make sure something wasn't in your eye the first time you played it. Sorry, there was nothing in your eye afterall.

Overall: 3/10
Overall this is a very frustrating game. I wouldn't recommend buying this game. Don't even accept it if a friend gives it to you, just shove back in their face because they aren't a true friend if they give you gift like this game. This is another good movie license that turns into a horrible game. Hey! Surprisingly it is not made by LJN!

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/01, Updated 09/05/01